Where we last left off we were just arriving in Cambodia. Well a lot has happend since then, and we have now been in Cambodia for a week. We have visited Phenom Penh, Cambodias Capital, Sihanoukville, a small beachtown in Cambodia, and are now in Siam Reap, viewing the beautiful Temples of Angkor Wat. I'll just update you on Phenom Penh and Sihanoukville. David will update you on Angkor Wat. Tomorrow we will head to Bangkok!

So going back about a week, ill pick up at the riverboat from Vietnam to Cambodia. 

Well as fate would have it, we ran into some Americans on this boat. Three women to be exacty, whose names were Molly, Tara, and I forget the last. One of them, Molly, was actually from Seattle, so needless to say the conversation flowed easily, as we discussed Davids plight of moving to the rainy city, what there is to do there, how good the beer is, and all other sorts of imperative information for David to know before he moves. The other girls were from Colorado, and were equally cool, and we talked and talked, looked out the windows, talked some more, and laughed loudly in competition with the Germans harsh sounding chuckles at the back of the boat. The fun conversation made the sweaty, smelly, stifling seven hour ride go by pretty quickly. 

Finally we arrived in Phenom Penh. The before we are even off the boat we hear from the dock, "Tuk Tuk for you?" For those of you unfamiliar, the preferred means of transportation in southeast Asia is by Tuk Tuk. I don't really have any good pictures of these at the moment, but if you Google Tuk Tuk then you will see what I am talking about. It is pretty much a motorcycle or  moped with a small trailer attached to the back of it for pulling up to 4 passengers. Here a picture of us on our first Tuk Tuk. 

Ridin' Sweaty

So as soon as we got off the boat, there was a Tuk Tuk driver waiting for us, apparently it was his turn in the queue (can't believe there is actually some order in this business), so he got our 3 dollars. We jumped on the back of his Tuk Tuk were off into the heart of Phenom Penh. First stop, guesthouse booked, second stop, guesthouse crappy (this is where our recently acquired American friends chose to stay), third stop was the winner and we settled in for 2 nights at a pricey 12 dollars a night.  

Apparently Cambodia is a very poor country, in fact, it is one of the poorest in Asia, with a nominal per capita income of less than 1000 dollars a year. Yet this city was surprisingly nice in comparison to it's wealthier neighbor Saigon. The streets were relatively clean, the monuments well maintained, and the food not half-bad. Yet later, after leaving the touristy part of the city,  we would find out that it was just a front, this place is sadly poor. 

So after we check in, we are famished, for noone told us on the 7 hour boatride that we would not have a chance to stop for food. Throwing down our bags in our room, we are out the door in minutes on our way to our first Khmer style dinner. Not to dissapoint, the Amok (it takes better than it sounds) that David ordered was delicious as was my more conservative fried rice and soup. It was at this very moment that we would make the most significant discovery of our trip thus far, the fruit shake. Now I have never done crack, but based on the documentries I have seen, I would say that the fruit shakes in south east asia should probably be banned, for they are like CRACK! For usually a dollar you get your choice of fresh fruit, blended in with some unknown ingredients, and what results is the lightest, frothiest, most satisfying fruit smoothie you have ever tasted, PERIOD! Don't even attempt to compare this stuff to Jamba Juice, for I will personally smack you if you do. These are the freshest, sweetest, most refreshing fruit smoothies EVER! David and I typically order two with breakfast, one for lunch, and maybe one in the late afternoon, and they are served everywhere!

The second fruit smoothie of breakfast.

Our appetites satiated, we meandered back to our guesthouse. On the way one of the most unlikely things happened. As we walked through a quiet and large montestary, me in the black Nirvana T-shirt, we hear in a perfect American accent, "Where you guys from!" Startled, we look over and there stands a monk, burning a tree-stump. We come to find out that he is from Seattle and is only 13 years old. Choosing to come her on his own free will at such a young age (unlike his older brother who came years earlier because he was a bad child), David and I are astounded. He was to be here in Phenom Penh for 9 months, working under a famous monk, and will return to the states afterwards. After meeting this colorful character David and I look at each other and say, "this is why we travel."


Amazing Pagoda in Phenom Penh.

Monks are everywhere in Phenom Penh. It is common for most children to serve sometime as a monk during this early teens. 

A fire precariously close to our hotel. 

But the surprizes of the night were not over yet. As David and I were walking back to our hotel we noticed a column of smoke rising for the block that our hotel was on. After walking closer, we noticed that there was a fire! Once we saw the flames David and I each neverously looked at eachother and said, “I hope this wasn’t our fault.” Knowing that we forgot to turn the hotwater heater off (each shower has an independent hot water heater), we were led to think that we must have done this. All of our stuff was going to be burned, the hotel destroyed, and eventually the fire would be blamed on us. The worst possible scenario going through our heads, we began to ask ourselves, “Where is the US embassy?”

