Erin and Justin

Everyone has heard of the Khmer Rouge, but do people really know what happened?

Tin-Tin’s stories were shocking to us, when we heard them in Battambang, but visiting S-21 was frightening, sickening, unbelievable. Unfathomable. S-21 was the code for the detention facility based in Phnom Penh. 20,000 people were detained there, 7 survived. People were detained if they were suspected enemies of the Regime. No one was given a trial. People were “interrogated,” – tortured, starved, driven to the Killing Fields and murdered. This facility is famous because it was the only one that kept records. It was a high school converted into a place of horror. It is surrounded in barbed and razor wire, each class room was used either as a torture chamber or was divided into many, many tiny cells.
Many of those class rooms today, remain reasonably untouched. They smell bad and they invoke terror, light-headedness and nausea. Some of the classrooms are now display rooms for thousands of photos of prisoners. Some people in the photos look terrified, some angry, some resigned, some desperate, some absent. Age offered no protection. Elderly people, and children who looked as young as 3 or 4 were photographed individually, with a number pinned to their clothes or skin, considered to be enemies of the state.

Then everyday, truck loads of people were taken to the nearby killing fields, blindfolded and shackled. They were struck with blunt instruments, shot, electrocuted, or (if they were small enough) smacked against a tree, and their bodies thrown into mass graves. About 2/3 of the graves in that Killing Field have been opened and the remains removed. There is a giant monument containing the clothing, skulls and other bones of thousands of people. As we walked throughout the field, where craters marked the opened graves, we could see in the path under our feet, small fragments of bone, teeth, and clothing buried and partially exposed in the mud.

So much damage in just 3 years, and Pol Pot, who murdered millions of his own people in the late 1970s, died in 1998 of old age. I wonder why I wasn’t taught about this at school. It was so recent. Do people even know?

Our few days in Phnom Penh turned into a week, so that we could take time to meet people, move slowly and enjoy the street sights, before visiting the sickening darkness of S-21 and the Killing Fields.

We saw BBQ spiders at the market, alongside skinned frogs, foetal chickens, cockroaches, beetles, grasshoppers… Apparently they’re great foods to eat when you’re drinking beer! We were tempted, but left it all untouched.

See photos at http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Phnom%20Penh.html

We spent time with Lasda and her mother, two beautiful women who own a restaurant business – “Family Restaurant” – and who serve terrific Khmer, Viet, Chinese and European food: $1-2 for a meal, with a free beer/coke/coffee! They moved to Cambodia from Vietnam following some family hardships, and have worked hard to independently support themselves. They are busy saving and are hoping to sell their business (for $4000!) and leave Cambodia, and preferably go to Australia. We would like to help them if we can, so if anyone knows of a potential employer…? Lasda is 19, speaks Khmer, English, Vietnamese and some Mandarin. Her mother, Rose, speaks Khmer, Vietnamese, Mandarin, and some English. Both are gorgeous, honest, friendly and cook amazing food!

We also met Minakshi and Sunil, and their 2-year-old son, Dhruv. They have been in Phnom Penh for 6 weeks, having moved from India to open an Indian restaurant. Their food was excellent too, and their son was very funny and liked to dance.

We went twice to Seeing Hands, where we decided we had received the best ever massage by people who could tell at a touch what was tight and what needed work. The masseurs are blind and the organization was set up so that blind people could have dignified employment. The training takes years and the people that we spoke to had been with Seeing Hands for more than 10 years. They were really good.

SEE PHOTOS AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Phnom%20Penh%20-%20Animal%20Sanctuary.html

This is Gangster town! Our driver is a gangster. He pays the police $300 a month to stay away from the guest house. The tuk-tuk drivers selling opium in the street are gangsters.

We went to the Animal Sanctuary, way out of town. There were about 10 boys and men who followed us around the sanctuary, acting as guides and carrying coconuts and machetes and peanuts. They cut open the coconuts randomly and handed us pieces to feed the animals (despite the clear signs written in Khmer, French and English all saying not to feed the animals).

We liked the Otters and the Gibbons and the baby monkeys the best, and we discovered that raising your eyebrows at a macaque makes them mad. we met one gibbon who we loved. We thought about the possibility of adopting him and teaching him to play guitar - one with slack strings so that he wouldn't hurt his tiny soft fingers. We could call him Gibson. We decided not to take him with us, understanding that it would be just too hard when he left home to pursue his musical career...

Anyway, back to the real story These coconut men wanted us to pay for all the coconuts. We didn’t want to pay for all the coconuts. We paid for the ones we had asked for, or the ones that we had agreed to, but as we only had $1, $5 and $10 notes (and the coconuts were 2000 riel – or 50c – each), we gave one guy $5 for all of them and then he took off with all the money. The other 9 wanted to be paid too. We told them, as we had told the guy with the money, that it was to be split. They didn’t like it.

