Cambodia's Dark Past

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Early Sunday morning (5.30am) we awoke to the anoying buzzing from the alarm clock (But yey.. we woke up), no mad rush to pack and leave the hotel this time......

We await the bus to pick us up for the pre-arranged trip to Phnom Penh (capital of Cambodia). A ute, yes a ute, pulls up to the side of the road with a bunch of tourists crammed in the back. We jump abord for an hour long trip around Siem Reap, we must of lapped the place 4 times.. no one had a clue what was going on... oh well, patience is a virtue...

We headed out on the biggest lake in South East Asia called Tonle Sap, on board what could be best described as a metal coffin. aka long metal boat.

but it was a great trip, around 5 hours cruising the lake and then into the mighty Mekong river to arrive in Phnom Penh. Sitting on the roof of the boat viewing the many stilt houses built on the rivers edge as we pass, full towns and communities really all on the water. Unfortunatly Cambo got a little bit burnt on the deck and is now paying for it.

No roads lead anywhere here, the waterways are the roads.

At the end of our trip we pull up on the warf in downtown Phnom Phen, and we are greated/harrased by 100's of people, all who want to take us to local guesthouses/hotels. "You come stay here, this is best place".

After running the gauntlet, we found a moto to take us to Angkor Hotel (not surprisingly, Angkor is used everywhere, its a symbol of pride for Cambodians, it's thier National beer, hotels and restarants are named after it)

It was a clean little hotel with a bar and restarant downstairs, but both Cam and I decided Phnom Phen as not somewere we really wanted to stay for very long, pretty dirty and just didn't have the right feel if u know what I mean.., so we hired a moto and visited the Killing Fields and the S-21 Prision.....

Now I don't know if you all know much about Cambodia's past and I only knew a little before comming here, but the mid 70's were a very dark dark time in Cambodian history... Pol pot.... a man so sick and twisted, he rounded up millions of fellow country men and exterminted them.

Pol Pot's wanted a nation of pesants, a year 0. Anyone with an education, could speak a forign language, architechts, lawyers, teachers, buddists were systematically wiped out. Over 2 million people (1/5th of the populace) were exterminted and many millions more were affected by the aftermath of the ragime.

Irony at it's best or worst in the case of the S-21 Prision, a school in 1974 that tought many young bright cambodian children was converted and became a place of death, pain and suffering in 1975.

Over 13,000 people were held, tourtured and then exterminated in cruelest ways over a period of four years. It was all a bit to much and I suppose standing in the grounds of Auschwitz - Poland, would bring on similar feelings.

We visted the killing fields a little way out of town where mass graves were found, 1000's of skulls have been placed in a memorial to the victims.

It was a morbid experience but it had to be seen, and it was one the main reason we visted Phnom Phen.

On our return, we booked the bus for the following morning to Siagon, a whole 6 US each.

So up again bright and early for the long bus trip. So we hit the sack fairly early.

Until the next entry......

PS. Check the photo of the money out. Stacks and stacks of notes here. !!!!

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Photos

Killing Fields - 2
This building is full of Skulls

Money money money
A whole 6 bucks