Bangkok - Phnom Penh May 2004

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Bangkok - Phnom Penh May 2004

I spent the last month in Bangkok and had a good time there. I went to a few tourist spots that I hadn't seen before and I was there for the Thai New Year Water Festival in April. It’s so much fun, many people go around with buckets of water or giant squirt guns, trying to soak everyone they see. They even soak policemen! My kid had a wonderful time. And it was great to have all that wonderful Thai food again, I really had missed that.


I've been in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for about two weeks now and it's very different from Thailand. The Cambodian people are similar to the Thais in many ways but they are different too. They are very laid back and good natured, like the Thais, and it's a pleasure to live among them. The food is very similar, maybe not quite as spicy. Cambodians look somewhat like Thais but there are differences too. It's really hot and humid here, hotter than Bangkok! I mostly stay in my hotel room during the afternoon. I really don't like the heat, the temp gets over 100 most days. The monsoon rains are just now starting. We've had a couple of days lately when it rained and that can cool things off a bit. I hope that continues, it's supposed to. This is the hottest part of the year, I must have a word with my travel scheduler!

There's not much in the way of ancient historical sites to see here, I visited the best of those in Angkor a few years ago, and they were extraordinary. Here the big story is the Khmer Rouge rebellion and holocaust where 1 - 2 million Cambodians were killed by their own people in the 70's. It's a horrendous story and the country is just now starting to really recover from it. I talked to a man at a restaurant about it and he said he lost most of his family to the rebellion and he’s very angry that most of the KR leadership have still not been brought to justice. The gov't seems to believe it's best not to open up old wounds.

Toul Sleng was a high school that the Khmer Rouge converted into a prison where thousands of Cambodians were tortured and exterminated by fellow Cambodians. There are many mass graves for it's victims in areas outside of Phnom Penh.


I walked around on one Killing Field and there were places where bones and clothing just below the surface were showing through.


Today there are a lot of young men missing an arm or a leg, from the land mines that they are still clearing away. Unemployment is high and it's not safe to walk around late at night. There are supposedly a lot of unemployed solders that still have their guns.

There are some beautiful sights in Phnom Penh like the beautiful Buddhist temples that are everywhere, as they are in Thailand, and the Royal Palace complex. They look very similar to the ones in Thailand also.


The French controlled Cambodia for a long time and left their mark. There are a lot of good cooks here and you can get any kind of food you want, I haven't had a bad meal yet. Some of the buildings have that French look like you see in New Orleans, as does my hotel. My hotel is very nice and it's right on one of the three rivers that merge here, I have a great view from my room and balcony. What's really comical is to hear a Cambodian speaking broken English with a French accent! It's too funny!


I'm planning to go to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam next week. I intend to travel north to Hanoi eventually and see a lot of Vietnam. I’ll go from here by speed boat on the Mekong River to the border. That should be interesting.

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Photos

Traditional Thai Dancers
Traditional Thai Dancers

Toul Sleng 4
Toul Sleng Museum

Toul Sleng 22
Toul Sleng Closeup

Toul Sleng 43
Toul Sleng Victims

Killing Fields 9
Killing Fields: Bones and clothing uncovered in the ground

Wat Phnom 3
Wat Phnom

PP Natural Museum 15
Phnom Penh Natural Museum

Cozyna Hotel 1
My Hotel in Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh 4
View from my hotel balcony