They were mocking us (but not directly) and they were all carrying their machetes.

But they showed us around the rest of the animals, and then wanted to be paid for that. We paid two pf the friendlier boys a minimal fee. Tee drove us away swiftly as it began pouring with rain. He told us that he had become very concerned.

Those people at the animal sanctuary were gangsters.

Our moto-driving friends gave us a free lift to the bus in the morning, and Kris hooked us up with his friend, a tuk-tuk driver, to look after us in Phnom Penh.

SEE PHOTOS AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Phnom%20Penh%20-%20Museum%20%26%20Palace.html

AD MORE PHOTOS AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Phnom%20Penh.html

We were pretty happy that the bus ride was much faster and much smoother than our last bus ride.

Upon our arrival in Phnom Penh, it was difficult to leave the bus as the door was crowded with tuk-tuk drivers competing with each other to gain the business of the bus passengers. Tee was standing amongst them, holding up a page with all our names on it, written in large print in blue texta. He took us to the Guest House where he works, and we checked in to the mid-range rooms – room with a private ensuite – for $4 per night.

We love Phnom Penh! French and Cambodian architecture and foo
lots of wonderful food, everything so cheap… Its amazing! A vegetarian meal – that comes with a free beer(!) – for $1.25!!

Jay and Justin had a shave at the Barber, we went to the National Museum, the Royal Palace, and we met a friendly Kiwi traveller called Billy.

At the park we saw an elephant called Sambo and an old monkey with a little pigtail in his hair.

Also at the park however, the begging kids were different, they weren’t prepared with persistence, English language skills and a knowledge of the market – they asked us for our bottles of water and when we gave them, they ran. A completely different kind of poverty in these parts.

And in the evening had a whole street full of tuk-tuk drivers calling out the standard “tuk-tuk, sir?”, but then followed by “Smoke Pot? Opium?” and they held out small bags…!! No secrecy or discretion at all, we couldn’t believe it.

The all day boat trip from Siem Reap to Battambang was extraordinary, with kids running to the rivers edge to scream out "hello" to us in tiny voices.

SEE PHOTOS OF THE BOATRIDE AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Boat%20to%20Battambang.html

SEE PHOTOS OF BATTAMBANG AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Battambang.html

We made lots of friends in Battambang! We met Graeme from England (who gave us his email so that we could get in touch when we get there!), and Steve and Jess from USA, who gave us a load of Lao destination inspiration, and we met moto drivers Chin-Chin, Tin-Tin, Kris and Jay.

Our drivers first took us, through back and rural roads, to a nearby hill where there was a rural community living, and a beautiful walk, and monkeys running around, and other animals being kept.

The walk up the hill from the village was just beautiful.

And above this community, at the end of the beautiful walk up the hill, were the Killing Caves.

Here Tin-Tin gave us a comprehensive overview of the political history of Cambodia, and gave us his own history within that context. He explained the formation of various parties, political relationships with other nations, between the Government and the King. He also explained that the history is not written, as all of the educated people were killed under Pol Pot. Tin-Tin has studied from many sources – books, accounts written by foreigners, and personal stories from many people, including Khmer Rouge soldiers – to get as much of the picture as he can.

He showed us the killing caves, and the human remains still stored within them. And he described how the cave looked, as he had seen it with his own eyes, right after Pol Pot’s reign ended. We all had trouble stomaching the story, and it really gave us a new understanding of just how much suffering this country has seen.

And yet the People of Cambodia are smiling and very, very friendly.

Next our drivers took us to a nearby 9th Century temple where we met Ing, Mohm, and David - three kids that lived at the bottom of the hill. They taught us that Mai ohm bau means butterfly

On our way to the Bamboo Train, it began to rain heavily and we saw a group of enthusiastic people from a small rural village scrambling around on the road. The road was a little flooded, and they were FISHING!! They were catching tiny fish that ended up on the road with nets and plastic containers and with their hands. Jason and Justin helped, and the people there let them, though laughed at them – they weren’t very skilled. ☺

We rode the Bamboo train – the 4 of us, the 4 moto drivers, the 4 motorbikes and the Bamboo train driver and 2 kids – almost right back to town.

When we got back to our guest house, we asked our new friends to join us for dinner. They took us out to a pub that does not target tourists – and for the eight of us to eat dinner, with so much food served that we couldn’t finish it, and for all of us to have a couple of beers – the final bill of $26 made it a very cheap shout!

SEE PHOTOS AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Siem%20Reap%20-%20War%20Museum.html

The man who worked at the War Musem had set off 6 land mines, had been shot 3 times with an AK47 and he had shrapnel – a ball bearing and 3 nails still under his skin. He was blind in one eye, and he expected to be blind in the other within months, following an unsuccessful operation.

