R&R

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Following a long day of touring yesterday, I opted to make today a R&R day. It started with the first good night’s sleep I’ve had in weeks. Then some time writing yesterday’s entry before strolling into town to visit the old market.

On my walk in, I realized something very strange, something that would have seemed impossible just months ago. I had not only grown accustomed to cars driving on the left. Now, instinctively, I expected cars to be on the left, looking right first and feeling baffled when they came from the direction they had come for virtually my entire life. I would now have to train myself to go back to normal.

The market itself was a cross between a crowded flea market and a busy food market. The food market was the more interesting of the two, with merchants using the floor as a table for holding fish while they filleted them on a makeshift cutting board (also on the floor).

Outside the market I looked for a place to have lunch, stopping at one that featured a host of Cambodian style BBQ. The snake caught my eye as one more strange food to try. It came out in a similar fashion to my first French dinner in Paris but this time my waitress actually did cook it at my table. And, as I thought it would be in Paris, it was a bit awkward. Especially with the language barrier. The snake itself was very tough but tasty, especially with the sweet chili sauce that accompanied it. However, there are plenty of much better meats so it’s no wonder why the snake craze hasn’t caught on just yet.

On my way back from lunch I passed a massage place and, like most of them, there were a host of masseuses out front. “Ya wan mahhssage suh?” “Sure.” My back was pretty tight from all the budget travel and it felt a lot better after that.

The rest of the afternoon I spent reading in the sun by the hostel’s pool.

Back in my room I met two new roommates - Vera from Köln, Germany and Alan from Ireland near Dublin. I went down to the bar for dinner and Alan joined me after a few minutes. Before I left to go to the night market, we agreed to grab a couple beers later on the aptly named Pub Street in town.

The night market is not far from the old market where I was earlier today. It is supposed to have lots of tourists but have less merchandise geared towards tourists. Well, it lacked postcards but that was about it. The market was definitely geared towards tourists.

With almost an hour to spare before meeting Alan, I came across a film being shown in the night market. It would start in a couple minutes and looked very interesting so I decided to go. I chuckled as I entered as only I would opt to watch a film on Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, rather than partaking in the frivolities of the night. Actually another younger guy and his wife joined me in the makeshift theatre.

Pol Pot was the leader of the Khmer Rouge, a communist group that overtook the Cambodian government in the mid 1970s, following America‘s withdrawal from Vietnam and the ceasing of bombings in Cambodia. Modeled after Maoism, “Pol Pot-ism” held class structure, money, power and wealth as inherently evil.

Ironically, as is the case with all these idealistic political factions, the ideology was forced upon the people by the very power that was dogmatically evil. And once more in history we saw the result of a heavily centralized government with an overtly progressive agenda and a people with little to no resistance against it (or in many cases a willingness to believe in the hope that is the unrealistic ideal). And yet we see these paths taken throughout the course of history, with corruption and misuse of power inevitably following.

In Cambodia’s case, the political faction led the country to sheer devastation, with starvation and disease a result. Adding to the mix was genocide and concentration camps used against those suspected of resisting the movement. Child spies were known to report people to a six man leadership team that decided the fate of all.

I had read a bit about much of this on my way to Cambodia and yet this time it was different. The documentary I saw tonight painted a much more dismal picture of the events. This film was more condemning than the reading I had done as the latter had avoided the use of harsh terms such as “genocide”, “concentration camps” and “murder”. This definitely shows why, especially in lesser known parts of history, it is important to consult multiple sources to gain a more accurate picture.

After the uplifting film, I walked out to Pub Street to meet up with Alan. Along the way I was approached by numerous moto bike and tuk tuk drivers that wanted to drive me around. It’s okay. I can walk a block. I swear you can’t walk 10 paces here without being asked if you need a ride.

I met up with Alan (and Vera who he brought along) and we went to a few pubs throughout the evening, knocking back several $2.50 pitchers of cheap southeast Asian beer. We had the drunk trifecta going - an American, an Irishman and a German. All we were missing was an Aussie. The American was the first one out, though more because he is not big on late nights. Making it past 1:00 ended up being quite the feat.

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Photos

Old market
The crowded old market.

Tuk tuk
Hands down the best tuk tuk in town.

Snake
My snake lunch before it was grilled.

Cambodian BBQ
Grilling at the table.

Night market
The entrance to the night market. Even though it was claimed to be less tourist oriented it definitely was that way.