In the Shadow of the Khmer Rouge...

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A quick run-down on our time spent in Cambodia:

Fede and I were only in Cambodia for 8 days, I believe… We had a rough idea of what we wanted to see and how long it would take to see everything, so we went ahead and bought a flight from Phnom Penh to Bangkok for the 13th of May, knowing that we had to meet up with Cory once he had arrived on this side of the world. This would give us 8 days to see the sights in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, the two main destinations in Cambodia. Obviously, there are other places to go- other places that sounded really cool, actually, but since Cambodia is the least-developed country in SE Asia, it is much harder to get around than the others we had traveled through. Its only recently that they’ve completed a paved highway that spans the width of the country- we had heard stories of nightmare bus rides between Siem Reap and Bangkok, so opted for a cheapo flight on Air Asia (I LOVE Air Asia, btw…), and the deadline was set for May 13th.

We started out by taking the bus from Saigon to Phnom Penh- about an 8 hour fide, if I remember correctly. Nothing too spectacular to note about the journey, other than that I almost wasn’t allowed into the country. Quick story- we had been told that a tourist visa for Cambodia would cost us $20US at the border, and that the border guards typically only accepted US dollars. So, Fede and I made sure we each had around $30US cash on us, for we had also heard that the guards liked to charge “special fees” for no reason in particular. We arrived at the immigration station, went through the process of filling out the visa forms, and then went to pay. I had a $20, two $5s, and two $1 bills on me- I thought $32 should be plenty- I wasn’t going to pay any more, that’s for sure. Anyway, I get to the booth where I have to pay, hand the guy my $20 bill (They weren’t charging “fees” that day, I guess), the officer looked at my passport, visa form, and finally the $20 bill. I thought everything was fine, but then he really started examining the bill. It turned out there was a tiny tear- I’m talking a millimeter, 2 at the most- in the very center of the top of the bill, almost lime someone had folded it in half to create a crease, and just a little bit had torn. Other than that, the bill was fine- crisp, even. But nothing doing- the immigration officer was not about to let me into Cambodia with a torn $20 bill. “Go change! Go change!” he demanded. “Where?” I asked. “Is there a bank around here somewhere? A currency exchange?” “No, no bank.” “OK, then where should I go to get a different bill? I’m on the border between Vietnam and Cambodia, for crying out loud!” “Don’t know, you’re problem. You change!” Great. Where was I going to get another bill? If it had been rejected by the border patrol, no one else was going to want to trade with me- maybe it wouldn’t be accepted elsewhere? I asked a few people, trying to get through the language barrier, but either they didn’t understand me, or they didn’t want to take the chance on a torn bill, because I didn’t get any takers. Finally, I came across one of the workers on the bus I was on, explained the situation to him, and he traded a bill with me. I was extremely grateful- I don’t know what else I would’ve done… Back to the immigration booth, I handed the officer my passport, visa form, and new $20 note with a smile, and was on my way. Jerk…

So- Cambodia… What can I say? It is an amazing place, for several reasons. It has such a rich history- the ancient being beautiful, powerful, and immense; the recent inhuman, incomprehensible, and terrifying. We got a taste of the latter in Phnom Penh. If you’ve ever seen the movie The Killing Fields, then you might have an idea of what we saw and learned about while in Phnom Penh. Without giving a full blown history lesson here, Ill try to explain. I the late 1970s, a communist dictator named Pol Pot took over the Cambodian government. In the years that followed, he led the country down a grotesque and horrifying road towards his goal of an uneducated, totally agrarian state. During this process, a full-blown genocide took place, as anyone with any sort of education was systematically destroyed by the Khmer Rouge regime. Phnom Penh was the capital city then, as it is now, so it is literally littered with the remnants and reminders of those terrible times. We first visited the site of the Killing Fields- a network of mass graves that were used as the burial sites for thousands of executed Cambodians- which is located about 20 kilometers outside of the city center. It is an indescribable place. The first thing you see is a memorial built to commemorate the thousands of people that were killed during the genocide. It looks similar to a temple, strong and beautiful in the morning sun, but rather than being filled with painting, incense, and deities, it is filled with over 8,000 skulls that have been disinterred from the mass graves located just meters away. Every skull tells a story of horror and hopelessness- a single bullet hole in the temple, a massive gash above one of the eyes, a gaping cut along the side of the head. It was impossible not to imagine what the final seconds of life were for each and every one of those thousands of skulls encased in the memorial- not to mention the thousands of other victims that were left to rest in peace in the numerous other graves that were not disturbed. Horrific, to say the least- not only what those victims went through, but also the capacity for man to do something like that to his own countrymen. It is incomprehensible; indescribable, so I won’t try to go any further here. It was a beautifully sunny day, with children running and playing in the schoolyard a short distance away, but as I walked around the site, I was overwhelmed. You can still see the clothes, the bones of those mercilessly slaughtered there, sticking out of the dust and the dirt. Various graves are labeled according to what was found when they were unearthed- again, no need to go into details, but it was sickening. I walked back to the memorial and just stared at it for awhile- 30 minutes, maybe an hour? Who knows… I was trying to grasp it, trying to really acknowledge what had happened there, but couldn’t. I prayed for the peace of the souls of those that had met their end in such a horrific way in the place I was standing. Something one can never understand… So yeah, that was The Killing Fields- a place worth visiting, for sure, but a place that leaves you searching for a reason, along with your breath.

