Phnom Penh, Now and Then - Feb 22/2010

(PLEASE NOTE: this is the second blog entry to be posted in the last two days. The other recent entry immediately follows this one.)

It took us the whole day to cross the boarder into Cambodia - it felt like the final frontier. I didn't know much about Cambodia at the time and I was unsure what to expect. From what I'd heard, it was kinda like the wild wild west of Asia - a lawless country where anything goes.

We reached Phnom Penh by mid afternoon - stepping off the bus and into the scorching heat. After a crazy tuk-tuk ride to the hotel, we freshened up and set about exploring the city with our new leader Komphak. To our surprise, the city was quite westernized with scores of other tourists milling about the streets. All the bars and restaurants had English menus and "happy hours" were advertized from every corner. Although the city was teaming with tourists, there was still plenty of original culture and uniqueness to balance it out.

The royal palace was first on our list. We needed to be fully covered so as not to offend the royal family - who funnily enough, live full time in Switzerland. The architecture of the buildings was vastly different from what we had encountered in China and Vietnam. The grounds were kept emmaculate and flowers of every colour and variety filled meticulously planted flower beds. The buildings were in golds, whites and reds and the outsides were just as intricately detailed as the insides. Sharp spires pierced the sky with the face of Buddah as their bases. The golden swan, a very important symbol in Cambodia culture, adorned each building. Beautifully carved stuppas decorated the garden and images of Zen Buddahs were all around us.

Monks in their brightly coloured orange robes stood out against the lush green background. They were very curious about us and a group of them wanted to take several photos with Kelsea and I. To be honest, we were just as taken with them.

Later in the afternoon we visited one of the bustling local markets. It was the Cambodian version of Walmart. Anything you could possibly want was available and at bargain prices. It was extremely hot in the covered maze-like arrangement of stalls. We managed to escape to open air with our wallets still intact.

Looking at the city today, one would never guess that Cambodia's past was one of the most gruesome and war torn in all of Asia. It was an incredible feat of strength, courage, and faith for the people to rebuild their country after each war. First, there was the Indo-China war against the French where the Cambodians fought for their independence. Then in the 1960s, Cambodia was part of the war which involved the Americans and Vietnamese. The Americans left over two million tons of land mines across their country. And finally, into the late 1980s, there were the horrific crimes and genocide committed by Pol Pot and the regime of the Khemer Rouge.

On our last day we visited the Genocide museum (formerly the S-21 prison) and the Killing Fields. During his reign, Pol Pot abolished all educational, monetary, and feudal systems, and ordered the mass evacuation of Phnom Penh. He categorized all Cambodian people into one of two groups: workers or farmers. Each person was rationed out only a few spoonfuls of rice a day and so mass starvation ensued. Many died during this time due to the lack of food and poor working conditions. All peoples of higher educations (lawyers, doctors, businessmen, etc. ) were seen as traitors and sent to S-21 for torture, interrogation, and eventual death.

S-21, a former high school, was later transformed into a prison. In total 20,000 people, not including children, were tortured and killed here. It is now the Genocide museum. The Khemer Rouge kept their activities well documented - taking photos of each of the prisoners and also of their death. Included in these are pictures of hundreds of children as well as people who died during torture.

Those that didn't die from torture were taken to the Killing Fields - mass graves that lie just outside the city. Pol Pot thought that it was a waste to use valuable and expensive bullets on prisoners; instead he preferred they suffer slow and painful deaths. So the majority of the prisoners died by being bashed in the head repeatedly by shovels or their heads were cut off with dull serraded saws.

There was also a killing tree where they would take the babies and murder them by bashing their bodies against the trunk until they were dead. Sometimes they would toss them in the air and use them as target practice.

Although what I'm writing is more gruesome and horrifying then you would like to read about in a light-hearted blog, it's a story that needs to be told. I first fell at odds about visiting such a dark place on my vacation, however, I also felt that it was my duty to bear witness to the atrocities committed by human kind. I felt compelled to see it - to know the truth. The death and suffering of the Cambodian people must not be forgotten or swept under the rug.

I think that many of the tourists who enjoy the culture and warm weather here forget about Cambodia's past and how recently these events occurred. As a North American it is easy to feel removed and unaware of what's affecting our world and the people in it. I'm glad that I was able to see this side of Cambodia, even if it was incredibly difficult and painful for me. I feel as though I have gained yet another new perspective and awareness of the world.

This trip is not just a vacation - it truly is one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life.