Phnom Penh - the killing fields
Trip Start
Apr 25, 2008
1
11
24
Trip End
Jun 07, 2008
Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
Thursday, May 8, 2008
The bus dropped us off at their office on the main road of PP, and as we were trying to get out of the bus (along with another 15 or so tourists) - we were immediately surrounded by a dozen tuk tuk drivers clambering into the bus yelling at us "You want Tuk Tuk? Where you go? I take you!" We were literally being mobbed - it was just nuts! As I went down the bus stairs I just assertively (but quite calmly) said: First, I want to get off the bus. Then I want to get my bag. Then I want to find my sister. And only THEN will I talk to you about tuk tuk. Please give me 5 minutes. There is too much talking going on" - and I did kind of chatting motion with my hand. Well, they were good and kind of backed off - 2 feet. But they also thought it was quite funny because a couple of them said 'Blah blah blah' imitating me imitating them!
Anyhow, I grabbed my bag, made eye contact with one driver, and above the commotion I asked how much? He told me the price ($2) and I agreed. He grabbed my VERY HEAVY pack and started rushing away. Now I have a dilemma - follow my bag, or follow Debbie, who had temporarily disappeared into the crowd. The bag won!! I figured Debbie knew where we going and could make her way there if we lost each other. But my bag - well, I wasn't about to lose it!
Debbie quickly found me, and she was being followed by two British girls who were somewhat overwhelmed by it all and just wanted to follow us to wherever we were going. One completely lost her cool and started shrieking at the locals. The one thing I have learned over time - you don't get angry with them, you just have to be assertive, and keep a sense of humour, and all will be fine. (Hence the teasing about there being to much 'blah blah' when we got off the bus). So - we have the two tuk tuks travelling together to our hotel with four of us. However, we were taken to the wrong hotel - instead of Casa, they took us to Castle. Oops - it was the other side of town! The Brit girls were even more freaked out at this stage. (As it turned out, the walk-in rate was 4 times that price that we had paid by booking over the internet, so the Brit girls eventually went elsewhere.)
So that was our arrival - lots of chaos, energy, noise and excitement. we thought it was a hoot.
Luckily for our driver, we hired him for the next couple of days to take us around to see the sites.
The next day, he took us first to the Killing Fields (about 15km out of Phnom Penh). This was where over 1000 Khmers were taken during the Pol Pot regime to be killed - and buried in mass graves. There is a memorial where they have displayed many of the skulls and clothing of those that were later uncovered. It was just horrific, and very sobering. You could see the evidence of various head trauma that they would have suffered. We wandered around the fields - and although there wasn't much to see other than various large holes in the ground, and it was very moving. They had signposts throughout that described certain events that had occurred there. I think the worst for me was the large tree that they used to kill babies by beating them against the tree. (The Khmer Rouge didn't want to waste bullets so they killed everyone using other more inhumane methods).
We rode back to town, and then went to Tuol Sleng (S-21). This was originally a school that the Khmer Rouge converted into a prison. Over the 4 year period I think they held 14,000 people there for 2-6 months stints before taking them to the killing fields. During their incarceration they were numbered and photographed (many photos now on display there), then tortured each day to convince them to confess to crimes committed (whether they were guilty or not). The methods were horrifying.
We walked through the different types of rooms where they were held - some large rooms where they held 'important' people (eg ex-Army or government employees) and shackled them to metal beds. Upstairs in one building the had converted the classroom into lots of small brick cells - 1 x 2 or 2.5m. No beds. And the top floor was an open plan room (the old classrooms) where they had rows of people shackled together at the feet (lying on their backs).
We hired a guide to walk around with us and we learned alot from here. It turns out she was about 13 when the Khmer Rouge period started. Her family was forced out of Phnom Penh and into the fields where they had to work 13 hour days planting rice, etc. It's just so hard to imagine how people could come through that most horrific 4 year period. It has obviously done such long term damage to a country that was once reasonably prosperous.
We went back to the hotel, and took the opportunity to have a dip in the pool, and to reflect on our day. It was all very sobering.
