Today is our 5th day in Phnom Penh. How funny it is that it is considered winter here! People walking about with ski hats on as well as scarves and plastic coverings for coats. It has to be in the mid 80's during the day and maybe in the 50's at night. We took a walk down by the riverside and I was a bit taken back by the extremeties of it all. One side had high end cafes and just across the street, people going through trash and children begging for money. One look at them and it is very hard to not give in and put money in their hands but we've been told that to do so wouldn't help those children but just exploit them all the more.
The day before yesterday we did a bit of touring, went to go see the Tuol Sleng Museum or Prison S-21, a schoolhouse that was turning into a jail housing detainees for the Khmer Rouge. So many people were tortured here, each cell smaller than a hallway closet. Over 17,000 people were held there from 1975 - 1978. They weren't allowed to speak or look or think for themselves and eventually were killed and put into mass graves at many sites, one of them being the Killing Fields of Choeunk Ek. This was the next stop on our tour.
Please see my photos to get the full effect of this place. They have errected a shrine made out of skulls to pay homage all who suffered from the Khmer Rouge's barbaric tortures. There are over 8,000 skulls visible. 43 mass graves have been unearthed and due to erosion more bones, fragments of clothing keep appearing on the surface of the sites. So unimaginable that these torturous acts happened just 30 some years ago. The country now is called "Democratic" but it is still obviously a Communist country - one that no one will outwardly admit to.
After a very sombering day we ending up at a festive holiday party that was given by Nagin (our guesthouse owner)to all of the residents in the nearby guesthouses. Well done homemade food and beer and games prevailed the evening then all went to dance. I personally played the "roll the potato on a string" game and teamed up with David on the "How fast can you dress like a Cambodian" game. It was good fun and a nice change from the day. I'm going to have to do a bit more practicing on that potato game. :O)
Yesterday was Christmas Eve for us. David and I stopped for coffee at a small cafe and tried in vain to get butter (not water) for a croissant. Close... hahaha! We then went to the National museum and did a tour with a guide. Another beautiful structure with many photographic opportunities. The guide was very informative and showed us pre-Angkor, during Angkor, and post Angkor sculptures which in themselves told the story of the change of hinduism to bhuddism. There is also Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai influences which can be seen in the way the sculputures were formed. My favorite was of J-7 or Jayavarman VII as he was seated in a meditative pose looking most serene. David was able to get more information about the political state of the country thanks to our very nice guide also.
We spent the evening with traveler friends Peter and Christine, had dinner at Mama's which is a bit lacking in the name as this cannot be decribed as "mama's cooking". Still all good fun! We then went to a chit chat cafe and had BoBo tea and headed back to our guesthouse as we couldn't seem to find much of anything else going on.
We are planning our next move today, I believe tomorrow we will be heading out to Siem Reap. Many holiday wishes to you all!
Always,
Leslie
