......in phnom penh...one of our fave dishes here in this unexpectedly glorious city is 'chicken amok' - a khmer curry that has so many layers of flavour - garlic and chilis and cumin and coriander and kaffir lime leaves and did i mention chilis? the only cure is any icy swig of very good Cambodian beer...
our evening meal is the perfect foil for a sober day of reflection at the infamous 'killing fields' of Cambodia where we have spent the day. the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot were brutally precise in photographing the thousands upon thousands of victims of their madness and as i pass the wall upon wall of their photographs, i make a point of trying to look into each of the faces gazing mutely back and try to imagine what they were feeling at that moment. i cannot of course. nothing in my rare priviledged life provides the context for that - i can only strive to understand. i am abit taken aback at how stoically calm most look and wonder if it is because they have no idea of the fate that awaits them...or perhaps it is the opposite and they know only too well what awaits...that if strong and healthy they will die a slow death of forced labour and starvation, and that if otherwise they die a quicker yet no kinder death at the edge of a mass grave in what is now an idyllic setting of butterfly strewn gardens and greenery. its been dry and hot hot hot now for weeks but after every wet season a new crop of bone and clothing comes to the surface and i am alarmed to find myself stepping around rags and bone protruding from the earth...bins and benches around the site have small piles of bones or clothing, freshly emerged too from the earth, stacked on them, waiting for collection and addition to the stupa that encloses what must be a 12 or so story glass enclosure of thousands of skulls unearthed here.
the entire day has been a somber and surreal day...before reaching the killing fields, our tuk tuk driver takes us to a shooting range, attached oddly or not so oddly to any army barrack...where upon we are shown to a table and handed menus. hilariously, Ian and i both say 'oh no thanks -nothing to eat'...and the fatigue clothed 'waiter' rolls his eyes and points to the menu items -
for $80 US we can shoot a handgun...for $120 US we can shoot an AK47 machine gun...and so it goes...the menu reaches a dubious crescendo at $350 to fire a rocket launcher.....hahahahaha.....we buy a bottle of water each and exit as gracefully and as quickly as we are able and run laughing back to our tuk tuk....the remenants of cambodian army see no profit from us today.
and so my point in relaying to you the profoundly sad or the merely bizarre details of life here in Cambodia is to simply hone a finer point on what we really will take away from our time in Cambodia - we have never ever in any of our travels met with kinder, gentler, more fun loving and generous people than here. among the worlds poorest they have endured war, both civil and that spilling over from Vietnam and the insanity of brutal Khmer Rouge regime (at a time when i was bopping around in my own self centred party girl mode I am embarrassed to admit)...and yet each day the Cambodian people we have had the privilege of meeting, greet life with a rare grace and humor. this country has been a joy from the moment we landed (me smelling less than wonderful after a rollicking rollercoaster ferry ride - but that is a whole different story...). thank you yet again for joining Ian and I on this ride - some pure hedonistic bliss, some horrific examination of what humankind really are capable of inflicting on each other - all of it life affirming...
with love and our best wishes to you for good health and happiness - and yes world peace too!
deli and Ian
