Phnom Penh and the Killing Fields!
Monday, July 3rd, 2006What an absolute eye opener Phnom Penh is. The bus ride from Sihanoukville winded through some absolutely beautiful countryside. The one thing i’ve noticed while traveling through southeast asia is that it is home to some of the most beautiful countrysides imagineable. The problem is they have no understanding of how to keep them cleam. The trash and the filth that you can see on the side of the road as you ride past villages is absolutely astounding. The filth and nastiness that these people live in is something you cannot comprehend. It really saddened me to see it. One thing we have in the western world is education about taking care of the environment, that knowledge doesn’t exist here. The bus pulled into the middle of Phnom Penh and we were once again greeted by hoards of tuk-tuk and motorbike drivers. We were taken to a guesthouse, this time we chose it, i think, and it was very nice. Same price as the on in Sihanoukville but not as nice. They had very cheap food and it did make you feel pretty safe. The next day me and Andy once again rented motorbikes to cruise around. Our destination was the Killing Fields just outside of town. For those of you who may not have the stomach for this one, feel free to turn this off now as it is not pretty. The Killing Fields were the place people were taken to be murdered during Pol Pot’s Khmer regime during the mid 70’s. It is absolutely without question the most horrifying thing i’ve ever witnessed. Why I wanted to visit it, I don’t really know. I think mostly to gain an understanding of Cambodia and their people and to have an appreciation of what they went through. We pulled up to the dusty parking lot and were greeted by children asking us if we would pay them to watch our bikes. It breaks your heart to see these kids but you cannot trust them, no matter how bad you feel for them. We paid the $2 entrance fee and were greeted by a massive tower filled with human skulls. Most of the skulls have massive cracks and pieces missing from the blunt objects they were struck with when they were killed. The Khmer apparently didnt’want to waste bullets so they would kill them with the back of the gun or other tools. If seeing the piles of skulls doesn’t get you walking around and seeing the mass graves will. They are everywhere. Just big holes in the ground now covered with grass where a sign is there to tell you approximately how many people were burried here. As you walk down the trail to the next mass grave you can’t help but notice the pieces of bone protruding from the ground all around you. You are walking over human remains…it’s shocking. I can’t being to comprehend what these people have gone through and how most of them still manage a smile and a friendly hello as they greet you at the entrance of this place. All told during the 4 year reign of Pol Pot approximately 2 million cambodians were brutally tortured and eventually murdered. The worst thing I have ever experienced in my lifetime was 9/11. Seeing the devastation and death involved with that was something I will never forget. To learn about what happened here and to know that these people experienced the equivalent of several hundred 9/11’s over a period of about 5 years is astounding. This is where the moral dilemma comes in. You are constantly being ripped off and are always paying too much for thigns. It makes you very angry but ultimately it’s the difference of about a few dollars or as little as 25 cents. These people are extremely poor and have dealt with some horrible things yet you are constantly having this inner battle with yourself over it. Seeing little kids, out working and selling food or books and not in schools is tough. However knowing that those kids are trying to rip you off makes you not care. It’s an extremely tough thing to deal with but it’s part of the world we live in i guess. Not always fair but it’s a cruel reality that here in Cambodia is right out in the open. I’m now off to Siem Reap to view Angkor Wat…I will have more updates in the coming days.
Gagnonius