Phnom Penh-Siem Reap

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This morning we headed out for an early morning run along the river, again sharing the waterfront with throngs of locals doing zumbaesque aerobics and large groups doing tai chi with both swords and fans.

Our driver met us at 0800 and took us out to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. As if yesterday wasn’t depressing enough, we decided for the double whammy, both places being the main attractions that brought me to this city.

The Killing Fields are located about an hour outside the city. The Killing Fields was where most of the citizens of Phnom Penh, almost 20,000, were taken to be killed, to include 9 foreigners, 6 of which were Americans that were mainly journalists. I have seen the movie The Killing Fields a few times, and it shows the narrow escape many foreigners made as the Khmer Rouge, or “Red Khmer”, rolled into Phnom Penh. It is an excellent movie and should be watched by all.

There are over 300 “killing fields” throughout the country, this being the most famous due to it’s proximity to a major city and the memorial they have built around it. There are many more yet to be discovered, and many are surrounded by landmines, unable to be visited.

We were given a wonderful audio tour included with the admission price ($6), and wandered the grounds at our own pace. Remains of almost 9,000 people were exhumed in 1980, all the remaining have been left intact in their communal mass graves. The skulls of these victims were erected inside a glass walled stupa in the center of the grounds, visible from everywhere you walk.

As you walk through the grounds on trails, you can often see shards of bone. After every monsoon season numerous bones are exposed, the larger pieces gathered up and the remainder left in place. The ground is pockmarked with craters, recessions on the ground created by the voids left when bodies decompose.

One of the more upsetting aspects of the genocide that took place in Cambodia was that 3 million people out of a population of 8 million were killed, almost 1 in 3 citizens. Those killed were routinely bludgeoned to death or had their throats cut because the Khmer Rouge did not want to waste money on bullets. One spot in the field was a tree that was used for killing babies. Former executioners admitted that they would take infants and smash them against the tree, usually in front of their mothers who had been continuously raped since being brought here. There were hundreds of brightly colored woven bracelets on and around the tree as offerings for these innocents that were slaughtered here. Pol Pot was quoted as saying about the justification for the killing of babies, “to dig up the grass one must first remove the roots.”

All these barbarous acts were perpetrated by fellow Cambodians against their own people, similarly like the Nazi’s, often compelled out of fear. Many Khmer Rouge were teenagers and young adults, brainwashed and hardened by others until they were zombies for the party, carrying out orders without question.

We left, completely numb, wondering why such a chapter in history is not taught in High Schools and mostly completely overlooked . The audio tour finished with a plea from the speaker asking to not forget what we saw there today, and to talk about it and educate others so that this dark part of history can be brought into the light so it is not repeated.

We left the city at 1230 on a bus, Giant Ibis ($18), to bring us to Siem Reap, allegedly anywhere from 4 ½ to a 6 hour journey depending on which tout you spoke to. I paid for the most expensive bus that claimed to have WIFI , which did not work, and claimed to be the quickest and most comfortable service. There was legroom, however the trip was miserable and we wished we had taken a local bus because of 2 Americans that were seated behind us. First off these pathetic middle-aged frat boy “schtoopers” got on the bus holding open beers in their hands, and carried bags of beer and a bottle of Jack Daniels. Before the bus even left they were proudly and loudly taking Xanax and glugging whiskey out of the bottle. I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation and heard that they were from Texas, of course.

After an hour or so of heavy drinking and obnoxious cursing and blathering, they passed out, snoring so loud that we could hear them over our headphones that were blasting music. Ever wonder why we are called the “ugly American” and hated by most of the world, just travel overseas and meet the sorry excuse of cultural ambassadors that we sometimes have. I can only hope these jerks contract some sort of painful venereal disease during their travels.

We finally arrived at Siem Reap at 2030 hours, making it over a 7 hour journey including a dinner break and 2 bathroom breaks. We checked into our gorgeous Buddha themed hotel, Golden Temple Villa ($17-25). We immediately hit the streets in this jam packed tourist filled town. We hit the night market where we caught part of a lady boy show. Lady boys are transsexuals, apparently very common and accepted in Cambodia and Thailand. We then received side by side Dr. Fish massages ($2+free beer) which are pedicures in which you dip your feet into glass tanks full of fish. Dennis was a trooper and tried it, but hated it. After my initial bout of ticklishness and squealing I settled down into it and actually kind of liked it. Tomorrow we are off to the first day of temple exploring!

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