Miss Cambodia - Phnom Penh

Day 1:

After a six-hour (pleasant) bus journey, we arrive to Phnom Penh. A place were we have heard lots of negative stories and seemingly not a particularly safe place.

So far on our trip we have been staying at family-run guesthouses for a mixture of ethical and financial reasons - but here we splash out ($80)....we are staying at the Foreign Correspondents' Club. Our room is spacious, spotless and we are so excited!!  Wohoo we have hot water and decent Wi-Fi connection for the first time since leaving Bangkok - I can update my podcasts! All our light-coloured clothes are yellow, thanks to the 'laundry' (in a shed) in Siem Reap and everything smell musty! So, we scrub ourselves up as best we can.

Our new tuk-tuk driver, Satan (my fingers are crossed this is not a bad sign), picks us up from the depot, and we strike a deal with him for the next day.

Phnom Penh is a city where I feel choked with pollution and the stench of rubbish rotting under the blazing heat. Everyone is in a hurry. Horns blast continuously. Motos and tuk-tuk weave precariously between the SUVs and Lexus of the elite. This is chaos on a level we have not witnessed so far on this trip. Thin, snotty-nosed children roam the streets in hoards - some of them selling, some of them begging, some of them sleeping. The FCC is heaven-on-earth in this city. Phnom Penh is hot, but does not have the stifling humidity we suffered in Siem Reap.

We wander to the National Museum.

There is a delightful garden. In an attempt to sit like a buddha I manage to roll backwards into the pond. Thankfully not caught on candid camera.....

The artefacts and monuments are remarkably well preserved. Little information is provided in the Museum so we get bored pretty quickly.
We stroll around a little longer, before returning to the FCC for dinner and drinks....let me emphasize, this is luxury!

The view from upstairs, looking onto the Red River

Day 2:

We meet Satan at 9am, after a wonderfully lavish breakfast in the breezy restaurant. Poached eggs, scrambled eggs, relish, exotic fruit, muffins: sensory overload!! I have a large black coffee, which makes me very, very happy! :-) Mid-way through this scrumptious affair, Mother exclaims "Oh my God!....you have got a humongous hole in your trousers!!!". Sure enough, yesterday's falling into the pond episode have resulted in my new Laotian trousers ripping a football sized hole....well, you can image where.

Delight, satisfaction & happiness on a plate

Today we are devoting time to understand more of the modern history of Cambodia. We know it is not going to be pleasant, but feel that in order to pay our respects to those who died in the genocide, and in order to more fully understand Cambodia, past and present this is something we need to do.

First, we are headed for the 'Killing Fields', situated 15k outside of town. We pass the National Museum, the Silver Pagoda, the Royal Palace and the university - all new buildings. Although having said that is takes about 45 minutes of driving through unbearable dust, dirt and smog to reach any kind of greenery. Rubbish piled high dominates the streets, in between the corrigated iron shacks. We also catch a glimpse of the wealth of the suburbs - rows of gated, white mansions.

Street stalls

The Killing Fields.

The Kymer Rouge implemented one of the most brutal 'restructuring' of a society ever attempted - the goal of which was a pure revolution - to transform Cambodia into a peasant-dominated agrarian cooperative. Seemingly, Pol Pot gained 'inspiration' from looking back to Ankorian times where the country produced vast amounts of rice. On the 17th April 1975, the entire population of Phnom Penh were forced to march to the towns (even the sick, elderly and infirm), and work as slaves for 12-15 hours a day. Any disobedience resulted in death. The Pol Pot faction of the Kymer Rouge launched their bloodiest purge against the Eastern zone of the country in 1977, sparking civil war and drawing the Vietnamese into the equation. The country cut itself off from the outside world - currency was abolished and postal service was cut. It is not known quite how many people died at the hands of the Kymer Rouge (somewhere between 1 and 4 million), many also died of famine and disease. Most were separated from their families. On the 7th January 1979, the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia from the Kymer Rouge.

The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek are the site where 17,000 men, women and children were detained, tortured and exterminated. Mass graves have since been discovered and the fragments of skulls, bones and cloth are displayed in memorial building.

