Paris Hotel Phnom Penh

... went to see the S-21 prison, which was the biggest, but only one of many locations where "subversive" comrades (anyone) were taken for brutal torture, forced/fabricated confession and routing to the "killing fields" for "liquidation". When the Khmer Rouge first occupied Phnom Penh, the citizens welcomed their arrival as they believed the civil war was over, and despite what they heard, that the Khmer Rouge were still fundamentally kind/just Cambodians. Within 3 hours ...

... Just the thought wrenches my stomach.<br><br> Luke and I were thoroughly saddened and exhausted from a day of death and destruction, so we took it to the house and pretty much called it a day. That night we had plans to meet up with Mike Rios, a friend of Wes and Savin&#8217;s that lives here in Phnom Penh. We had pizza and some beer. Oh yeah, they have Beerlao here. Man I&#8217;ve missed that stuff. Terry, Heather, Luke, and myself met Mike at Liquid at 7. It is in an expat village ...

... here &#8211; it's incredible what<br>man can do to their fellow man. But what is amazing is that some<br>people killed their own neighbors and after the regime was toppled<br>the same prison guards who were torturing and killing didn't go to<br>jail &#8211; but lived in the same communities that they were<br>terrorizing. How could you live near someone that you knew was a<br>former tormentor &#8211;how do you trust anyone again? Like the victims<br>in Rwanda and Bosnia &#8211 ...

... promptly arranged to visit, with the intention of staying a minimum of three days.<br><br>We were warmly welcomed and shown around, and were presented with a room in a newly constructed hut o corrugated iron, a few metres from their self-built classroom. We met the kids, played with them a little, and spent the evening learning more about the organisation from the man at the helm, Mr Samith.<br><br>Twenty months earlier, Sath Samith had opened the orphanage, housing a small number of ...

... rigorosamente grigliati e speziati. Raggiunta láltra sponda viaggiamo in direzione della capitale cambogiana "Phnom Penh". Fuori dal finestrino, notiamo da subito un paesaggio differente, i cappelli conici sono spariti e le condizioni di vita nei villaggi che incontriamo sulla strada, ci riportano al nostro ultimo viaggio in India. Case di legno costruite su alte palafitte, in condizioni precarie e di miseria... Ore 12.30 arriviamo a Phnom penh, dopo aver percorso 216 Km ...

... was set up to remember the 20,000 or so people that were slaughtered here. Many of the people that died here were prisoners in S21. They found nearly 9000 remains in the mass graves here and more then 5000 of them are in the glass budda stupa. We took a walk around the mass graves and looked around the exhibition that was there. Unlike the prison it wasnt eerie or so shocking but it was respectfully peaceful which was nice.<br>

... is enclosed by a steel gray concrete wall, yet there is no door. The configuration of the wall still offers privacy, but because it does not rise all the way to the ceiling, it feels much like a traditional open aired bathroom common in Thailand. <br><br>Outside our room we have a table and several wicker chairs surrounded by hanging plants and a soothing fan. More than likely this is a common area ...

Soooo... I left lovely Vientiane and decided to skip a massive chunk of mid and Southern Laos and head straight to the capital of chilling, 4 thousand islands.... basically a group of islands where the Mekong river widens in Southern Laos<br><br>It was an overnight bus journey... about 15 hours in total... a sleeper bus (beds, no seats) then a minibus then a boat to Don Det.... the sleeper bus was great, the beds sleep 2 but are only the size of single beds... I was SO glad i didn't have ...

... the bullet holes from the invasion&#8230;I I liked it there, id heard so much about it so it was good to experience first hand. Back in the room we watched **** tv chilling out and at some tamarind sweets we bought in Siem Reap. They looked like fizzy cola bottles but when you bit into them they still had the pips inside. And they were chilli hot also!! We sat with a bin between us spitting the pips out &#8211; CLASSY!<br><br>Anyway bed now G&#8217;nite &#8211; busy day tomorrow!!!<br>