Angkor - Day 1

19 May - Bayon & Ta Keo

Siem Reap - Arrival

Arrived in Siem Reap - Northern Cambodia - on 18 May after a comfortable 6 hour bus journey. The Cambodian countryside is very nice, and lots of interesting sites along the way.

Arrival in Siem Reap was another new experience. The bus pulled into the depot admist a howling mob. It was like we were in the 60s and The Beatles were onboard. It was not our autographs that the mob wanted however, but our tourist dollars. There must have been around 50 - 80 yelling tuk tuk drivers, or touts. Yelling, waving signs, trying to get at the bus. We were surrounded.

To add to the madness, there were two Policemen attempting to control the mob - firstly with long sticks waving around, and then when the crowd got bigger, they pulled our their electric stun guns and made bzzzz bzzzz threatening lunges at various drivers. Meanwhile our bags were being pulled out of the bus and into the crowd. We were just sitting there trying to work out how to deal with what we were about to walk into. We decided to pick a driver first before stepping out. When we did step out, it was like being in the middle of a particularly rough rock concert, only we were the band, and we were amoungst the audience. They seemed to be talking at about 40 sales pitches per second.

Somehow we managed to get out of there with our chosen driver carrying our bags and were soon on the Tuk Tuk, heading for our guesthouse.

Phnom Penh - "The Killing Fields"

updated on 13-06-06 by Em

We organised for a tuk tuk driver to take us to the The Killing Fields & Tuel Sleng (S-21) for the day.
Our first destination was the The Killing Fields.
Under the Khmer Rouge regime and Pol Pot some estimated 2 million Khmer people, including women and children lost their lives in a gruesome & inhumane manner at S-21 & The Killing Fields.
We were able to watch the movie of the Killing Fields at our motel about the Cambodian reporter Dith Pran, who like many of the local Khmers was sent by the Khmer Rouge to labour in the rice fields. He luckily managed to escape.

The drive out took about 25mins & we went through some of the countryside, where the roads where lined with industrial type shops (ie) mechanics & repairshops. The people sit on the side of the road and do their work. Seems quite barren.

We turn onto a dirt road, which is very dusty and bumpy. There are a number of schools alongside - we watch school children in their uniforms playing outside. Nb: All the uniforms are the same, white shirt & navy blue skirt for girls and pants/shorts for boys.

As we arrive at The Killing Fields there is a small souvenier shop to the left at the entrance - we pay our entrance fee of US$2 each. As we walk up towards the small tower, alongside us a group of about 5 Khmer children with grubby faces, in perfect broken English unison chime in "1, 2, 3 Cheese , you take picture" and then hold out their hands for money.

As we arrive at the memorial tower, we are asked to remove our shoes, a guard then gives us some incense sticks to give as an offering we also make a monetary donation.

As we enter the memorial "tower" the sight we see before us is grim and very sobering. Hundreds of skulls behind glass cases stacked ontop of each other. There are about x10 shelfs inside the tower all filled with human skulls. Below on the ground is a glass case filled with clothing, dirty shirts and pants all intermixed.
It is a very bizzare feeling, that this is actually real what we are looking at. For me seeing the clothes heaped in a pile seemed to heighten the intense emotions, it seemed to humanize the situation more so.
I found it very emotional and couldn't stop the tears. Many of the other tourists also looked somewhat teary.

Around the memorial tower are the "fields", with a number of mass graves - large shallow holes dug out to throw the bodies into, some have small wooden posts stating how many bodies were found, even stating so much detail as "women and children" were specifically in this grave.

Some of the trees also had posts. One in particular was called the "Whipping Tree" and was used to torture children, by beating them against it.

It is a very sombre place - a bizzare combination of beautiful green countryside and trees mixed with a horrific history of torture and pain.
I watch lots of butterflies fly over and around the mass graves, it seems somewhat fitting.

We stayed there for about 20 mins, & stopped in at the souvenier shop on our way out.

Phnom Penh - Tuel Sleng (S-21)

Updated 13-06-06 by Em

Head back from The Killing Fields back into Phnom Penh city, driver takes us to Tuel Sleng - (S-21), which is right in the middle of town down a busy little street.