Memorial Building, containing layers of openly visible skulls

We noticed some TV cameras and what looked like an interview. We decided to eavesdrop. It turns out that the 57 year-old gentleman being interviewed was the previous chairman of the Swedish-Cambodian Friendship Group (a group that is no longer in existance). An emotional and deeply-moving account of this man's involvement with Cambodia is revealed to us. 30 years ago, as chairman, he was invited to visit Cambodia (one of the few people who were allowed in at the time). He met with various members of the Kymer Rouge government who painted a very rosy (and untrue) picture of the country. Following his visit to the 'ghost town' that was Phnom Penh, he went back to Sweden and painted the very same rosy and inaccurate picture (unknown to him at the time). News of the reality of the attrocities were not unveiled for quite some years later. This man admits to living with the regret and guilt of his misrepresentation of the truth. We speak to him at the end of the filming - he is here to apologise to the Cambodian people. This sincere expression of regret and sadness moves us to tears.

We talk to another man who recalls his father leaving with the Kymer Rouge (under the false pretense that he was going to conduct more academic work at another school with superior resources). That was the last time he saw his father.

We find out later that the Killing Fields site was recently 'privatised' and is now owned by a Japanese company - it seems distasteful (to say the least) that an external company should be benefitting from those who come to pay their respects at the loss of life in Cambodia.

Local boys ask us to take a photo but they don't want to smile

Rubbish clutters the streets

The Tuol Sleng Museum.

To continue on our journey of learning about the attrocities of the Kymer Rouge, we visit S-21 prison, now the Tuol Sleng Museum. Originally the Tuol Svay High School, this became the largest centre of detention and torture in the country. It is not a pleasant place to visit, but the information in the museum is laid out clearly and is extremely informative (and thought-provoking).

And, just in case anybody is feeling particularly jolly, there is a sign reminding us to keep a straight-face.

Like the Nazis, the Kymer Rouge were meticulous is keeping a record of the people who died at their hands - photographing each person before and after the torture.

1000's of harrowing mugshots of children, women and men line the walls of the museum. Some of these images are of torture and are deeply disturbing. One can walk through the cells to see the metal frame of beds and implements of torture. I will spare you the photographs.

The National Anthem of the Kymer Rouge

Forced to work as slaves, many died of exhaustion and starvation

This poem by Sarith Pou gives some idea of what the regime entailed...

It has been a heavy and depressing morning, for some light relief we whitter away a couple of hours at the "Russian market". We end up buying a few bits 'n bobs and chatting to the local girl who reiterates the negative feeling many Cambodians we have talked to hold towards 'Mr.Thai'.

Later, we sit along the river front for a cold drink. We get chatting to a couple of 10-year old boys who are selling guide books. We chat to them for almost an hour - they speak excellent English, and they tell us that they are attending school (I wonder). Like all children, these little fellows just want to play. Soon, all thoughts of selling books are gone and they are giggling and singing. It turns out they are hungry. We buy them some AMOK to take-away, and wish them the best of luck. Mother notes these are bright kids, most likely these are the ones that will do better than most. I feel somewhat empty inside. There are so many hungry kids here.

Here in Phnom Penh we have seen a number of grey-haired, withered Westerners sharing tuk-tuks and restaurant tables with 2, 3 or 4 female children. Paedophilia, prostitution, child trafficking and parents selling children is rampant. The seediness is everywhere.

We step inside the FCC, away from the mahem and poverty. We eat pizza and cloud the memories of the day with some 'Ankor Sunset' cocktails. We observe our new friends, the lizards for what may have been hours.

Cambodia is a wonderfully, fascinating country - it has captured my attention and imagination almost instantly. Over dinner we discuss how we might describe it to our friends at home. We agree, it is not for the faint-hearted. I feel I have learned so much about the history of this country in just a few days, but in reality have got only a little insight into present day Cambodia. The Lonely Planet guide describe the country as 'a country with a history that is both inspiring and depressing, an intoxicating place where the future is yet to be shaped".

The more optimistic among us may believe that things are changing for the better..but, it is difficult to tell to be truthful.

I wonder about the negative impact of tourism. Sure its bringing money into the country - but who really is benefitting from the million or so tourists who visit Ankor every year?

Some of the people we have met were truely considerate and pleasant, however, with others it seemed as though their charm could be switched on and off depending on whether you are going to buy or not! Unlike, many people we had met in Laos and Thailand, there appeared to be less curiousity about us as people, human beings. Not just a walking piggy bank, there to be tapped open. Having said that, it is perhaps not surprising - there are still 2 million people are below the poverty line. There are huge food shortages and the country is heavily reliant on outside aid.

The next morning we taxi to the airport in silence. There has been a lot to take in over the past few days.

There is heavy rain, outside people are wearing ponchos. Rain does not phase them. The typhoon from Vietnam is moving in this direction. We are leaving for Hanoi, north Vietnam.