Boom, Boom...... If you got the money

Trip Start Jun 05, 2006

Trip End Jul 15, 2007

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Flag of Cambodia Battambang, Cambodia
Friday, September 8, 2006

Ok, so last week I went to see the Killing Fields with this English girl I meet in a restaurant in Phenom Penh. After we were done seeing the site our taxi driver asked us if we wanted to go to a shooting range. The Cambodian shooting ranges are famous throughout the backpacking/travel world. They are not "technically legal" in Cambodia. But in a country that does not seem to really have any laws at all, what is a "technicality?" They were legal in the past and actually run by the Cambodain military as a way to get rid of its stock piles of ammo(and make a profit of course.) Then the Cambodain government decided that was not the image it wanted any more so they decided to do away with them. As with anything that is making a profit in a country like this once it was illegal it went underground. The backpacker "legend" is that you can buy livestock such as chickens and cattle and blow them up with anything under the sun. I have never met anyone who has ever done this by the way? But the stories are around

Me being a "Ronnie" with a gun (AK47)????

. Before I move on lets make it known that I am against killing living things and I really dislike guns. But when the girl I was with said that she wanted to go.......... I ended up in the same situation that I was in a few months ago in Bangkok with the "girly shows." Curriosity got the best of my morals once again. I wanted to see if the stories were true. When we got to the range a few guys greeted us at a locked gate. They led us inside to a table. Under the table cloth they pulled out a menu. They sell illegal drugs off a menu in Laos, so why not sell illegal weapons in Cambodia. There was a list of weapons and a price for each. Keep in mind that the average Cambodian man makes about $20-30 a month.

Uzzi $30 (1 clip)
AK 47 $30 (1 clip)
M 16 $30 (1 clip)
Anti aircraft $66 (1 clip)
M 60 $66 (1 clip)
Gernade $30 (1 Gernade)
Bazooka $200 (1 shot)

Just to name a few off the list! They did not allow you to take pictures of the list. This is all I could remember. But a Bazooka!?!?! Where else in the world can you shoot a Bazooka?

I did not shot any of the weapons, but the girl I was with shot half a round out of an AK 47. I was in the room filming her with her camera while she was shooting. WOW! I did not ask about the possibility of blowing up a cow with Bazooka. But I would assume pretty much anything was possible at that joint if you were willing to pay. In a country where if you really were determined and wanted: a pound of dope, an illegal assault riffle, and a 12 year old prostitute all would be easily found for you within 1 hours time. Anything is possible for the right price here!

Welcome to Cambodia ~J. Nomad