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Published: January 27th 2010
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“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” - Phillip R. Slocum
Cambodia has an even darker history than Laos. Not only were they heavily bombed by America as well (unofficially again), but around the same time Saigon had fallen to the North Vietnamese, the Khmer Rouge nightmare began, ending only a few years later with over 2 million people dead. The Khmer Rouge wanted Cambodia to become a communist country based solely around agriculture, and anyone educated, who spoke a foreign language, or who wore glasses were branded parasites and systematically slaughtered. While this makes little sense to me, what makes even less sense is the fact that America supported the Khmer Rouge (I thought they were against communist countries!?!?). Even the UN recognized the Khmer Rouge as the official government of Cambodia until 1991, and in fact Pol Pot—the leader of the Khmer Rouge—lived in the lap of luxury in Thailand until his death in 1998. Only now are a very few surviving members of the Khmer Rouge being tried for their crimes.
It seems little wonder, therefore, that Phnom Penh feels like
an empty shell of a town. We would go out on a limb and say it was our least favorite major city in South East Asia. Jakarta is super dirty but the people will talk to you, and Bangkok makes you want to punch someone in the face but at least that's an emotion, but in Phnom Penh we just felt drained and soulless. It's hard to put a finger on what causes it, but I think it's the fact that people are very wary of each other. Not only can't you go out at night for fear of getting mugged, but people seem to capitalize on each other's misfortunes. The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek is a place where 17,000 people lay in mass graves, and should be treated with respect, we feel. However, it's been sold to a Japanese corporation merely for its revenue and touted as a “tourist attraction.” Not only is this bad enough, but after you're done seeing the results of human brutality, taxi drivers will come up to you and try to take you to a shooting range where you can shoot machine guns and (you are not going to believe this) you can
SHOOT A MALNURISHED COW WITH A BAZOOKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😞 😞 What is wrong with people!?! It's things like these that give the very electrons in the air of this city a negative charge. At least the Tuol Sleng Museum is decently arranged. The former high school that was turned into a security prison notoriously named S-21 became the largest torture and detention center in the country, killing as many as 100 people a day. The rooms were left as they were thirty years ago and even the building is decaying. It's not hard to imagine the horrors that happened in these rooms.
Traveling out of Phnom Penh to Siem Reap is like taking a breath of fresh air. This town is mainly a jumping off point for exploring the nearby temples at Angkor Wat and is the last stop before we went back to Bangkok and awaited our flight to India. Angelina Jolie is the most well known celebrity in Cambodia for two reasons: she worked with a lot of poor Cambodian kids in villages, and Angkor Wat is prominently displayed in “Tomb Raider.” You can hear “Angerina Joree” mispronounced wherever you go. The temples at Angkor were built
between the 9th and 13th centuries when the Khmer empire stretched from Burma to Vietnam. While a few of the temples may seem small by Egyptian standards, I would argue that all the 50+ temples, moats, walls, and shrines easily required more manpower and labor than all the pyramids of Egypt, they are just so far spread out. Not only did they have to move the heavy stones into place, but then they had to carve them into designs. It's easy to wander around for days here, but we elected to do only a one tour which seemed enough to take in the major temples of Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm, and to see the sunset from the top of Phnom Bekheng. Some of the ruins are in such disrepair from the constant struggle with nature that it makes for some great photographic opportunities, you just have to make sure not to wander into any “danger” areas. I personally enjoyed Angkor Wat more than Macchu Picchu, the Pyramids of Giza, or the Roman ruins in Turkey, but some people will say I'm on crack for uttering such sacrilege. The only annoying thing is the tenacious touts who can get on
your nerves after a full day in the hot sun.
Cambodia is not a bad country if you're interested in history or ruins, but otherwise I would skip it.
Next stop: India! 😱
***TIPS FOR TRAVELERS***
The direct bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap is a well known scam, but the other direction can be annoying as well. We arrived to Khao San Road at a decent hour, but we were forced to sit at an expensive restaurant for two hours and the bus magically came at the exact moment the last person paid. Coincidence? I think not. When they say it takes 6 hours to get to Bangkok what they mean is your butt is in the seat of a MOVING vehicle for 6 hours, but this estimate does not including time at the border or eating.
Don't use any of the ANZ ATM machines. A $12 charge appeared on our statement just checking our balance and withdrawal wasn't an option!
Hotels want to charge you $20 for a tuk-tuk for the day, claiming that if you hire a random guy off the street he may or may not show up in the morning. But we found that if you bargain the night before there is less chance they will find someone else and they are willing to go for less. $12 is a decent price.
This is a rumor, I wouldn't know if it's true, but we've heard so many tourists overdose on drugs in Cambodia because they are so potent (not the tourists, the drugs).
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