Not My Favourite City But Necessary

Trip Start Dec 16, 2007
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Trip End Jul 09, 2008


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Flag of Cambodia  , Phnom Penh,
Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Hrmmm...not exactly the greatest city I've been too (it smells quite bad actually) but a necessary stop for all the history that it packs. The full day I spent here was quite sombering, especially the morning. I took a Tuk Tuk out to the outskirts of the city to see the killing fields of Choeung Ek, the main extermination camp under the Khmer Rouge. The ride there was quite the experience. I really can't describe acurately what I saw (it wouldn't do it justice) but piles of metal hut like shops that looked like the slightest wind would cause them to fall over a la 3 little pigs, insane concentrations of people on bikes and foot and muddy streets as they're dirt and it had just rained.

We arrived at the killing fields and I wasn't quite sure what to expect, it was definitely an experience that will stay with me. The first thing you see when you enter is the memorial monument, which houses more than 8000 skulls in a clear shelving like structure. It's really horrific and it's only a small fraction of those that were killed under the Khmer Rouge. In all of Cambodia around 2 million were killed in Pol Pot's "year zero" social experiment of creating an agrarian utopia. In this particular field approx. 17,000 were killed, all prisoners from S-21. There are bits of cloth and teeth scattered around that you can see in the dirt. First seeing all the skulls and then the sunken ground of the mass graves really makes you wonder how people can be that cruel.

Next stop was, Tuol Sleng (genocide museum). Originally a high school it was turned into prison S-21, which was the largest and took about 100 victims a day. This experience was even harder than the fields becuase there were some pretty graphic photos. The brick cells were dark, small and dank, cubicles of no hope. And there were photos of all the prisoners, their eyes were so haunting. It's so hard to believe that things like this happen.

I'm not sure how to segue so...we went to a really neat restaurant for lunch, my favourite so far. We sat on cushions on a second floor balcony, where I had some more pad thai and a mango/ coconut rice thing for dessert, mmm yummy. After lunch I went to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda which was easily the highlight of my day. The buildings were beautiful, extremely lavish and ornate. I was mesmerized by the exteriors and the decadance of them. The palace is the official residence of the king so you really only get to go into a few buildings but it was so worth it. One is the Silver Pagoda, which houses a floor made up of 5000 silver tiles (talk about excess) and a huge solid gold Buddha covered in like 9000 diamonds and that's only part of it (unfortunately you can't take pictures inside). The architecture here is fascinating. 
 
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