Cambodia
The
journey into Cambodia was like every other bus ride and border crossing – pay
an exit fee, pay to get a health card (at least now we know FOR SURE that we
are healthy – they took our temperature...), pay for visa, pay for toilet, wait
2 hours after the driver says we leave in 10 minutes – same, same.... Bear in
mind that this paying thing is merely a few dollars, and went extremely
smoothly.
We had
about a 20 minute break at one bus stop where there were the usual
vendors. But one had bugs for sale on her table, crickets and
spiders. Now Irene has long wanted to try bugs as she used to be deathly
afraid of spiders and figured this was her way of exacting revenge on the
buggers. “You think you scare me?! HA! I’ll eat you
up!!” The lady was kind enough to let her try a cricket, which was
crunchy like a potato chip, but a bit greasy; and a spider leg (the whole
spider was the size of a tarantula) which had a BBQ taste and kind messy like
Buffalo wings, but VERY good tasting. Ed tried the cricket, was not so enamored and declined the spider leg.
We got to
Phnom Penh about 8:00 pm and stayed at the Sunday Guest House. The
service and friendliness of this Guest House surpasses any we have stayed at
yet. We got to the door and as soon as it was confirmed that we had a
reservation, they sat us down for some supper while they finished checking in
another group who arrived just before us. When we were finishing eating, we
filled in the guest card, they arranged a bus to Siam Reap for us the next day,
as well as arranged for a tuktuk to take us to The Killing Fields and S-21
(genocide museum) since we had time prior to our bus departure and they
scurried our bags up the stairs to our room. This was all done with such
a genuine desire to help the guest, and without any pressure from them, it was
indeed a pleasure to do business with them.
Just a
note on the room: We had to take a picture of Ed standing next to the
door to confirm that we really are in the land of Lilliput, at the door did not
come up to his forehead and the ceiling was only about 6 foot 6 inches.
But the bed was the most comfortable we’ve encountered on this journey.
We slept like babies....
The next
morning we arose early, as the museum opened at 8:00 am and our bus left at
noon; we had no time to waste. The tuktuk drove us 15 Km out of the city
to the Killing Fields, where from 1975-79 Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge systematically
slaughtered 20-25% of the Cambodian population, targeting intellectuals (and
their families so there were none left to retaliate) , who were a threat in
that those who have education usually have more complaints against the
government and more likely to revolt, therefore he enlisted and brainwashed
mostly young teenage boys to brutally torture and slaughter those sent to the
Killing Fields. There is still evidence of mass graves, with bones still
visible as well at a 13 meter high monument that houses the bones of some 8000+
victims. The skulls cover 7 of the 17 levels in this glass
monument. It was indeed a sobering, and horrifying to listen to the guide
talk of the stories his own mother and father had witnessed and the physical
and emotional scars they still carry. This entire letter could be spent
describing what we saw and trying to also describe our emotions, but no amount
of words can do any of it justice.
From
there we went to S-21, the former school house that was converted into a prison
to extract ‘confessions’, by interrogation and torture, from the prisoners
prior to being sent to the Killing Fields. One building is left as they
found it, complete with metal beds and leg irons. Another building has
the classrooms divided even further with brick walls forming small cells, about
2 meters by 80 cm. One building is entirely pictures of all the victims that
were processed there. It makes one shudder to realize that there are
probably many Cambodian people that have come here to try to find relatives,
and thus confirming their fate.
The
Cambodian people were liberated by the Vietnamese on January 7, 1979 – we had
visited the sacred monuments on the anniversary date. That night in Siam
Reap, as we were settling down for the night, we heard fireworks and looked out
our 4th floor window for an unobstructed view of the light show. We
turned out the bedroom light so as to see them more brightly. As we sat
in the dark room and watched the fireworks, we realized what a surreal day it
had been. Just that morning we were at the prison and Killing
Fields. We walked next to the mass graves, we looked at row upon row of
nameless victims and shuddered to think that just an hour before we were
possibly inches away from that person’s skull in that mountain of skulls housed
in the monument; and now we witness the joy and hope of a country where 50% of
the people are under 16 years of age. The guide told us that until 1991
the people did not smile. They did not have hope of a future because just
a few years prior they had no guarantee of a tomorrow. Their king
returned in 1991, now the people have hope again, hence they smile and have
fireworks; but they do not forget.
