Fun and horror

I arrived in Phnom Penh (Cambodia's capital) on a mini-bus service that claimed to not use blare loud Cambodian music, like most buses, instead they just blared U2 the entire time and I still ended up getting off the bus with a splitting headache. At the bus station where they drop you off are hoards and hoards of tuk-tuk (the local taxi) drivers literally fighting for your services. I wasn't sure if I was suppose to be impressed that I was getting so much attention (4 of them were banging at my window the second the bus stopped), scared that I was about to be mauled (there are more drivers than people on the bus so they were literally fighting for position), or upset at the poor economic state that these drivers must be in for having to fight for a $2 ride. If you think government employees aren't payed that well in the States then go to Cambodia, where local police get a whole $35 per month! The drivers must have been upset with me because I opted to walk the mile or so to lake where a lot of the budget guesthouses are.

I found a decent place near the lake but didn't stay there long as I went off to visit the Royal Palace and National Museum. Again, opting to not get a ride there but instead walk proved to be an excellent decision because I got to see a whole lot more of the city than I otherwise would have. In between the various rows of touristy streets are the typical city streets of Cambodia, dimly lit, dirty, and altogether not looking like a place I'd want to go alone. I have heard some horror stories about backpackers being beaten and in two cases killed (though these were probably exaggerations) over their belongings. Stealing a camera and selling it on the streets might only be a $30-50 profit for them, but thats probably a month's wage so the risk is worth it to people I suppose. I had zero problems in the city but was told by a few people to be careful where you take your camera out. Fortunately the Royal Palace was a place to take it out because it was beautiful there. The architecture screamed "Asian" to me, and I mean that in a good way. It was extremely beautiful and elaborately decorated with beautiful tiled roofs (see the pictures in a previous post). The Royal Palace houses the Silver Pagoda, which is aptly named due to the 5,000 silver tiles covering the floor (you do walk on carpets to hopefully not ruin them). The Pagoda also contains a near life size golden Buddha dressed with over 9,500 diamonds, a crystal Buddha, and an emerald Buddha as well....quite impressive. The grounds were very well kept and made for a pleasant afternoon.

That night I think I met up with every British backpacker in Cambodia and stayed up until 4am watching the European Champions League final between 2 British teams, Chelsea and Manchester United. It was the first all British final ever I think and the game was quite entertaining to watch with a group of rather drunk Brits. There was a line drawn down the middle of the bar for the Chelsea and Manchester supporter to separately themselves, and in the middle they put the Americans and Canadians because we were more or less neutral. Manchester won in penalty kicks by the way.

The next morning started far too early. It was a day that I had long looked forward too but was queasy about nonetheless as I was planning to visit the museums regarding the recent tragic history of the country. The first stop was to Tuol Sleng, commonly known as S-21. Tuol Sleng was at one point a school, and the buildings by and large very representative of a typical school....except for the barbed wire surrounding just about everything. In 1975 when Pol Pet's forces took over the city to start their "revolution" they transformed the former school to a security office, S-21. Thousands upon thousands of prisoners were held, interrogated, and tortured here before they were shipped off to the Killing Fields just outside of town for execution. All-in-all there were only 7 survivors from this place. Cambodians, those supporting the revolution and common people who were accused, by and large without evidence, of being against the revolution were brought here to be interrogated. They submitted thousands of pages of documentation about evidence linking themselves to the CIA or Vietnamese forces before being executed. When they refused to talk or had no information to give they were tortured by being whipped, hung, and generally beaten until they talked. The museum now shows several pictures and the rooms that the people were inhumanely kept in and is an extremely overwhelming experience at times. The Khmer Rouge had no regard to the age of its victims and showed no mercy. They were trying to return Cambodia to its rural roots and not allow for education of any kind. Doctors, teachers, engineers were among those especially targeted by the forces. All of this happened just a few decades ago and it certainly has not left the minds of many Cambodians. It still haunts them to this day for various reasons, adding to this is their belief that your body becomes a ghost without a proper burial, which none those at S-21 received, meaning the country is still haunted by their past. A truly remarkable sight to see.

After S-21 I headed over to the Killing Fields themselves which were odd. They were in a former park and today it basically looks like a park again with a school just outside its borders where children were playing and screaming like any other school day. At the Killing Fields people were brought, kneeled over a mass grave, and were hit in the back of the head with farming tools (bullets were too expensive for the Khmer Rouge to waste on these people) before their throats were slit to finish the execution. That is the basic history of it. Some 130 or so mass graves exist and you are allowed to walk around some that have been dug up and excavated, but there isn't really much there anymore besides ditches in the ground and signs saying things like "This is the tree that the babies were hit against"..."This is where the killing tools were stored"...etc. Not too much to see, but the history of it all is still remarkable and made for one of the most moving sights I've ever seen.