That evening we went into town and wondered along the riverfront and found somewhere to eat. Feeling a bit low in energy (well, I was, anyhow!) we decided to take a tuk-tuk back to the hotel - so just hired one on the street. Well - we got the tuk-tuk of all tuk-tuks! He asked if we wanted some music - and turned on some loud and funky hip hop type music. Then he turned on the flashing blue disco light and drove us the 2 kms back. We had the boy-racer tuk-tuk!! We were very hip - lots of admiring glances from all along the street as the noisy boom box beats resonated around us!! (Well, I think they were admiring.......). Oh well - it was a fun end to an otherwise serious day.
On our last day in Phnom Penh, Debbie and I went separate ways for the day. She wanted to try to get to an orphanage for the day, and I wanted to visit Mekong Island (Ko Dach) about 15km out of Phnom Penh to try to escape the noisy city.
Our tuk tuk driver took me out for a long ride, and then suddenly turned down the very steep dirt track to the river. She said this is where the car ferry comes. Now I have to say I didn't quite believe him. I mean this was in the middle of nowhere, in a rural village and there is the tiniest pop-holed dirt track. What car ferry was going to come here?? I soon found out - it was the decrepit car ferry that I was expected to get on!!
It was only a short 5-10 minute ride across, but I turned religious and prayed that the boat would hold together for that short trip because I did NOT want to fall in! On the boat, there were a couple of young kids so I called them over, and blew up some black NZ/Silver Fern balloons that I bought from the $2 shop back home. You should have seen there faces - they were so thrilled!
On the other side, there was another dirt track up the hill leading to the road. I said I would walk up. The driver started to drive up and his motorbike suddenly reared up - the tuk tuk carriage had gotten stuck in some soft sand/dirt. So now me and another guy had to push the tuk tuk up the hill!
We drove along for about a km down another pot-holed dirt track. It was nice and quite here, and quite picturesque and interesting. I could see many of the homes along the road up close. This island is known for the ir silk weaving, and I could see women working away on the looms set up under their stilt homes. Fascinating stuff. Other houses had flax mats laid out covered with chilli's, drying in the sun.
But I soon realised that several motorbikes had come out of nowhere and were following me. Next thing they started coming up either side of the tuk tuk carriage and were talking to me as we were all driving along. Now this track barely had room for my tuk tuk, much less room for a motorbike on either side. These bikes were driven my women, and the young girls talking to me were riding on the back. They were asking my name, where I was from etc. I soon realised that they were basically chatting to me with the intention of hitting me up to buy some silk scarves.
I asked the driver to stop for a minute - and confirmed with him that these girls were gathered around because of me (ie they all wanted to sell me something). I had to politely tell them all the I didn't want to buy, that I just wanted to see the country side first, and the it was too dangerous for them to be following me like this. They all immediately disappeared and we continued on. However, I soon realised that they were following me about 25m behind. They were just biding their time.
After a couple of kms of this, we stopped and one young girl came up to me and started chatting (in very good English). She invited me to her house just 2 doors away, so I went along and got to meet her family, and watch her sister weave for awhile. And I am now the proud owner of 2 silk scarves. :-)
Debbie, meanwhile, had a fun day on her own although she didn't make it to the orphanage. But she was happy exploring the shops and doing a bit of shopping here and there. (Jay - you will be very happy!!)
We finished off our evening with a nice stroll along the Mekong River - and decided to hire a boat for a sunset cruise. For $5 each we could hire these rather large but very dilapidated wooden boats. The first challenge was just getting on the boat. We had to clamber down a muddy bank to the edge of the river and along a rickety plank of wood onto the boat.. The edge of the river was covered in mud and floating rubbish. The water was a lovely shade of mud. We really didn't want to fall in!!
We had a little deck to sit on, with little plastic chairs that looked like they were about to crack with sun and age any second now. I nearly slipped over on the deck and grabbed hold of the railing which I didn't think would hold. I had terrible visions of me falling off into the awful water!
We settled in and were taken on our cruise along the Mekong to the point where four rivers meet: Tonle Sap, Mekong .. and two others whose names escape me. We were treated to the most beautiful sunset over the city as we cruised along so it ended up being quite enjoyable. And we managed to get off the boat again without falling in!
All in all - Phnom Penh is a very busy, chaotic and hectic city. It is quite modern in some parts, with lots of new construction going on. And in other parts, there is extreme poverty. There are lots of beggars and people maimed by land mines wandering around. The driving here is like something I have never seen before. I was driven through a roundabout at rush hour and it was jam-packed with motorbikes - no one actually going in the right direction or in the right lane. Everyone was beeping their horns and going no where. This is one crazy city!
