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Asia » Cambodia
April 10th 2009
Published: May 5th 2009
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31 March

We left Bangkok early in the morning in a minibus headed for the Cambodian border. Despite the lengthy journey, things were kept interesting inside the bus with an incident involving pickled mango (read: sticky sugary juice was all over the bus and vain attempts at cleaning it with wet wipes and trying to siphon the juice from the pickled mango bag into a yogurt container were disasters) and the discovery that thin boxed breadsticks advertising themselves as having a sweet corn flavor do, in fact, taste EXACTLY like sweet corn, minus the butter running down one's chin. We arrived at the border in time for lunch, so we ate lunch. Naturally it was Pad Thai. We walked across the border, stopping first at the Thai immigration office to check out, then wandering no-man's land (which actually has heaps of people, probably attracted by the massive casinos not allowed in Thailand), popping into the very tiny Cambodian immigration office (which issues visas and stamps!) before finally being officially in Cambodia. We boarded a bigger bus for the journey to Siem Reap. The differences between Thailand and Cambodia are glaringly apparent from the start: 1) Cambodians drive on the proper side of the road, Thais do not; 2) Thailand has tons more money than Cambodia.

Upon arrival in Siem Reap, we went for a stroll through town and wound up at the Night Markets. Here you can pay money to put your feet in a tank full of fish. We did. The fish are called Doctor fish (Garra rufa) and their favorite pastime is eating the dead skin off of tourists' feet. Backpackers have particularly tasty feet (mmm callouses!). The sensation felt when dozens of fish are munching on the feet is like hundreds of tiny suction cups, completely unbearable at first, but after 10 minutes, only mildly unbearable. With our shiny, clean, slightly numb feet we headed to Dead Fish restaurant, the inside of which is like a treehouse, with ladders and platforms at all levels. Hammocks and low tables with cushions for chairs are the norm. The weirdest bit: the restaurant owns several crocodiles, which are inhumanely kept in a little enclosure below the restaurant. You can pay to feed them. But really, the crocs should be kept somewhere better. The restaurant also has performances of traditional Cambodian dance, originally performed in front of the king. I think all Cambodians are double-jointed in their fingers. There's no other explanation for how their hands bend the way they do.


1 April

ANGKOR WAT!!!

We hopped in the bus early and headed for the temple grounds. Tangent: The Angkor temples are privately owned. This means that the man who owns them can charge as much as he wants. He charges $20 for a day ticket. This is an ABSURD price.

Our first stop was at the gates of Angkor Thom, the old city. The gates are at the far end of a moat, with the bridge flanked on both sides by rows of men tugging on the snake king. Why? They are trying to churn the Sea of Milk in order to free up their treasures lost in the waters. They wrapped the giant snake around Mount Mandaranchal and on one end, the demons and bad guys pulll the snake and on the other the gods and good guys pull on the snake tug-of-war style. All their efforts (over a millenium I do believe) end up pulling the mountain into the sea. Luckily a giant turtle comes and puts the mountain on its back. And voila. More or less.

From here we went to Bayon, a massive temple that's like a giant jungle gym (liability shmiability) with loads of staircases leading all over the place. Some are absurdly steep and climbing back down them is quite a feat. There's also a giant Buddha near the temple. And from here we went to the aptly named Elephant Terrace (not apt because it's made out of elephants - it's made out of stone) and the stadium. We were told lots of interesting facts about these, but I can't remember them.

Next we went to ANGKOR WAT. It is a huge wat. There are lots of place to get very confused. The entire outside wall is a giant bas relief, with all sorts of scenes from Buddhism, Hinduism, local history and whatever else struck the carvers' fancy. Inside, the massive towers from all the postcards and photos. Absolutely amazing! But really, the getting lost bit was a problem. Completely drenched in our own sweat, we kept wandering, finding new paths and then ones we'd been on. We made a stop to admire a few bats who've made their home in the wat (The smell is a giveaway. So is the guano. And so are the bats flying around). After navigating our way back out of the temple, we headed back to SIem Reap for lunch at a local cafe (vegetable noodles, of course!) before tackling Ta Prohm. If you've seen the Lara Croft movie, then you're familiar with Ta Prohm. If you haven't, that's ok. Neither have I. The temple was built in the 12th century and since has fallen into complete ruin. Angkor Wat and all the surrounding temples were only discovered by the French 150ish years ago. Before that, they were completely shrouded in jungley foliage. Jungles have loads of trees. And trees are what destroyed Ta Prohm, not war or poor architecture. Tiny trees began sprouting on top of the temple and slowly these trees took root. And they kept growing. And growing. And growing. The roots grew down between the stones, pushing them apart and plunging further into the walls. When many trees do this, the temple doesn't really stand a chance. Mortar might have helped?

After posing like Lara Croft (I have no idea how Lara Croft actually poses, but I'm good at making things up), we headed to Pre Rup to catch a glimpse of Angkor Wat from 7 km away. To get here, we drove through more of the temple grounds, which surprisingly have a thriving population of locals. The temple was another set of massive stairs and yielded some impressive views. But this wasn't good enough for sunset!

