AWOL Geordie - Steve’s global adventure

One of the things you are supposed to try in Cambodia is the infamous ‘Happy Pizza’. In Siem Reap, my girlfriend and I headed for the curiously named restaurant: ‘Ecstatic Pizza’. Here, Fen opted for a tasty stir-fried spicy meat and rice dish, while I, showing much more daring went for a small hot-and-spicy-happy-pizza. The happiness part of the name refers to the amount of marijuana applied to the dish. Apprehensively, I asked for a ‘not-too-happy-pizza’. We concluded this dining experience with some locally brewed Angkor Beer in a nearby bar. Approxamately 1hr later my world started to fall apart. Those nightmarish feelings of paranoia crept in and left me in a state of totally stoned disorientation. I was mapped - for hours. Total nightmare. If that was a small not-too-happy-pizza, I would hate to see a large-ecstatic pizza! ‘Never again’ was the only lesson learnt there.

We caught a bus for the 6hr journey to Phnom Penh. I wanted to take a ferry down the Tonle Sap lake and river system but this proved cost prohibitive. We checked into a hostel with great sunset views over Boeng Kak lake which offers a little serenity in this otherwise chaotic city.

I have sorted my visas for Vietnam and Laos - good eh?

The main attraction here is to visit the Killing Fields and S21 prison. These horrors are from the days of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot. They are potent reminders of their barbaric rule over this country around 1975 to 1979. The S21 prison is situated near central PP and it was here that political prisoners (including teachers, lawyers, monks etc.) were detained, interrogated and tortured before been transported to the Killing fields for execution and burial in a mass grave. The conditions in the prison were horrific. The massive mound of skulls ’shrine’ at the Killing fields (about 12km west of PP) certainly leaves a bleak impression. The whole experience made me really glad that England never had to face a communist revolution. Some estimates reckon that 2-3million were killed here in the ’70’s. This is the most horrific thing I have seen since Hiroshima.

The last 2 weeks have been spent relaxing in the hostel watching movies and reading books and taking a break from buses. I took many strolls around this city visiting the art-deco Central Market, Wat Phnom, The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. Evening strolls along Sisowath Quay are great if you can handle been pestered by beggars and tuk-tuk drivers every few steps. Tomorrow I want to hire a cycle and explore a little further afield.

One personal disappointment was that Fen (my lass) has ran out of leave and had to head back to England last Monday. I have been with her for every hour of every day for months. A big hole now exists where she used to be. At least she can show my Mother etc. some photos.

Next stop Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City for Communists).

Ket Loi? (Khmer for How much?)

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