While the
rest of the world may be suffering from a recession, Cambodia is building,
building, building. We went through street after street of new buildings
being built, shops upon shops of building supplies and manufacturing.
Considering they were practically thrown back into the Stone Age during the
Khmer Rouge regime, they are doing a damn fine job of making up for lost
time. Again, it was the people who impressed us the most. This is
where the likes of Tom Hopkins learned the finer skills of marketing and
selling. There were people selling all kinds of things, in the most
opportune places. At the temples, during the heat of the day, they sold
cold drinks, hats, scarves, tour books and t-shirts. When we went to
Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise, they were selling hot coffee, tea or
chocolate, as well as chairs to sit upon. Ingenious. Go to where the
tourists are, know what they need / want and supply it.
There are
kids selling everything from paper birds to history books. One 16 year
old girl we met while having lunch wanted us to buy a book, to which we said
no. After asking where we were from, she said “If I tell you the name of
your prime minister, the 10 provinces, and their capitals, will you buy a book
from me?” Without further adieu, she rattled all this off, plus the
population, plus a bunch of other information about Canada that made our mouths
drop. She knew more than most Canadian kids. She spoke 6 languages and
had aspirations of being a business woman. We bought 2 books from her about
the Pol Pot regime. She said her Uncle and Grandmother died from
starvation during that time. They don’t know where her grandmother is
buried. EVERYONE we met had a story to tell about how the regime affected
their life. It was like reciting a history lesson – my
parents died of sickness due to starvation when I was 5, my uncle raised
me..... But they didn’t seem to mope over it. Amazing people....!!!
We were
sad that we hadn’t planned a longer time in Cambodia. If we did not have
a plane ticket back to Thailand already purchased, we would have stayed much
longer. Apparently the beaches in the south of Cambodia match those in
Thailand and are MUCH cheaper!!
In
Siam Reap we stayed at a beautiful guesthouse (Popular Guesthouse) that had a
great restaurant and also supplied us with a tuktuk driver to take us to all
the temples. Angkor Wat is not that far, but we also travelled to some
really outlying ones 34 and 15 Km away, which were absolutely worth it.
We had our step-o-meter with us and we averaged 15 miles a day touring these
temples. Considering these temples are mostly falling down, those steps
were not what we would call a Sunday stroll. Up and down, up and down, in
and over stones and passageways. At the end of every day we would partake
in a massage at a great little massage place just up the street from the
guesthouse. $5 for an hour massage – oh the indulgences we partake
in......LOL
We flew
into Ko Samui, spent one night, and then jumped the ferry to Ko Toa.
After the simple life of Cambodia, to arrive at the highly touristy Ko Samui
was a rude shock to the senses. The abundance of traffic, the jostling
tourists, the inflated prices (mostly American prices on Ko Samui), the noise –
we were glad we were only spending one night. One small grace was that
the Moonlight Guesthouse was a good 10 minute walk from the main street, hence
a bit quieter. The owner put us onto a quaint little restaurant that had
great food at half the price of those we saw further into the main street.
We got to
Ko Tao in mid-afternoon and went straight to Simple Life Divers, where Irene
wants to do some diving. The fellow there told us to try the guesthouse
just up the way from him. We booked into the Wind Resort Guesthouse which
is a mere 2 minute walk from the beach. It is on a side alley from the
main beach area, so nice and quiet. They have a restaurant and bar on the
beach, where we watched the most beautiful sunset while having a mojito and a
beer, and listening to Buddha Bar (or was it Cafe del Mar). We’ve only
been here a few hours and are in love with it already.
Love
Irene
& Ed