If you're imagining all the sunset pictures of Angkor Wat from above as seen in your google image search, I don't have any. Mainly because those are all sunrise pictures. Sunset happens on the other side of Phnom Bakhong, the temple on the hill overlooking Angkor Wat. To get up there on a hot day after walking most of the day looking at other temples you'll look for any easy path. Do not mistake the elephant path for an easy path. There are elephants on it. They take up the full width of the path. They also make big stinky obstacles in the middle of the path. The path also hairpins a lot and gets boring, so you'll be tempted to climb up the trails bypassing the hairpins. These are not as friendly as they seem. You will do a lot of scampering and get cut by mean Cambodian bushes. Eventually, you will reach the top. And discover that the temple has MORE STEPS!! But sunset is worth it.


2 April

After a leisurely morning doing a lot of nothing, we boarded a fancy local bus to Phnom Penh. Fancy local bus means there is a moist towelette, bottle of water AND snack box provided. Snack box has 3 baked goods, 2 of which are vegetarian. Fancy bus also means there is a TV. Cambodians do not have the best taste in TV and will play the "Best of Mr. Bean" DVD until your head explodes. Once head is fully exploded, they play Cambodian music videos. The music all sounds alike (there's a lot of tinging) and almost every video setting is a fancy party with lots of dancing guests. Now head implodes. But before that could actually happen, the bus broke down. Luckily, it was outside of a school. We all sat happily inside at the desks which were awkwardly chained to the chairs making for uncomfortable closeness to other bus passengers. Only 20 minutes after the breakdown, the bus was up and running and we reboarded. The next stop was a scheduled stop for snack and toilet break. Snacks on offer at the intersection included mango, pineapple, baked goods, crickets, other fried bugs. Yum. Back on the bus we drove through more Cambodian countryside, past goats, cows, rice paddies, duck farms and all things rural. Nothing seemed out of place until the realization struck that the ponds the duck farms were in and many of the waterlogged rice paddies weren't planned indentions. Cambodia was victim to years of American bombing due to the presence of the Ho Chi Minh Trail which allowed the North Vietnamese a back door into South Vietnam. Trying their luck at guessing where the series of trails were, the Americans mercilessly bombed huge stretches of Cambodian countryside. Countless Cambodian civilians were killed. The rice paddies and duck ponds are bomb craters.

Just an hour outside of Phnom Penh, while slowing to pass a man in a wheelchair on a stretch of busy road, our bus was rear-ended by a pick-up. Everyone from the bus got out to assess the damage: the back of the bus was dented into the engine (which is a bad thing). This was apparently the most exciting thing to happen in this town in ages, as children came running from the backs of houses and men trotted in from the fields to have a look. I'm sure the presence of 15 Westerners had nothing to do with it. It was totally the accident. A replacement bus was then sent from Phnom Penh. Not wanting to wait and having to drive to the capital anyhow, our bus crew managed to pound the bus into shape enough to drive. So we all hopped back in and headed towards Phnom Penh. Another half hour later, in the dark, we pulled off the road into a dark driveway where we were told we'd be switching to the other bus. Once outside the bus, we were told that the replacement bus that was supposedly en route from Phnom Penh had broken down. So back into the bus and off to the capital. We arrived soon after in a total downpour. For dinner, we ate at a delightful restuarant with loads of veggie tapas and then popped over to the FCC for drinks before bed.


3 April

The hardest history lesson I've ever endured.

We arrived mid-morning at Tuol Sleng, a former school comprised of 4 buildings, more remembered as the Khmer Rouge's biggest prison. The Khmer Rouge, under Pol Pot (Brother Number One), officially took power in Cambodia in 1975, though it had already begun enforcing it's strict form of agrarian communism. In order to accomplish the end goal of equality amongst Cambodian people, all cities were to be evacuated and the citizens were to work on large collective farms. In Phnom Penh, the evacuation of the city took three days. Citizens were promised that they would be able to return soon. The party's base was the uneducated rural masses. Their enemies were the intellectuals - the doctors, lawyers, teachers - who were rounded up in large numbers and executed. Even those looking like intellectuals, or those who wore glasses, were interrogated and killed. Tuol Sleng, S-21, had over 17,000 prisoners in the nearly four years the Khmer Rouge was in power. There are twelve known survivors, five of these were children at the time the Vietnamese forces entered the prison (Pol Pot ordered attacks on Vietnam in 1978, which were easily abated and Vietnamese troops entered Cambodia soon after). Cambodians were not the only victims - Americans, French, Aussies and Brits were also held at Tuol Sleng. At the time the Vietnames came to Tuol Sleng, there was evidence that the prison had been hastily evacuated. 14 prisoners, each in interrogation cells, had been brutally killed before the Khmer Rouge prison guards left. Each cell contained a bed, one prisoner in leg irons chained to the bed, a desk and chair, and an American Army issue ammunition box which was used as a toilet by the prisoner and was allowed to be emptied every two weeks. The 14 prisoners had all been savagely murdered and gutted. In most the liver had been removed and was likely eaten by the guards as it was said to provide strength. The gall bladders had been removed with probable intent to seel the organs to China for use in traditional medicines. Many of the victims had also been cut across the chin. From this cut, their faces had been peeled off. Only the victims have been removed from the cells (they are buried in the coutryard of the prison). The beds, the leg irons, the ammo boxes and the blood stains still remain. The prison guards responsible for these acts as well as for the torture of thousands were children. Boys and girls as young as 12 (and generally no older than 20) were recruited by the Khmer Rouge. Uneducated, poor, and easily persuaded, they were ideal candidates to carry out the inhumane tasks of the ruling member of the Khmer Rouge. The boys worked as prison guards, interrogating prisoners (pulling prisoners' fingernails, clamping scorpions to womens' nipples, waterboarding, electric shocking). The girls were cooks, boiling the few grains of rice allotted the prisoners each day. Each time new guards or cooks were introduced to the prison, they learned their tasks from the old staff. Then the old guards and cooks were killed.

