And finally - Cambodia

Thursday February 7th and Friday February 8th
Phnom Penh
It is absolutely amazing, when looking at a map of SEAsia, that over 2 weeks in Laos we traveled a good amount of distance, but slowly, and in an hour-and-15 minute flight we covered all the land, and water, between Vientiane, Laos and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, a completely different country!

And we certainly arrived in style at our guesthouse for our stay, on the back of two motorbikes. Having been ushered through an exceptionally easy visa/customs declaration process in the Phnom Penh airport we exited the arrivals lobby and crossed the threshold into the chaos that is a major city’s airport parking lot. Immediately we were flanked by drivers of tuktuks, proper taxis and motorbikes – after a bit of back-and-forth with the motorbike guy, we figured out it would be $3/person, we could in fact fit our packs, ourselves and the driver on one bike, and we would have helmets.

So we hopped on. At the last second I asked the guy about helmets again…and he proceeded to take the helmet off my driver, and place it on my head. Talk about guilt in the case of an accident...

Our guesthouse. Well, it’s called the Floating Island and it’s in a very comfy, backpacker-friendly neighborhood adjacent to the most prominent of the city’s slums, apparently. There are countless number of restaurants, cafes, cinemas, etc. within a 400-meter radius of us, which is fabulous. We had chosen it because it’s on a ‘lake’ (read: body of water almost completely covered with plantlife at the moment which locals weave in and out of on boats searching for different pieces of garbage and potentially? fishing), and has a restaurant terrace overlooking it. We didn’t necessarily count on the gambling ring of locals at the entrance to our guesthouse (and I’ve counted limitless others in the neighborhood since) but, c’est la vie, eh?
Oh, and our room. We’re traveling cheap – remember that – we have linoleum lined walls, and bamboo thatched roof, we’re off a long, single hallway that proceeds over the water, and our floor is covered with fake tile wallpaper stuff. There’s definitely a hole in one of the floorboards in the corner, so we try to not tread there, and our adjacent bathroom’s sink comes out of the wall. This is, by far, one of the worst accommodations we’ve stayed in thus far – which just goes to show you how nice we’ve had it up until now, because it really isn’t all that bad…just a tad bit sketchy. I kinda like that it has a bit of character to it.

We arrived early afternoon, so we had a few hours to walk around --- we saw Wat Phnom, a small temple at the top of a hill in the center of the city.
We were psyched because it was actually open! and so we were able to see the inside of our first temple in ages…hopefully the ping starts accruing again. The 6th, also, was Chinese New Year, so there were crazy amounts of people at the Wat giving offerings and starting the new year off right. It was really great to see how everyday Buddhists practice their religion (in comparison to mostly monks we’ve seen thus far). most entertaining, however, was the band of monkeys that live in the trees surrounding this hill who wreak havoc on all those beneath…we saw a few with stolen waterbottles, pieces of fruit, and digging through bags.

We hit up the National Museum, full of both Buddhist and Hindu sculptures and relics. There was a lack of labels and explanations for many of the pieces, so I tried using my fledgling French to pick up on what the French tour guides were saying around me but, no dice. Didn’t help too much. Heather, however, was a fabulous help with the things that she knew, and we saw some pretty cool stuff. After the Khmer Rouge era, many of the sacred pieces from Angkor Wat and other important areas to Cambodia were ransacked and stolen, probably to be sold on the artifact blackmarket. I think in 2000, or around then, Cambodia printed a “100 relics lost” pamphlet with pictures and explanations of just 100 of thousands of lost pieces, and were able to get back at least 8 of them as a result.

Earlier upon our arrival, when our motorbike drivers took us down the wrong alley (things happen for a reason, eh?), I’d noticed a restaurant that was advertising itself also as a cinema, and apparently they were playing the Killing Fields that night. Later we learned they play the movie every night…but regardless, we went for dinner and stayed for the movie. I had really wanted to see it before I left and didn’t get around to it, so I’m super happy we were able to see it before actually going to the Killing Fields on Friday. It’s a great movie if you haven’t seen it – and it was especially fabulous that this restaurant plays it every night for tourists. Says a lot about how the local people are healing from the painful memories of the Khmer Rouge genocide.

