I Think It Is Important For You

So Long Vietnamese Propaganda

The bus journey from Saigon to Phnom Penh was fairly uneventful and by uneventful I mean the bus left us, the only Westerners, at the border because it was lunch time and everyone wanted to get food. So while we were sorting out our Cambodian visas and stamps the rest of the people on the bus were enjoying lunch two kilometres down the road. When we got out of the border station we found one of the bus attendants waiting for us with mototaxis. I was not thrilled with the idea of having to get on the back of a motorbike but after much futile arguing we gave in and were delivered back to the bus. After the bus attendant made fun of us to his colleagues we were rushed back on the bus and on our way to Phnom Penh.

We were met in Phnom Penh by our tuktuk driver Ratha (so happy to be back in a land with tuktuks). He carted us off to our hotel and made plans to pick us up the next day to see Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields) and then to Toul Sleng Genecide Museum because, in Ratha's words, "I think it is important for you."

Mass Gravesite Craters At Choeung Ek

Choeung Ek is the most well known of the over 20,000 mass grave sites in Cambodia. At first glance it seems a quiet orchard. When you look closer you can see the bones of the people who were murdered there. The pathways are littered with them because whenever it rains, and the rains are starting now, more bones come to the surface. There is a memorial stupa in the centre of the field that houses around 5000 skulls. You can walk inside and find your age group. The Khmer Rouge spared no one; there are the skulls of children and adults. When you get that close, how they were killed is painfully clear. Because the regime didn't want to "waste" ammunition most people were bludgeoned to death or tossed in a hole with lime and DDT thrown on top. The soldiers played music to mask the screams so the people who worked in the surrounding fields would not become suspicious.... Truckloads of "prisoners" were brought to Choeung Ek and none were ever transported out.

The prisoners who were brought to Choeung Ek came from Toul Sleng or Security Office 21 a high school turned prison. The Khmer Rouge shut down all schools during the Pol Pot era because he felt people should only get diplomas from hard work in the fields. Now it is the Genecide Museum, one of the most haunting places I have ever been. The rooms that were once classrooms and then prison cells now house devices of torture, shackles, and rusty bed frames but the most disturbing are the photographs. Yes there are photographs of prisoners who were tortured to death but perhaps even more haunting are the rooms filled with board after board of faces. The prison guards took head shots of every person who was caged at Toul Sleng, almost all were killed. I forced myself to look in to their eyes. Some were numb, looking like they had nothing left inside because everything had already been taken away. Some smiled, especially the teenage boys; was it an act of defiance, their first time in front of a camera, or were they completely unaware of what was to come? Some had looks of revenge in their eyes; if they had been given half the chance they would have escaped and come back with reinforcements. And then there were the children; children in their mothers arms and alone looking in the camera with overwhelming fear, confusion, and oblivion. Heartbreaking can't even begin to describe it... I think you get the idea.

Much of what we value in society Pol Pot tore apart. Schools and hospitals were destroyed, religion was banned, currency was abolished, people with any education or perceived education (people who wore glasses) were imprisoned and killed. Families were forced from their homes in the cities and made to walk for days to work camps in the countryside. Children were separated from their parents and sent to children work camps. People were forced to work from sun up to sun down with little food to survive. Those who were not killed directly died of starvation and disease. Between April 17th 1975 to January 7th 1979 Cambodia lost nearly a third of its people to Pol Pot and his vicious Khmer Rouge regime.

So Ratha is right; as hard as they are, these places are important to visit.

Ratha Our Tuktuk Driver

 

 

 

 

After all the tears of the day we decided to console ourselves with a great dinner at Friends restaurant. Friends International is an organisation that takes at risk youth and gives them jobs and mentorship. It is one of many NGOs throughout SE Asia that work to support people with disadvantages. Helping to teach skills and provide income to individuals who would otherwise find themselves completely without support or livelihood.

The rest of our time in Phnom Penh was spent with less emotionally charged activities. We visited the Russian market so named because of all the Russian tourists who used to frequent it, the central market, the twisted gun, the national museum and the Royal Palace.

After Phnom Penh we ventured east to the remote Mondulkiri province to spend time in the jungle. Oh and also hang out with ELEPHANTS!! The whole time we have been in SE Asia I have wanted to visit elephants but most of the opportunities that presented themselves involved riding them or watching them perform some kind of circus tricks. Not my idea of fun or humane. Needless to say I was thrilled when Matt found the Elephant Valley Project (EVP) near Sen Monorom.

Tidy Work

 

 

 

We were picked up at 7:30 in the morning and after a short ride and safety lecture we hiked our way down to what the EVP staff call "heaven" where we met Bob and Onion bathing in the river. Then along came Ruby, Mae Nang, and Ning Wan. It was heaven indeed to watch these graceful beauties soak in the river and then cover themselves in mud. We spent a few more hours with the trio and then hiked back to camp for lunch. Matt volunteered in the afternoon hoeing the banana fields while I hiked into another part of the jungle to meet Moon, Buffet, GeeNowl, and Easy Rider. Similar to the morning myself and a few other wide-eyed foreigners watched as the elephants waded in the surprisingly deep river (Moon managed to immerse herself almost completely) and rally for top spots in the mud ravine. Day two we cut and harvested banana trees in the morning. In the afternoon we watched the elephants make tidy work of the 12 inch wide banana stalks. Our last day Matt split his time between volunteering and elephant gazing. I on the other hand did no volunteering and simply soaked in as much elephant time as possible. It was lovely. Especially when one of the elephants got close enough for me to give her a little pat behind the ear.

We left the camp in the late afternoon and spent the night in Sen Monorom, a lovely mountainside town with a few streets, a market, and a very fine pizza joint.

Please forgive the length of this post, which Matt says is far too long. We have been in Cambodia for just over a week and I already have so much to say. The people are incredible. They have been through so much and they keep on smiling with forgiveness in their hearts. They continue to tell their stories without apology. It is truly humbling.

Bracelets Left Behind on the Gravesite Fences

Mahouts (Elephant Handlers)