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Articles Tagged ‘Sihanoukville’

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Phnom Penh and the Killing Fields!

Monday, July 3rd, 2006

What 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.

Posted in Cambodia | 8 Comments »

Welcome to Cambodia…How can we rip you off you stupid Westerner?

Monday, July 3rd, 2006

So after the hour or so bus ride we were dropped off at what I thouht was on of the shadiest border crossings i’d ever seen. Basically there is a tiny little building with two windows where you get your departure stamp from Thailand. Just to the left is a cement wall covered with barbed wire on the top and a tiny opening for you to walk through. After getting my stamps I went ahead and walked across the border. I was waiting to see a great big sign that said, “Welcome to Cambodia” but I didn’t. As I walked across the border everyeone wanted to carry my bag and help me. I was greeted by a guy named An, who whisked me and andy away to this office to get our Cambodian Visas. It’s usually wise to get visas before you get to any borders as it’s not even a guarantee you can get them at some border crossings. However we took our chances and were greeted by a man sitting behind a desk with a wife beater on, very official, demaning 1200 Baht for the visa. It’s basically the equivalent of $30. We could have paid less had we got them in Bangkok but that would have required 3 more days of sitting around. After a few minutes we got our visas and were whisked away to Krong Koh Kong where we would stay for the night. Basically the way it works in Cambodia is whenever you negotiate a ride with someone no matter where you tell them to drop you off they will always take you to the guesthouse that they are being paid to bring people to. You could give these guys a specific address and they would say sure, and not go anywhear near it. Fortunately he took us to a somewhat decent place. Once we arrived we wanted to buy tickets for the Ferry in the morning that would take us to Sihanoukville, this is in the south of Cambodia right on the coast. We were told by the owner of the guesthouse not to take the ferry as it would be bad weather and very big waves. He told us the bus would cost $20. We told him we’d think about it and then within 5 minutes he dropped the price to $15. We told him we wanted to take the Ferry and he reluctantly gave us our tickets for $15 each. The next morning our same taxi guy, An, took us to the ferry station. The night before he had told us that it would be wise to exchange money into Cambodian Riel. In Cambodia everything is in American dollars and when they give you change it’s in their currency, basically they give you a shitty exchange and rip you off. So I decided to exchange money. I got a stack of cash back bigger than i’d ever seen before for just $50 U.S. Later I counted the money and realized I was ripped off about $7 or so, yeah that pissed me off. So we pulled up at the ferry and I paid the taxi guy way to much as he wouldn’t tell me what it cost, only that I could pay him what i wanted, basically i gave me about $2 or so. Before we could even flinch these guys from the boat had come to the car and grabbed our bags and taken them aboard. They ushered us on to the boat and sat us in the back. This boat was crammed with boxes of fruit all the way to the ceiling. Ants and bugs were everywhere. So after we took our seats we noticed about 4 or 5 guys still standing there right next to us. We looked at them as if to say, “what the bleep do you want”?” They looked at us without hesitation and said, “We want tip…we carry your bags, we want tip.” We basically had no choice as to wether or not we could carry our bags. We argued with them for several minutes and basically told them we weren’t tipping them shit. They proceeded to curse at us in Cambodian, I can almost guarantee it. They would not leave us until we paid them, i was absolutely fuming. I reluctantly handed over a dollar. In the back of my mind I could hear my dad saying, ” Buck a bag…buck a bag.” Well we had more than one bag and he only got a dollar, so screw him. My first impressions of Cambodia were not good at all. These people were constantly trying to rip you off. It absolutely tested my patience more than it ever had been on this trip. It was so hard not to get angry. I had been ripped off on the exchange, i was intimidated into tipping, and I had probably been ripped off on the taxi ride, Calgon, take me away! Serenity now…Serenity now!

After I settled down and proceeded to swat ants off me for the next 5 hours me and Andy arrived in Sihanoukville with the refreshing sense that things would get better. Literally within seconds of getting off the boat we were attacked my motorbike drivers wanting to take you to the guesthouse that they work for. No matter how many times you tell them you just want a ride into town it doesn’t matter. So we hoped on the back of the bikes and they took us to this guesthouse. Now to be fair I have yet to be taken to a bad guesthouse by any of these guys but it’s more of the fact that you can’t go where you want or that you have no choice. The guesthouse was nice and very cheap, it was $3 for a room with two double beds and a bathroom, that’s $1.50 each, insanely cheap. We rented motorbike again to cruise around town. Sihanoukville is a sleepy little town right on the coast in southern Cambodia. There isn’t a whole lot to see here but a very nice place to relax for a few days. Being in the heart of the rainy season it absolutely poured every day. Me and Andy got caught out on our motorbikes in a downpour and it felt like needles were falling from the sky as we tried to race our way back to the safety of our guesthouse. We found a nice little bar to watch the World Cup. A german guy owned this bar and offered that if Germany won, everyone would get free beer. We watched the game and although I hated Germany I couldn’t help but be a little excited for this guy as he was so happy that they won. Watching the game with people who’s lives seem to depend on the outcome is alot of fun. I mean, when i watch red sox games or patriots games i’m never that serious. I watch it and enjoy it, no matter what the result…Jeff don’t even say it! After 3 nights in Sihanoukville It was time to head right into the middle of the storm, Phnom Penh.

Posted in Cambodia | 1 Comment »