Whew! It becomes rather an easy feat to avoid posting a blog entry when you're really busy with the whole travelling and sightseeing thing... But alas! Marc has taken me by the shoulders, steered me into the internet cafe, sat me in a rather comfy chair and demanded I type away! Not literally... but he has, with words. And guilt. People won't know if we're alive! They'll stop checking our blog! Sheesh. When I don't write, we're just off having fun. Or simply exhausted from the travelling. Either or. Or as they would say in Southeast Asia, "Same, same".
Now that the background has been spilled, I am writing from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. When thinking about this post on our way into the city, I was going to title it "No Roads in Cambodia". I would have been kidding, of course, but it certainly felt like a statement of fact on our bus ride from Vietnam yesterday. I've never been bounced around so much on a bus in my life. At least the bus was air-conditioned. Having spent the better part of the past week in the cooler, rainier climate of Central Vietnam, our bodies are slowly readjusting to the heat. Now don't go getting any funny ideas - by 'cooler' I mean low to mid-20s, at night, and on the rainy days. Although a local across from me had the A/C vent fully open and I had to pull out my sweatshirt as I was freezing! What are we going to do when we arrive back home?
On the subject of temperature, to give you an idea of temperatures over the past few months, when in an A/C room (not all that often in some of the countries!), if it was set any cooler than 25 degrees, we were cold, and turned it up or off altogether.
We underwent the strangest Visa process to enter Cambodia. We never actually came face-to-face with an official, but were simply handed our passport by the bus staff, visa in place. However, in every hotel we've stayed in, we've had to hand over our passports and usually they are kept at reception for the duration of our stay. What's that they say about never allowing your passport to leave your sight? Yes well... cannot happen in Asia. It's unreal to realize we can be tracked for an entire four months.
Cambodia. Country #6! I didn't know too much about the country when we decided to visit, but while in Vietnam I read an eye-opening, well-written book about the horrors of the Khmer Rouge/Pol Pot regime of the mid-to-late '70s. I've been trying to read a book about every country we're visiting on this trip, but realize I have missed Laos and Vietnam.
Phnom Penh itself was once a rather bustling city but now still appears to be recovering from the '70s. It's no wonder. Apparently half of the country's population was born post-1980... That just shows how many people were brutally killed by the Khmer Rouge. Phnom Penh seems to be one of the hardest hit cities. The Khmer Rouge was this ultra Communist party that took over the country in April 1975 and set about 'purifying' Cambodia and in essence, setting it back about a hundred years. The 'pure Khmers' were the rural farmers - the uneducated, the poor who lived off of the land and did not rely on outside influences or imported goods to survive. The city dwellers were considered evil and were to be killed as they had been exposed to western ideas and culture. Further, anyone who was not fully Cambodian, such as descendants of the Chinese, were also not permitted life as part of the new regime. Essentially, anyone that might have the education or experience to question the new regime had a mark on their head and was as good as dead. I suppose the lucky few managed to escape, including our tuk-tuk driver today, who was 14 when the KR came to power. He fled into the jungle but at some point was held prisoner for three months. He lost his father (a university professor), mother and brother. His sister managed to survive but they did not find one another until years later.
Today we visited S-21, a former high school, now a museum, that was used as a detention centre and interrogation and torture chamber by the Khmer Rouge. It still houses some of the tools used and blood-stained mats remain on some of the metal beds. There are also rows of pictures of the victims, including many young children. Feeling rather disturbed, we moved on to the Killing Fields. Might as well deal with the horrors all in one day, no? Besides, seeing the aftermath is nothing like living the reality. Despite having read a detailed account, I can't begin to imagine myself going through it.
The Killing Fields of Choueng Ek were exactly what the name suggests. This is where the Khmer Rouge brought their victims, including those tortured at S-21, and killed them. They've excavated some of the mass graves and there is a massive memorial displaying thousands of the victims' skulls. As we were walking around, we noticed a bone sticking out of the dirt on the path we were walking. Creepy. There is even a tree from which they suspended a loudspeaker to drown out the screams so neighbouring farmers/residents wouldn't get suspicious. I don't get that, as I thought they'd essentially cleared out the city, but I'm obviously missing many facts of the entire period. All told, approximately 1/4 of the country's population was killed during the Pol Pot regime.
As we were driving around today, Marc commented the city reminds him a bit of India, I suppose due to the dirt-lined streets, and the sand everywhere. It seems some of the ruined monuments and parks are being fixed up, yet much also seems to be completely functional. It's rather stinky here, what with the somewhat open sewage and all. The system is similar to Hanoi but somehow nose-grippingly putrid. There are few streetlights in the area where we are staying, so after dark there is a very eerie, creepy feel as the street and pedestrian traffic reduces significantly. Couple that with the fact we've heard it's a little dangerous in Cambodia and it's cause for a bit of discomfort. Honestly, I don't think we have anything to worry about, but you won't catch me wandering after dark. During the day though, the people are fabulous. All smiles and warm greetings. And incessant offering of tuk-tuk and motorbike rides - this is SE Asia, after all. Thankfully we haven't seen too many orphaned or limbless beggars (landmines, courtesy of the unbelievable Khmer Rouge, are rampant outside of the well-trod areas). It sounds crude and insensitive, but it's very difficult to not be affected by, well, the affected. This is also why we try to eat and purchase from establishments working to assist orphans, street youth, and the disabled (common in both Vietnam and Cambodia, due to relatively recent circumstances).
A side note - we use $US here and it's actually on the pricey side! Go figure... never believe what you hear or read, eh?
Tomorrow morning we head to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor. We were going to make a detour for the beach but have decided to save the relaxation for the islands of Thailand.
Now that you're caught up on the past two days, I'll move back into Vietnam.
My best to all,
Trish
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