waterloo sunset

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greetings and much love everybody!

been in the capital phnom penh the last few days now after triapsing down from efferverscent siem riep. while superlatives like imposing and grandiose are employed to typify the very heartbeat and arterial of any country, quite the contrary this capital disproves the very notion. its hardly imposing, most genteel and still in the nascent stages on the road to a flourishing finish, albeit a good 30 odd yrs behind the world we're so acclimatized to. my only gripe is that we find ourselves nestled in the very suffocating kao san rd-esque mould of guest houses, where you find yourself tucked away with deep fried farangs. well the only redeeming factor is the sublime sunset that we're privy to every evening, declining against a backdrop of lowlands while we overlook the lake that hugs the town.

today we took a day trip outside of the city proper to visit a couple of sites with a past so harrowing and heinous it beggars belief. the abomination that is associated with those leafs of history haunt the khmer people til this day. we look no further than the s-21 prison, and the killing fields. both congruously mentioned in the same breath with pol pot's tyrannical khmer rouge regime, ruled with nothing more than an iron fist. he had, amongst an illustrious cv, re-caliberated the local calender to the year ZERO and modelled the nation fundamentally into a peasant state, not unlikt maoist china. it is perhaps little wonder that life here has taken a much unhurried and deliberate pace; ços just awhile ago they didnt even have a tomorrow. it was a heavy day of sorts, emotionally draining and visceral to the very bowels.

so we decided to take a slight veer off the itinerary, adopting to dispense with sihanoukville down south and we were in favour of kampot instead, still down in the south, where there's a colossal national park with many waterfalls so that spells like a ball that awaits us. will be there a couple of days before we traverse back to the capital here in phnom penh before the next border crossing to vietnam! til then my goodfellas. i'd catch you all soon. be good!

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Photos

in your face
inside the stupa at the killing fields that houses an entire array of skulls, testament to the lives dispensed so cheaply with. tragic

a world unknown
privvy to a cell in the s-21 detention camp. they nvr quite saw the light of day

wow
kids having a blast at the tonle sap river. ignorant of the fact the water is filthy. bliss i suppose.

international language of love
spectators to an impassioned game outside our guest house

nature at its barest, highest order.
for a meagre usd$3/night. HAHA swell.

Comments

[wei]

great shots of the kids and you definitely got a million-dollar sunrise view.

[andy]

nothing beats sipping a beer and taking in the sunset at mekong..

[Alex McCurdy]

Meet us!
Joses! Andy told me about your blog and wow, you're really moving.. FAST! At the present moment, I'm at Hoi An and will be heading up to Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sapa. From there though, I might fly home from Hanoi (by the 24th of Mar when visa expires) or head into China and meeting Andy and gang in Guangzhou. Let me know if you wanna meet up dude. And my blog: www.travelblog.org/bloggers/alexmccurdy

[Joses]

alex! mr ducktours and mr couchsurfer also haha! we're only reaching saigon tmr man. hard la sial. cos we'd be spending quite alot of time slowly traversing up me thinks. ok in any case i'd keep u updated. got ur travelblog long ago la haha been voyeuring the whole time! andy hows it going back at home??! so wad are the travel plans for this time arnd? with joel again! haha make sure got proper toilet!

[Joses]

spurs
haha dammit u guys had it good against west ham! got ur emails abt australia, and the alpha male(s) hahaha! bloody hilarious i wish i was there to watch all of that unfold man. happy times! will reply ur email in detail soon man. catch u all over in this domain in the meantime. send my rgs to DAIRY FARM FC aka whacko jacko academy!