And then Friday, oh Friday. Heather’s big thing is Buddhism – so she’s been loving the temple tour we’ve taken up (as have i). But most everybody knows I’m about the more recent history of countries, especially looking into massive human rights abuses, so being able to visit Cambodia and see firsthand the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek and the Tuol Sleng Museum, was amazingly touching and moving.

We started at the Tuol Sleng Museum, more commonly referred to as S-21, which is a school that was turned into the largest and most deadly Khmer Rouge prison. Of the estimated 14,000 prisoners to have been brought there, 7 survived. Almost every victim ended up at the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek after being forced to sign false accusations and ‘biographies’ written up by the prison guards after multiple interrogation sessions. There was a moving documentary on two of the prisoners whose stories are known – a husband and wife separated because of the war; the husband a Khmer Rouge officer, the wife sent to work in a rural village. The documentary was based off of letters they wrote to each other under false pseudonyms, and interwoven was the history of the Khmer Rouge, S-21 and the genocide. Interestingly enough, many of the prisoners were people from the Khmer Rouge army that officials no longer trusted. My impressions were that as time dragged on, the upper echelon of the Khmer Rouge became more desperate and trusted fewer and fewer people, eventually killing large numbers of ‘their own’ as a result.

The museum now displays all the photographs of prisoners that were taken upon their arrival at S-21, a haunting exhibit of the victims of mass, indiscriminate genocide. The worst to see where the children, some were only toddlers when they go there – and to know that they too underwent torture and were eventually brutally murdered – to put it mildly, it was an emotional day.

We then proceeded to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, which are 15km outside of the city. At the ticket booth there were rules posted, and it asked everything that enters to take off their shoes and hats and walk up to the standing shrine for the victims of the Killing Fields, and respectfully take a moment of silence. The monument itself is chilling – it’s rectangular box inside a larger buidling, level upon level full of skulls and bones that were excavated from the Killing Fields. Some had signs near that that would state the gender and approximate age of the skulls, others, you would just guess how they were killed based on bulletholes, fractures or crushed areas. At the base there was a huge pile of worn clothes, also found during excavation, that have since been deordorized and left as a reminder of the once-human aspect of what we were about to see.

Ironically, where the Killing Fields are used to be a tree grove, and once again, plants, trees and lush grass flourish. However, amidst the park-like atmosphere there are gigantic crater-sized holes in the ground. Some have shelters built over them, and information written about how many people were found in this mass grave. One, next to a tree, documented that all the remains found were from women and children – and it’s believed that the tree that now shadows the grave, was used to beat the victims against.

It was an absolutely moving experience to be there, and personally, I appreciated (so much so) the fact that these ‘tourist attractions’ were not only being used to correctly educate the tourist masses, but were built in such a way that they’re part of the healing process Cambodia is still going through. In S-21 there was a photography exhibit of 10 skulls, each photographed and then written about, in detail, the way the person was killed. There was note from the artist that originally the specific skulls chosen were to be displayed as part of the exhibit but because Cambodian culture believes that without proper burial spirits are not at rest, and that bones and skulls house these spirits, objections were raised about putting them on display, especially in closed boxes which would not allow spirits to enter and leave at their will. Therefore, the decision was made not to display the skulls.

That in itself is a testament to cultural values that lie at the center of the healing process for Cambodia. Both Heather and I have remarked on the great feeling we’ve gotten from walking around Phnom Penh (again, everyone thinks we’re nuts for walking…the crazy white people) – but it just feels so alive, which is exactly the opposite of what you would expect. Yes, it’s been decades since the actual genocide, but it’s impressive how well this city, at least, has handled it’s history – thus far, to us.

To finish off our emotional day, we were dropped off at the Royal Palace. We were able to see ancient Buddhist relics, the throne for past kings, documentation of coronations and the illustrious, and well-known, silver pagoda (the name may fool you…all the silver tiles on the floor are covered up to protect them…for a while we didn’t know if we were in the right place).

It was definitely a bit of a shock to our system to go from such an emotionally charged area to one of the most elaborate, expansive and wealthy tourist attractions in Phnom Penh, but it takes all kinds. Check out The Killing Fields if you get a chance – for serious.