As we continue to look at the flames eventually our curiousity takes over our fear and be venture closer to the scene, with hopes of finding out whether it was in fact our hotel that was ablaze. After walking closer, getting no resistance from the firefighters or police, we are pretty much right in front of the firetruck and we sigh with relief to find out it was a kitchen two away from our building that was actually on fire. We were not to blame. Because they weren’t letting people into our hotel for safety reasons until the fire was completely out at the nearby building, we decided to go for a walk around the city. When we returned and hour later we were exhausted and passed out before we even hit the sheets of our beds.

The next day was depressing. We visited two musesums that talk about the Khmer Rouge and the atrocities that they committed in the late 1970’s against the Cambodian people. For those unfamiliar with the Khmer Rouge, they were a very extreme political party, the preached communisim and desired complete control over the population of Cambodia. After a long drawn out civil war, the Khmer Rouge, and their leader, Pol Pot, came to power in 1975 and immediately began to take a heavy hand to Cambodians, forcing city dwellers to move to the countryside to farm, and killing any person who worked for the previous enemy, anyone who was suspected of being against the Khmer Rouge, anyone who was educated (the Khmer Rouge believed that education was evil and if someone was educated then they had the ability to organize a revolution). Not only were all these people killed, but their families were as well, for the Khmer Rouge wanted to exterminate anyone who could potentially want revenge for the killing of their other family members. In short, the Khmer Rouge was one of the most ruthless governments in history, perhaps only surpassed by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

The first musesum we visited was dubbed “S-21.” It was at one time a prison used to detaining, torturing, and killing those who were thought to be enemies of the state. The facility consisted of 4 main buildings. Some of the rooms were used for torture chambers, others were used for holding cells (usually 3 feet by 5 feet.). Horrible methods were used against the prisoners, who crimes were none other than being an employee of the country’s previous government. People were hung, drown, beaten, burned, waterboarded, made to eat feces, all in the name of torture. It was said that, although most of the prisons were indeed innocent, they would sometimes confess to crimes against the Khmer Rouge after harsh torture. Once they confessed, they would sign an affidavit stating their guilt. This affidavit would become their own death warrant, and they would prompty be shipped off to “The Killing Fields.”

S-21 Prison. This is a torture chamber, the image on the wall was how the place was found after the Khmer Rouge finally fell. The body had been decomposing for weeks. 

The Killing Fields were tough to walk through. Located about 10 miles from the S-21 Prison.  The killing fields were simply an agglomeration of mass graves, some single graves holding up to 500 bodies. Walking through the area you are given a free audio guide that explain the significance of each of the graves. One particularly horrible grave was known as the women and children grave. At this grave the families of the enemies of the state would be executed. But the method of execution was not by fire arm, for bullets were expensive and the Khmer Rouge did not want the nearby villiagers to hear the gunshots. Instead blunt objects were used to smash the heads of the women. One the women and children were dead it was said that the babies would be smashed against a nearby tree and then thrown into the grave on top of their mothers. Those who discovered this grave site claim that they still saw the bloodstains and brains splattered across the tree. This tree was known as “The Killing Tree.”

As you walk throughout the Killing Fields, you notice that there are actual human remains still scattered about the land. There are actually signs that tell you to be mindful where you walk. It is said that when the area floods during the rainy season, the bones that have not yet been excavated come to the surface. These are the bones we see on the side of the trail.

Mass Graves. You find some bones and teeth scattered around this area. 

"Killing Tree against which executioners beat children."

Because the Khmer Rouge was very secretive about their atrocities, they did their best to cover their work. One of the trees was said to have had large speakers mounted to it that would blare the national anthem during the times the killings were taking place. This ensured that the grunts, screams, and moans would not be heard by the surrounding villagers.

By the days end we were spent. So we took a short nap to recouperate. When we woke up it was decided that it was time for a drink. After asking out concierge they pointed us in the sleezyiest possible direction for a bar, the infamous 51^st street. Even though we told them we just wanted a place to have a beer, perhaps the concierge thought we wanted more, because they sent us into a swarm of hookers. Hookers as far as the eye could see. As we walked up the street we felt like hot shit. Girls were hollering at us from every direction. Yet on closer examination we realized these girls are not looking for fun, they are looking for money, and they knew we had it. By my estimation I would say there was about 20 hookers for every tourist in the area, a great ratio if you are picky about your hookers. We finally decided to pop into a bar for a beer, only to be accosted by hookers that knew very little English and simply sat down next to us in the hopes that we would ask them to come home with us. Feeling uncomfortable after a while, and feeling grimy watching other 50 year old white guys picking up the hookers are the table next to us, we decided to leave and just forget about Phenom Penh nightlife. Tomorrow we would be off to Sihanoukville, a beach town that we hoped would change our depressing view of Cambodia.  

A typical Cambodian Hut outside the city.