Kingdom of Cambodia

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Hi all,

Well we left Saigon and crossed the border into Cambodia to the capital,
Phnom Penh. Not a great city at all, quite bland. Stayed 2 nights there
and went to see S-21, which used to be a school but was turned into a prison
by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge after they took control of Cambodia in 1975.
Men, women, and children of all ages were kept there and tortured. Most
were then taken off to a place now called 'The Killing Fields' outside Phnom
Penh. We went to see that and they have exumed loads of mass graves. People
were beaten to death or buried alive there as the soldiers did not want
to waste ammunition by shooting them. Very sad to see, and they built a
special tower to store all the skulls they have exumed........almost 9000
in that area alone.

It is thought that the Khmer Rouge massacred upto 3 million of their fellow
Cambodians during the 3 years & 8 months they were in control, out of a
population of about 7 million at the time. This small communist guerilla army, lead by a devout Marxist, and financed by China, overthrew the government (itself a corrupt militart junta that had seized power in 1970), and then set about converting the country back to the Stone Age. Everyone had to leave the towns and cities and work in the fields - there was no concept of time, money, or family. Everyone with an education was murdered. The idea was to create a agragrian society, but with no foreign aid, and engineers, doctors, teachers etc all dead, the crops failed, irrigation failed, and millions starved to death.

At least with Hitler's holocaust, or Stalin's purges, there was a reason, no matter how abhorrent, that could help you begin to understand the motivation behind these genocides - be it racial hatred, or the paranoid pursuit of power. But with the Khmer Rouge, you're left stumped. I just cant fathom how anybody could think it was a necessary for families to be split up, how the country could be better off without anyone with an education. And all of these atrocities were committed against fellow Khmers (cambodians). It is simply incomprehensible

Even more tragic for the Cambodian people is the fact that after the Khmer Rouge was toppled from power by the invading Vietnamese in 1979, the leaders slipped away into the jungles, and maintained a quiet, but powerful infulence over Cambodian politics until their peaceful deaths in the late 90s. Quite how they esacped justice is another source of bewilderment to your average Khmer.

And then there's the continuing legacy of 20 years of civil war. Landmines. The most heavily mined country on earth - these horrible little things are still around, and kill over a 1000 people a year, and maim many more. Every town is full of legless or armless victims, either begging, or selling drinks.
But despite all this tragedy, the Cambodians just cheerfully get on with life - the street kids smile and play the fool, and the street hawkers are friendly, take no for an answer, and wish you a nice day. Without getting all sentimental and mushy eyed, it really is a lesson for those of us in the West who, relatively, have everything we could desire.
There was one guy, who was injured by a landmine 15
Cambodian petrol station Full Image years ago, and had hands blown off. He pushes a cart around, and buys and sells second hand books with backpackers. He makes a handfull of dollars on a good day, and has to provide for his family. But he was just cheerfully getting on with it, and was friendly and chatty

Unbelievable to see, it makes u realise how strong the people are to have come through that.


We arrived today in Seam Reap which is alot nicer and smaller. Organised
a tuk-tuk driver who will drive us around the Angkor Wat ruins for $10 a
day. He took us this evening to one of the temples to see the sun set and
we bought our tickets. $40 each for a 3 day pass to the Temples, but it
looks amazing.

After here we think we will head for Ko Chang in Thailand....

Got a cash advance of $300 on the Visa today, and the stupid eejit in the
bank only made me sign a slip for $200, so it will be interesting to see
what happens there!!

Later people,

Phil

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