Tuel Sleng aka (S-21) premises used to be a school before Pol Pot & the Khmer Rouge overtook it as their headquarters.

As we enter the gates and pay our admission fee. You can feel an eerie vibe. Apart from the tourists, locals and few buddist monks roaming around, the place has that creepy abandoned feel to it.
We walk along one of the path to a block of small rooms. In each room is a metal bed with a large, heavy chain attached to the foot of the bed, nothing else in the room, except for a metal box, which prisoners were expected to use for excretement and then there are the photos.
Large blown up black and white photos of the dead prisoners hang ominously on the wall in front of the bed. There are about 7 of these rooms in the block and they were preserved for higher ranking government officials as torture chambers, where the Khmer Rouge tortured them to death. Most of the photos they had been shot in the head, and the black coloured blood covers them and rests in a pool on the floor.

S-21 was discovered by accident by 2 Vietnamese photographers who stumbled across this gruesome facility, the photographs in these torture chambers are their inital pictures.

We walk around to the next block which is 3 storeys high. The first room we walk into contains hundreds and hundreds of black and white "mugshots" of the prisoners holding their prison number. The photos are heartbreaking, knowing that all these people are dead - men, women, children all with the same solemn look on their face and fear in their eyes. There are just so many, room after room of silent eyes staring back at you.

Prisoners were tortured in various dispicable ways into giving false confessions as to plotting against the Khmer Rouge.

The ground floor was used to keep the "general" prisoners, this was very hard to take.
Imagine one long room, then along each wall brick walls built up into tiny cells, approx 1m wide (I kid you not!) Dark, dank cells with a chain in the ground, no natural light. I imagine many of the prisoners would have literally lost their minds.
Coming from NZ and being fairly naive to the extent of how cruel humans can be to other humans, this was a really really sobering experience for Tere and myself.
These people were treated less humanely than we would treat our pets. Even outdoor pig-pens that we've seen on our travels were bigger than these cells. A lot of the prisoners died of starvation and disease from the appalling conditions.

Upstairs were more empty rooms. On the top floor there was a photography exhibition - showing photos of Khmer people who had gone missing (presumably they died under the Khmer Rouge regime) with a written comment by surviving family members.

The 3rd and final block contained paintings of various torture methods conducted by the Khmer Rouge. Very graphic portrayals. Unbelivably cruel.
The paintings were done by some of the prisoners who were "employed" by the Khmer Rouge, unbelievable fact that of the thousands and thousands of Khmer locals who past through and perished at S-21. The only people that survived where 7 men who were employed to do the paintings.
We stayed at Tuel Sleng for about 2.5 hours, slowly making our way through each block. In some of the stairwells of the buildings tiny bats hung high up on the ceilings, sleeping.

There is a documentery DVD called S-21, with some of the artists who come back to the prison and talk to some of the original S-21 guards, about the cruelty, apparently their are mixed emotions from the various guards about what they remember. Would be interesting to watch.


Understandably neither The Killing Fields or Tuel Sleng are the happiest of places to visit, it is an incredibly emotional experience to see fellow human beings being treated like this.
But I think it is really good and very important that the Cambodian people have these memorials & "museums" as reminders so that they never allow it never to happen again.
Both places are a must to visit if you plan on visiting Phnom Penh.

What I find the most amazing though, is even though Cambodia's violent history is still relatively fresh, the people are so resiliant. In terms of seeing 3rd world poverty up-close, Tere & I agreed it's been the most extreme in Cambodia, particularly Phnom Penh. But we were amazed and inspired by the Cambodian people who are so happy, warm and friendly. True fighting spirits, we hope that they have a brighter future to look forward to.

Phnom Penh - Pics

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

15 - 18 May

Flew from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 15th May. Had accomodation booked, but was not available when we arrived at the guesthouse despite them assuring us they would hold the room. So the "Top Banana" was not graced with our presence. Good thing is, we have found if you have money to spend, accomodation and especially transport is always at hand, if not right in your face waving his hands screaming, "Tuk Tuk, Motorbike, cheap room, special price for you my friend...".

Soon had to adjust to two new currencies - the US dollar and the Cambodian Riel. We found Thailand good value for money, but this place is insane. The shopkeepers eyes go wide when you pull a US $5 dollar note from your wallet. But its not surprising, considering the harsh events these people have endured for decades up until just recently - it wasnt that long ago that a certain Regime abolished money altogether in Cambodia! More on those guys later.

