Seeing Rouge (in more ways than one)!

  Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Arriving in Cambodia was a surreal experience. After crossing the border you immediately realised you have changed country. For one thing right at the border is a large casino with expensive looking cars driving along rutted roads past jalopies transporting the majority of the populace who are mainly living in poverty. Cambodia is called the 'country of smiles' and it was evident from the out; with border officials wishing us well on our way. Very smiley Cambodia's currency - the riel - isn't really real at all as most prices are quoted in dollars and the only way to obtain it is through small change. Thus Cambodia is proving to be comparatively expensive - especially with the dollar strengthening to the pound!  
 

01. Indeoendance Monument

Phnom Pehn was rather chaotic, garbage strewn and smelly. The people aren't pushy but seem to operate through guilt rather than coercion, for example asking when you don't want their service why we won't let them help you! The remainder of our first day was spent wandering along the Tonle Sap riverfront trying to dodge helpful and expectant looking tuk-tuk drivers, doe eyed children selling postcards and books, amputees hobbling along begging and young mothers carrying their children hoping for a hand-out. This was on the backdrop of beautiful European quality restaurants and boutiques. The disparity between the rich and poor is almost tangible.
 
The next day after a relatively late start, we eventually got mobilised!  As the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda was closing for their extended 3 hour lunch we set out via tuk-tuk to our main reason for coming to Phnom Pehn to understand more about the tragedy the Khmer people endured under the Khmer Rouge.

02. Chueong Ek Monument Pagoda

First stop was Choeung Ek, more commonly known as the Killing Fields. The brutal leaders of the KR transformed a beautiful Logan berry orchard into a field of terror where 20 000 victims were taken, murdered and then dumped in mass graves. Victims people of all ages including new born babies. Walking through the site we felt quite removed as the site chosen is quite beautiful and peaceful. The only real reminder is the large stupa filled with the skulls and clothes of 8000 corpses exhumed from mass graves and the wooden plaques giving scanty information. 
 
For a break we stopped at the 'Russian Market' thus named because of the hordes of Russians who passed through it on shopping trips in the 80s. The market was cramped and smelly so we made a hasty retreat to Tuong Sleng or S21 which was the interrogation and detention centre. Inmates could suffer in this converted high school hell for up to 8 months before being killed. Inmates included anyone suspected of being enemies of the state and then towards the end the prison wardens themselves as the high ranking officials became more paranoid.

04. Sunlight in Torture Chamber

Walking through the corridors felt harrowing as it still looked very much like a school with blackboards still in place in some of the torture chambers. Though a moving place we felt that there was a paucity of written information which lost a lot of the initial impact of the museum.  
 
Feeling raw after our day of the Killing Fields, the assault of Phnom Penh's various noises and smells felt overpowering, helping our decision to make a hasty retreat to Siem Reap.