When he is blind, he will no longer be able to work.

Both of his parents and his brother were killed under the Khmer Rouge, his sister was killed by a land mine. His wife was killed by a land mine – 1 year and 11 weeks ago. He became anxious about the volume of his words when he became passionate and bitter and angry with the Government.

When we had money out for the donation box, he told us that the donations placed in the box went to his boss and did not help the victims.

Next we were taken to the killing field nearby. There was a large structure with glass windows, containing bones of people killed there.

SEE PHOTOS AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Siem%20Reap%20-%20Angkor%20Temples.html

Angkor Wat at sunrise. It was just too awesome to really comprehend (or maybe it was too early!?) but by the time we reached Bayon and the terraces by it, we had begun to connect with the magical place that that we found ourselves in.

“You buy – one dollar” (“yooo baa-ii – wohn dahl-lor”) began at about 7am, with tiny business men and women – young children selling postcards and bracelets and flutes and scarves and books – persistently following us around the ancient site. “Te, aw kuhn” (“No, thank you”) we would say, and then they would say “I don’t understand this word ‘Te’” And then we would say “no” and they would ask why not – “Wa-aii noh?” – and we would say we don’t want it. And they would repeat “you buy – one dollar” and so it would go on. Gotta give them credit for their commitment to the sale.

Local kids without anything to sell would be friendly, and tell us some bits and pieces about the community and culture, and then ask us for money.

I bought some postcards from a little girl called Ren. She gave me a thankyou note with a picture of a flower drawn on it.

Banteay Srei (the “pink temple”) about 40km out of Siem Reap - about 2 hours on a tuk-tuk. Here we met a policeman who was studying history to be a tourguide. He gave us a tour for $2.50, then offered to sell us his badge – his police badge – as a souvenir..! And the drive was amazing

SEE PHOTOS AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Siem%20Reap%20-%20Rural.html

SEE PHOTOS AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Bangkok%20to%20Siem%20Reap.html

We read the Lonely Planet guide a day too late.

We were picked up at 7am. Our “coach” was a mini-bus. No, a van. It did not have a toilet, it did not have any movies and it was not spacious. The driver wasn’t even very friendly.

We were taken through roads that were flooded after a night of rain, out of Bangkok. When we were almost at the Cambodian border, at Aranyaprathet (where we would have caught the train to, had we not been so lucky as to arrange the expensive coach ride) we stopped at a beautiful restaurant we where we could get visas in one hour, had we not already arranged ours over a 24-hour period. It was a beautiful and tranquil spot, with chickens, fish pond and a wooden playground.

We arrived at the border around 12:30 or 1pm. Here we got off the bus, we carried our bags about a kilometre in the pouring rain, trying to keep our torn raincoats covering our pockets (so as to reduce our chances of being targeted by a pick-pocket), and trying to walk faster than the children who were begging for our money, and trying not to fall over opium addicts that were scattered on the ground.

We crossed the border and we were advised that we could not use any currency but Cambodian Riel in Cambodia. So we paid, in Thai Baht, to get moto rides to the casino (on the Cambodian side of the Border) where we could withdraw money, given in Thai Baht but charged in US dollars, then go to the currency exchange and pay a fee there for the Baht to be changed into Riel…

We spent about an hour, in the most dodgy and dangerous feeling environment either of us had ever found ourselves in, before we were back on the road. Needless to say, until we actually were back on the road the camera stayed deep in the bag (which was worn under the raincoat). I wish we had some photos of that border crossing to show you, it was just outrageous.

THEN, our ride from the border to Siem Reap, was in another minibus – this one much, much older than the first, that leaked water, had poor suspension and was horribly overcrowded. Our anticipated 4-5 hour drive became an 8½ hour drive, along a road that was so bumpy and pot-holed that we both actually felt winded!

Finally we arrived in Siem Reap, exhausted, at the Driver’s own Guest House. Surprise! Luckily, thanks to Jason and Emma who we were meeting in Siem Reap, we had a room already booked at the Garden Village Guest House, so we did not give him our business.

We took a tuk-tuk to Garden Village. He told us it would cost $10 (US dollars – not Riel!) to get there, as it was 20 minutes out of town. He took us about 3 minutes away (which was just off the main road of the town – hardly 20 minutes away) to Green Village. We told him that we wanted GARDEN Village, not Green Village. He said he didn’t know it, and wanted to take us back to the first Guest House (which was his sponsor), but we insisted that he find it, and then we were lucky enough to see a sign!

After finally checking in, and after a $1.80 cocktail with Jay and Em (who had started to worry about us), we fell into bed, ready for a 5am start to get to see an Angkor Wat sunrise.