Poverty is impossible to avoid here - children, elderly, and disabled beg for a crust. At first its hard to know how to deal with it. Apparently children are often used by "Pimps" to beg, so it's hard not to become slightly sceptical when approached by a grubby nosed 3 year old boy with his hand held out. The strategy to adopt we have heard is to give food to kids，not money. This way they're getting a feed without putting money in someone elses pocket. We gave a little boy a whole pineapple (which cost us little more than 20c) and he was stoked.

We have found it pretty eyeopening to see whole families sleeping on cardboard at the roadside, many people going through garbage which is dumped in the gutter and other very real and obvious signs of poverty. We saw a mother nursing her baby on the footpath. The baby's head was atleast 3 times the size of its body - no exaggerating. Obviously some pretty bad disease/condition. I found this very hard to see.

Phnom Penh itself is an interesting mix of poverty and new development.There are many signs of Westernisation - we were surprised to see ANZ bank branches and ATM's here. We found a big　Western-style mall in the centre of town， which was an interesting contrast to the Central Market on the next block - kind of a large Art Deco dome, semi open air building, designed to house your classic Asian market. Needless to say, much more lively than the Mall. This was packed with, well anything you could ever need to buy and a hundred varieties of each. Lots of the usual knock-off items we saw in Thailand - bags, clothes, watches, DVDs, playstation and PC games etc. The food is usally the most fun to look at. The bigger the market, the more specialised each stall is - and finally I found a stall selling insects. Big insects. To Eat. I　didnt pluck up the courageＩhave to say.

We have had many really good meals here - the food is delicious everywhere we have eaten, but I'll do seperate entries on the food highlights of our trip now and again I think. The approach to transport warrants a seperate entry also. We have seen some classic uses of the humble scooter.

Bangkok Again - Grand Palace

Bangkok Again - Forensic Museum

Monday 15 May
(WARNING SOME CONTENT MAY DISTURB)
Em's entry:
This was listed in Lonely Planet of one of the more bizarre things to do Thailand. Right up my alley.
Caught taxi and then boat across river to Forensic Museum which is located in one of the blocks attached to the hospital.
When we walk in we are confronted by graphic photos showing pictures of dead bodies and cause of death (and when I say graphic I mean graphic - (ie) stabbing victims, bodies with tyre marks, neck slashed with beer bottle - definitley NOT for faint hearted.)
There was also a section dedicated to the Tsunami interms of forensic teams - including photos of hundreds and hundreds of dead bloated bodies lying in rows on beach as forensic scientists tried to match their identities.

As we wandered through the museum their are bodies of babies and foetus's encased & preserved in jars and bottles with cause of death. Full standing glass cases of adult bodies mummified of rapists that had been executed including one of famous Thai serial killer "Si Ouey" who ate his victim's livers. They had trays at the bottom of them to catch any leakage...ewww

Other displays included: dissections of hearts, brains, livers, with captions stating cause of death (ie) gunshot, haemmorrage, poisoning.

It was all laid out in a very scientific way. Very interesting.

There was a Parasite mueseum about effects of malaia and other parasital diseases, but we didn't stay too long there as that was just gross.

We went over to another building to see other Pathology/Forensic museum. This building was quite creepy - 1950's old building.
This museum contained a large quantity of babies - lots of siamese twins (aka conjoined twins. Bodies that had been fully dissected in half so you could see the internal organs.
An elderly gentleman greeted us as we entered and said he was here to pay a visit to his teacher. He then took us to meet his teacher who was a skeleton encased in glass cabinet on display.
The man was a doctor who had studied here under the guidance of his teacher - the skeleton.
We wondered around taking ain all the displays including walking past a stainless steel basin that had relatively fresh bloodstains on it. They must still use the rooms for dissection etc. Very authentic...

The final museum was a Primative Museum containing photos. bones, tools uised by primative man. As we walked through the hall walked right through the middle of a morgue. Eyes to the front.

Anyhow for me & Tere the whole experience was entirely fascinting.
Something neither of us will see in NZ me thinks.

Bangkok Again - Muay Thai