Blogs from Phnom Penh, South, Cambodia, Asia - page 21

My morning began at 12:02 SAM, when my assistant arrived and needed to be vetted before the clerk would let him into the room with the sleeping student he's rooming with. Up again early and then a group trip to the Russian Market, where several kramas, pairs of pants, and bags were purchased. Lunch at a Taiwanese place (Candy Taiwan Tea House), then a brief rest at the hotel before tuk-tuks to the Foreign Correspondents Club. A slow walk up Sisowath Quay, with a temple and some restaurant scrutiny, then I gave everyone some time on their own. I went first to Artisans Angkor to look around a little, then to Seeing Hands, a massage business that employs blind masseuses, and had an hour-long reflexology foot massage ($7). The man on the table next to me ... read more

By far the most heart breaking and gut wrenching place I've been to...Why would people do such horrendous things to one another? Fuck politics... Other than religion, only politics can manipulate people to commit such atrocities. The Killing Field is where prisoners, during Pol Pot's reign were taken to be executed. Prisoners that consisted of teachers, doctors, husbands, wives and children. Anyone who Pol Pot deemed a threat to his regime. It was pretty much Cambodia's version of the Cultural Revolution. Pol Pot would recruit poor uneducated Cambodians who would be easy to manipulate. While killing off all the gifted and educated Cambodians. Truck loads of prisoners would be transferred from Toul Sleng Prison to killing fields daily. Loud speakers would play patriotic music at night to block out the screams of prisoners' execution. Bullets were ... read more

Against my better judgment we decide to pull off the road and take a look. Coincidentally, when we pull of the road, we just happen to stop right in front of a mechanic. After we look at the engine for a few moments, I notice a gap where the muffler attaches to the manifold. I put my hand next to it and I can feel the hot air blowing out. Luckily it is just a minor thing and we won’t have need of the mechanic who is now sitting in front of his shop staring at us. We decide to keep going. We can still drive without any problems it just makes talking difficult as it is quite loud. I figure I can get it fixed early tomorrow morning in Phnom Penh. We hop back in ... read more

I’m woefully behind in posting. When you live abroad, or maybe just when you live anywhere, it is either feast or famine. It feels like weeks will go by when nothing in particular happens and then—BAM—everything is happening and it’s all coming so fast you don’t have any time to write about it but you know it is really impactful and you want to share. Since my last blog the political situation has gone from heightened to off the radar. The opposition party has refused to assume their seats in the government and they schedule occasional protests and tour the world trying to get someone to pay attention to the situation in Cambodia. Eventually, people get tired of opposing and they have to go back to work. Now it is sort of like YAWN, old news, ... read more

For the last few days we have been in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The bus journey here was even worse than the last one. On numerous occasions, I just had to close my eyes and pretend I wasn't there as I could see the bus driver on the wrong side of the road with trucks coming towards them. It seems very normal here to drive in this way. We are yet to see any accidents! In Phnom Penh, there are famous places that are very sad to visit. In the 1970's, a party of people, the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot, wanted to rid the whole state of any Western influences and got rid of anyone educated, religious or involved with any other governments. There is a place called Tuong Sleng that was ... read more