We took a morning bus from Siem Reap to the capital of Phnom Penh. The bus had to stop several times to fix some belts that ran the air conditioner. The first time the bus stopped was in a little town where we could get some snacks, something cold to drink, and use the bathroom. The second time the bus pulled over to fix the A/C was on the side of the road, with no bathrooms, no snacks, and nothing cold to drink. My mom and I had out-voted Jeff about taking a boat to Phnom Penh. We had heard since it was the dry season, it could take up to 10 hours to get from Seim Reap to Phnom Penh. Although, the bus, despite all its breaking down, didn't take 10 hours, Jeff still gave us a hard time about the bus being quicker then the boat.
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| The driver/mechanic trying to fix the bus |
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| No snacks! No batherooms! No cold beers! Big problem! |
Phnom Penh is a charming city and easy to navigate (even for me!). The first night we ate at a wonderful place run by an NGO that teaches former street kids about the hospitality industry. Not only were we supporting a good cause, but we had some wonderful food and drinks!
During the Khmer Rouge rule, lead by a man named Pol Pot,from April 17, 1975 to January 7, 1979, Phnom Pehn was almost completely empty. The Khmer Rouge's goal was to transform Cambodia into a peasant dominated cooperative. The revolution set about wiping out intellectuals and the everyone else was to work 12-15 hours a day with very little food. It still is unknown today how many Cambodians died during this time but the estimation is about 1.7 million. We visited the Tuol Sleng museum which was a former high school used a prison (S-21) during the Khmer Rouge occupation. The classrooms were turned into cells and torture chambers. The Khmer Rouge took meticulous records of each prisoner that passed through and now on display in the long corridors are the haunting photographs of the victims. We also visited the killing fields of Choeung Ek about 15 km from Phnom Penh. Here is where the Khmer Rough transported about 17,000 prisoners from S-21 to be excuted. Bullets were expensive so prisoners were often bludgeoned to death with hoes or sickles and there are horror stories of babies and children having their heads crushed againest trees. The victims were then buried in mass graves. Wandering around the peaceful orchard you can look down and see parts of bones or clothes sticking up out of the ground in some areas. Our guide told us that after each rainy season, more bones and clothes are collected and preserved. Ine the center of the complex, there is a memorial stupa built that displays 8,000 skulls of the victims. In both the prison and the killing fields, there is are signs and visitor comments about how these things need to be remembered so they never happen again. It's the same haunting message, Jeff and I saw in Krakow after visiting the concentration camps. How can the human race be so cruel? And why does it happen again and again?
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| Some of the skulls on display |
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| The memorial stupa dedicated to those who died in the killing fields |
Despite such heavy thoughts and subjects we visited in Phnom Penh, we did enjoy the city. We shopped around the Russian and Central markets. My mom and I feed a really sweet elephant some bananas and we ate some great food. All good visits must come to an end, so my mom had to catch a bus to Bangkok to catch a flight home. Jeff and I caught a bus northeastern Cambodia to a town called Ban Lung. It was wonderful to have my mom be a part of our traveling lives for a bit. Thank you, Mom for joining us and building some great memories. We love and miss you. See you soon!
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| Feeding the sweet elephant |
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| Hope this wasn't a religious icon we were harrassing |
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| No we don't need a tuk-tuk |
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| Enjoying good food and good drinks at Friends |
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| Thanks for joining us Mom! |
1 comments:
It was the boat to Battambang and the bus did take 10 long hours if I recall...10 hours of good times that is
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