We left the Killing Fields and headed to the Genocide Memorial Museum in downtown Phnom Penh- more of the same. The Khmer Rough transformed a high school in the city center into one of the largest prisons and torture facilities in the country. You can walk through the classrooms, many of which have been transformed into tiny cells for the prisoners. In many rooms, all there is is a metal bed frame, a long metal rod, a box of some sort, and an eerie black and white photograph of what was found there when the prison was liberated. Again, sickening stuff. Along with this are photographs- literally the mug shots of the prisoners who were kept there- lining the walls of the museum. I think something like only 4 people that were sent to this prison survived? Not sure if that is entirely accurate, but it is pretty powerful when you are looking at a wall covered in head shots, and know that all of those people died there. There was a 40 minute film that told the story of a newly married couple that was sent to the prison toward the end of the rule of the Khmer Rouge- heartbreaking, to say the least. Once again, the feelings and emotions I felt while walking the halls of this place aren’t really describable- I’ve never felt anything like that before. I’ve never been in a place like that before. The only thing I could compare it to would be a Nazi prison camp from World War II, and I’ve never visited on of those. It’s frustrating, because you feel so much emotion for the injustice and for those that suffered and died under such a maniacal leader, but there is nothing you can do about it. It left me feeling drained, numb, and feeling helpless. Again, a place worth seeing, but it isn’t nice.

So, after seeing such horrible things in Phnom Penh, we decided to head west to Siem Reap to see something a little less intense. Well, Angkor Wat is intense, but only in its immensity. It’s listed as one of the 7 Wonders of the World, and is the crowning jewel of the ancient Angkor kingdom of Cambodia. We bought a 3 day pass, and hired a guide and a tuk-tuk to take us around to all of the palaces and ruins. It was incredible, to say the least. One can’t imagine how such massive palaces and temples were built back in the 10th, 11th, 12th centuries… Kind of like the pyramids in Egypt, I guess. I felt like Indiana Jones, hopping from stone to stone amidst the ruins of ancient temples that have long since given sway to the rule of the jungle that surrounds them. I also took about a thousand pictures. I’ve tried to pick out the best of the lot and post them here, but, as usual, pictures don’t do any of it justice. I could go on and on here, but then you would probably end up like Federico did by the end of the 3rd day- another temple is just another temple. I loved it though…

There’s always more to tell, but I’ve got to leave it at that… Trying to think if I’m forgetting anything important about our trip to Cambodia… Heaps more stories, but they can’t all be told here. I’ve been on this computer for waaaaayyyy too long anyway. My bum hurts, and I’m hungry! 😊
More to come sooner than later, hopefully…

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Photos

The Killing Fields...
You can still see human bones and clothing sticking out of the dirt and sand- such an awful, unimaginable place.

The Killing Fileds...
Undistrubed mass graves at the Killing Fileds

The Mausoleum at the Killing Fields
Over 8,000 human skulls from the unearthed mass graves are stacked on the shelves inside the memorial- each with a bullet hole or a massive gash. Simply unbearable to think how each and everyone of them met their terrifying end...

Cells at the Genocide Museum
This former High School was converted into the largest torture and extermination facililty under the Khmer Rouge Regime. It now stands as a memorial to those that suffered there and in the nearby Killing Fields.

Comments

[Sister Hilary]

Soul STirring Story
Nick, that is a wonderful travelog on Cambodia. Doo you realize how blessed you are to have this time to see the world. I am so happy for you.