In Khmer Country

I'm having difficulty describing Phnom Penh. My first reaction after landing and being driven from the airport to the hotel, the former US Ambasador's residence in PP, is that it is overcrowded and dirty. The streets are like one bazaar after another. Roads are partially paved, dust hangs in the air. Trucks, cars, motor scooters, tuks, bicycles, even a man In a wheelchair clogged ever artery into the city centre. We spent what seemed like eternity at grid locked major intersections. Motor scooters with three sometimes four people on them, weaved their way around us filling in every inch of space, making it impossible to move. Even from the inside of the air conditioned car it felt claustrophobic.

We checked in and headed back out, this time walking, umbrellas in hand. It was hot, sticky and an afternoon thunder storm was brewing. Tuk Tuk drivers, so many of them, always asking if we wanted a ride. High walls enclose the houses on the street. You can see only the second and third stories. Small shops along the street selling handmade women clothing, you can see them sewing in the back room. Small restaurants with Khmer food Thai food French food and an American bar called Freebird line the street we walk down towards the Royal palace and the riverfront. Here the roads are all paved, sidewalks are wide but packed with parked scooters. Old growth trees two and three feet in circumference grow in the middle of sidewalks. A woman cooking soup in a pot in a cardboard box squats on a corner in front of a government building near the Palace.

Cambodia is still a monarchy with an elected government. Recent elections have left the two sides deeply divided with accusations of voter irregularities and the vote was close enough to draw street protests. Luckily we saw no signs of the unrest. People seem poorer here than in Vietnam or Laos for some reason. The US dollar is the street currency. Everything is priced in dollars. An indication that the local currency - the Riel - is probably not stable. At the ANZ Bank ATM I am not offered Riel only US dollars from the ATM unlike in Vietnam or Laos where only the local currency is dispensed. 

We accomplished one of two objectives the first afternoon here. We saw the national museum with its unique collection of Khmer antiquities. Excellent prep for Angkor Wat. Although we tried to see the Royal Palace and the Silver pagoda housing the jade budda and the solid silver floor we were turned away because Benita's sleeves were not covering her arms far enough. Even her shawl was unacceptable. We will come back tomorrow with longer sleeves. We stop in at the Foreign Correspondants Club, a bar and restaurant on the riverfront made famous by the movie the Killing Fields. It was where the media hung out while covering the events leading up to April, 17, 1975. Al Rockoff (played by John Malkovitch in the movie) photographs cover the walls. Now it's a tourist trap. 

In the morning we hire a Tuk to go to S21 the high school in PP that was converted into a prison and torture facility by the Khmer Rouge. Our guide was a young woman who's mother was likely raped and tortured by the KR. When we ask about her family she never mentions having a father. Photos taken by the Vietnamese army when they liberated the city in 79 and paintings made by a survivor depict the horrific events which took place inside the walls. 

After seeing S21 our Tuk drives us 7.5 excruciating km to visit the Killing Fields, now a historical site. Excruciating because of the heat, the dust, the smells and the slow slow pace. Our driver stops to get us surgical masks to protect us from the dust. It doesn't stop the smells. We reach the Genocide memorial that was the Killing Fields. 

It's a rural area, not far from the main road that was once a Chinese cemetery. An excellent audio tour is provided. I won't go into the details of what we heard or saw. Suffice it to say this is a place where horrible horrible things were done. The evidence is everywhere of the inhumanity of the Khmer Rouge. Interestingly, other than the leadership of the KR, like the commander of S21 who was convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison (no death penalty in Cambodia) and the trio still on trial, most surviving KM, and there are many, are living in the country, forgiven for the most part. 

Pol Pot, the leader of the KM was never arrested, lived until he was in his 80's he died of heart failure or poison. Most of the KR soldiers were young girls or boys recruited from poor rural areas and promised food and money if they followed orders. They also knew they would be killed if they didn't. This all happened from 75-79. Three million killed. I was aware but unaware at the same time when it happened. The war in Vietnam was winding down, I was in university, sex drugs and rock and roll were top of mind. Didn't think much about genocide in Cambodia then, when it happened. 

Back in PP Benita's sleeves passed muster and we visited the silver pagoda, saw the diamond encrusted Buddah's, the jade Buddha and the silver floor. My mind was elsewhere though. 

In the plane to Siem Reap right now. Angkor Wat on the horizon.