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Published: October 6th 2008
Our last couple of nights in Cambodia were spent in Phnom Penh where we were due to review one of the tragic events of the last 40 years - the Khymer Rouge genocide of the Cambodian people in the Killing Fields and associated prisons.
After seeing the film the previous day it had set us up for what to expect and the whole experience of this period of Cambodian history. We visited the former prison S-21 in the centre of Phnom Pehn which is now the genocide museum and then picked up a bus to go to one of the killing fields, just outside the city. It was pretty harrowing stuff but we had an excellent local guide who explained the whole experience very well. It is as you would expect a pretty sombre place but it is unmissable. It is really amazing to what depths certain aspects of humanity can stoop to.
Our final day in Phnom Pen was a chance for us stroll around the Golden Palace and take in a bit of culture and then we had a group cyclo adventure as aprt of a local project to help some unfortunate souls turn the corner and make some
Prison cell
Note the photo on the wall depicting a prisoner found dead on liberation of the prison.money from driving around the city showing the sites. This was really good fun and extremely scary as these guys were hurtling through the very busy streets at reasonably high speed. There was a significant amount of finger nail chewing and cringing when a car almost piles into the side of your cyclo. Carolyn was very lucky as she had rider that did not want to get wet as there were dark clouds rolling in so she got whisked away at high speed to the drop off point. The problem was it was not the drop off point and we lost Carolyn for 40 minutes and by this time the rain had come with a massive electric storm and Gary was soaked to the skin as he thought she had been kidnapped and was trying to get some money together in the rain.
The only way to turn around the situation was to get into the Foreign Correspondents Club, whilst it was on happy hour and have a small drink. 2 jugs of Sangria later and the the evening was well and truly turned. Our lovely tour guide Mara as requested bought some interesting snacks from the local market -
tarantulas and crickets which had been deep fried. It was a bit of bravado for some of the group although Gary did nibble on a tarantula and cricket leg but did not find the experience particularily fulfilling. Others had more bravado and had the body as well and suffered the consequences the following day.
The next day we were on the move to Vietnam by public bus. The route was expected to take about 5 hours but there was likely to be a delay as we had to get a small ferry across the Mekong river and as it was a holiday weekend there might be a bit of extra traffic and jokingly the coach leader said the delay could be between 1 and 5 hours. He was only slightly out, in fact the delay was over 8 hours and the total travel time was over 13 hours. The ferry port and queue was a nightmare, but thououghlly enjoyable as we could get out of the coach and interact with the locals and enjoying local fayre, such as beer and pot noodles. The group returned to the coach with 24 more beers and smiley faces. It was just like a
rugby tour, but the other westerners at the back of the bus did not seem so excited about our return probably because they were near the toilet.
We finally arrived in Ho Chi Min city at about 2100hrs and then it was a quick shower, change and out for the final group meal to say goodbye to our tour leader Mara and Aussie Kev as the remainder were continuing through Vietnam for the next couple of weeks. The overall experience in Cambodia was brilliant but they have some serious issues with litter.
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