Life and History in Phnom Penh-boat down the Mekong and arrival in Saigon/HCMC

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Xin chao from Saigon,

I have had difficulty getting to the email over the past few days and we have been doing a lot of travelling by different modes of transportation which has made it difficult to stop, pause, reflect and share.

The last time I wrote we were leaving for Phnom Penh after a great time in Siem Reap at Angkor. We flew out of a very small airport in Siem Reap and had a short flight looking out over the rice paddies and overflowing Tonle Sap Lake.

We arrived to at the New York Hotel to a street filled with tuktuk, moto and and truck traffic everywhere. Marie was my roommate for this petit sejour. Our afternoon was spent at the Royal Palace where we saw the silver pagoda. It is a complext of beautifully painted buildings, temples and buildings of royal regalia. I love the purple, blue, green and yellow paint on the buildings. Barefoot we joined the tourists as we walked through the temples and admired the sculptures, reliefs (paintings on the walls). I took a lot of cool photos but I am having trouble getting internet speeds that are fast enough to upload them.

After the palace we went for drinks at the Foreign Correspondent's Club on the riverside. This is an upscale bar that has great photos of some of the foreign correspondents and when you sit in the upstairs you don't even feel like you are still in Cambodia. There was a beautiful sunset that night which made for a warm welcome in Phnom Penh. Dinner was spent at Frizz; a khmer restaurant run by a dutch expat. Phil, Riel, Ed and I had Khmer bbq.

Next morning was probably the hardest experience emotionally so far on this trip. We went to see the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields and S21 the detention and prison centre. The thing that shocked me about this whole historical event, similar to Rwanda and other countries who have been in civil war over the past century, is that 9 million innocent and educated people, men, women and children were assasinated, killed, maimed and tortured and the world had little or no clue it was happening. I was very upset at the Killing Fields to see the huge stupa monument filled with the skulls of the dead and the piles of clothing belonging to the dead. There are markers on the shelters that indicate the number of bodies who were thrown into the massed graves. When I read the sign for women and children, I lost it. I had tears in my eyes and I was shaking. Amazing how reading the statistic had such an impact on me. My friend Nuddy walked past me and said "it's okay, it's in the past," but the reality is, we need to acknowledge the horror of this terrible event and learn from it. Walking past the skulls, hanging tree and other parts of the site was quite difficult... however I am appreciative that I had an opportunity to go there.

For the second part of this historical learning experience we went to S21 (Security Centre 21) that is the highschool that was converted into a detention, prison and torture centre. The school is now a museum of photographs, paintings and objects from 1975 and it appears just as it did then. Lots more to share about this later.

For lunch we went to the Russian Market and ate at Yejj-a restaurant that empowers young women by teaching them cooking and serving skills so that they can become employed and earn a wage. The food was mostly western but they had the best panini sandwiches I have ever tasted.

Friends was the place where we had dinner and my friend Kyla Smith joined our group. This restaurant is run by youth who formerly lived on the streets and now have been put back on their feet through education with the restaurant. The food is tapas and is delicious. I bought a bunch of things at the store that is run by the same organization. It was so great! I hadn't seen Kyla since we were at Ottawa U together so it was great to catch up with her. She is working for an NGO in Phnom Penh on water sanitation projects. After dinner it was back to the FCC.

Saturday morning we got on the boat to travel down the Mekong to Chau Doc on the border of Cambodia and Vietnam. It was a neat experience to see the floating houses on the brown river but it was a very noisy ride. We had to get off the boat to see immigration out of Cambodia then return to the boat and ten minutes later get off and wait for our passports to be stamped into Vietnam. A very strange experience. We basically waited under an outdoor shelter as young kids tried to sell us water under the watchful eye of the Vietnamese guards. Finally we got our passports back and were on our way for 2 more hours to Chau Doc.

Chau Doc is a transient town where tourists stop for one night. We went for a tour to the top of Sam Mountain to see the sunset. The view was so spectacular to see the Mekong River and how it flows between Cambodia and Vietnam. Our dinner was floating-our introduction to Vietnamese cuisine-fried noodles with veggies and meat. It was good.

Nex morning, rise and shine! We were off to Saigon, only the length of the journey was 6 hours. Fortunately the roads were better paved than the road from the Cambodian border to Siem Reap. We had a very touristy lunch and then finally arrived in Saigon around 2p.m.

My first impression of HCMC is that it is very busy, polluted, crowded and it is so HUMID here that you just want to stay inside. We headed to Chinatown this morning for a brief while and then for a tour of the Reunification Palace.

I am about to meet the rest of the folks on my journey to the north.

Hope this post finds you all well. Would love to hear how you are all doing.

Thinking of you on the other side of the world.

love Katy

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Comments

[Ryan]

Remembrance
Hey Katy! So glad to hear from you again! I love reading your stories and insights from across the globe! I must say, the thing that struck me the most was the Killing Fields. I think it's definitely important to acknowledge the past, because it makes us understand the present. And especially since Nov 11th in coming up, I think it's absolutely critical we remember those who lost their lives in any type of war, battle, or invasion. I should also say that I'm a little jealous about the food over there. I actually went out to dinner with a few friends last night, to the "Mongolian Grill," which was absolutely amazing! But I'm sure, that by physically being in that region, you the get that authentic taste! Can't wait to hear from you again! Take care, and all the best! Ryan