From the prison we headed to Choeung Ek, the Killing Fields. Almost all of the prisoners from Tuol Sleng were brought here, just barely out of the city of Phnom Penh. Thousands of victims have been found here in more than 140 mass graves. Almost all of them women found have been without clothing, the likely reason for which being rape before murder. Adult victims were lined up by already dug pits where they were bludgeoned once with a blunt rod. If this didn't kill them, they were buried alive. Children and babies were grabbed by the ankles and beaten against a Killing Tree before being thrown into the graves. Only half of the graves have been excavated. Because of the rainy season in Cambodia, the area is flooded every year, causing shifts in the soil. Walking along the footpath between graves today means walking on bits of bone, tooth and clothing of the Khmer Rouge's victims.

All told in only 3 years and 8 months, the Khmer Rouge killed two million Cambodians. Two million of their own people. Although the Khmer Rouge was forced from power by the Vietnamese, Pol Pot was still Brother Number One until his death in 1998. Today many of his highest officials are in court. The harshest sentence that can result from the trials of these men for crimes against humanity is life in prison. Given their ages, most will only serve a few years in prison. Most of the Khmer Rouge, those who worked as guards and underlings in the 1970's, will never be tried. In attempts to carry on with life and look to the future, they have all been pardoned.


After the earth-shattering morning, we went to the Russian Market, mass of covered stalls selling everything imaginable. If you're in the market for hot food, souvenirs, motorbike parts, name brand clothing (cast off from the nearby manufacturing plants) or car tires, this is the place. This is however not the place when the temperature approaches 100F. We abandoned ship early and headed for respite in a restaurant near the FCC. After refueling and cooling, we set off on a quick walking tour of the outsides of many of Phnom Penh's prestigious landmarks.

To further emphasis how incredible the Cambodian people are, rebounding from unfathomable horrors to be a delightful, friendly, happy people, we ate dinner at the home of our tour guide. In Cambodian culture, it's customary for the groom to move into the house of hiw wife's family. If you have a lot of daughters, you get a big family. Run's wife has 5 sisters. They live with 30 people. There are two toilets. But my oh my can they cook a delicious feast! And for dessert? Tarantula rice wine. Rice wine with tarantulas floating around in it. Deeelightful. So I hear.


4 April

Leaving Phnom Penh behind, we headed to the relaxed beach town of Sihanoukville in another fancy local bus (with snack box). We spent most of the day on Occheuteal beach on sunchairs. This idyllic scene was interrupted by hoards of children (claiming to be 12 because that's the law, but clearly as young as 6) selling bracelets! Every Cambodian child on the beach sold bracelets. And everyone had to talk to every westerner. Multiple times. And then there were the threaders -- women walking up and down the beach checking out how hairy legs, armpits and brows are. Threading is perhaps the most painful looking hair removal process, where hairs are practically plucked a few at a time by being caught between two threads. And these women are eager to inflict the pain, sending their children to feel up hairy western legs for possible threading. And there are fruit vendors. It all makes for a noisy, obnoxious beach experience. Dinner wasn't much better. But at least the beach parties in the rain made up for it.


5 April

Desperate for a relaxing day at the beach, we headed to Sokha, a privately owned stretch of the Sihanouville coastline. For $1 per chair rental, we enjoyed bliss. No children. No threaders. No fruit sellers. Just beach, swims and a trip to the supermarket for lunch.


6 April

Four hours in the minibus brought us from our beach getaway to the middle of nowhere, between rice fields and rice paddies (which I reckon are the same thing). Here lies the Vietnam border. There are a few 8' x 10' concrete buildings with labels such as "quarantine" to alert you to the fact that, yes, this must actually be something. The last tiny building is the border guard, or the man who stamps the passport/my hero. The locals do not go through such formalities, rather they simply lift the barrier gates and drive their ridiculously heavily laden motorcycles to the other side. We walked around the gates to the Vietnamese border office where we scan our bags (I don't think they look at the scan) and fill out arrival cards before getting fancy new stamps. Then we got on another bus for a quick ride to Chau Doc.

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