Howie-n-Karen: Asia

Wayne’s World, etc.

Saturday 2/18/06 we moved into Wayne’s penthouse apartment. It’s one of 3 on the 3^rd floor of a French colonial building on Street 13, across from the main post office. Very close to Wat Phnom. We’ve been exploring the neighborhood on foot and watching the world go by from the large windows that look down on St. 13.

view across the street

It’s Sunday and the restaurant on the corner, Seven Bright, is doing a brisk business. We almost had dinner there last night but when we walked by, around 5:30, they were just setting up the microphone for the live music, which deterred us. That and the fact that no one was there: no Khmers eat that early in the evening.

But breakfast this morning is another story. The 7 or so ‘valet’ parking guys were waving drivers in and out and pushing cars solidly for 2 hours (@500 Riel or 25 cents/car). No, there were no breakdowns. When the regular, perpendicular spots are filled, the valet guys direct drivers to park parallel, in front of the other properly parked cars. They go 2 deep, parallel. As the earlier patrons leave, the outer cars are moved back and forth as needed. The parallel drivers know not to park in gear or set their hand brakes.

Over two-third of the cars are Toyotas. Howie says there is a factory here. The rest are Hondas with the odd Mercedes or Daewoo. Those on motorcycles park right in front of the restaurant. I was amazed to see the numbers walking in and no waiting lines. We’re guessing it’s a Chinese restaurant. When we checked out the prices yesterday, they were not cheap. Dishes started at around $3. We picked a Khmer restaurant near the bus terminal. Dishes there were only $2 apiece.

30-yr old mint condition scooter

Wayne’s apartment is unusual for Phonm Penh. He had all but the kitchen and bathroom walls removed, as well as a mezzanine floor. So once you walk in the door, it’s one large room with an extremly high ceiling. The windows are very big and close with shutters – no bars, screens, or glass. There is also a small balcony in the corner, which is aligned with the street corner. If you watch the movie A City of Ghosts (Matt Dillon), the building shows up in the first 18 minutes of the film.

When we’re not walking, we get around on tuk-tuks or moto. Taxis are only used to get from the airport to the hotel. Or by barang, certainly not by expats. We hardly bargain, but then, we’re probably paying more than the Khmers do. A tuk-tuk driver took us out to Bassat, where Howie and I birded, where we took the bird photos that appeared on the last blog.

Tuol Sleng

one of the overwhelming collection of photos of the Cambodian genocide

On Sunday we visited the Tuol Sleng Museum. It was a high school building that was converted to a prison by the KR, also called S21. It was where they took everyone and ‘convinced’ them to confess to all sorts of ‘crimes’ then took them to the killing fields. One floor was just mug shots of everyone they brought in. They recorded everyone’s histories, had them write it out themselves if they could, tortured confessions out of them then piled them in trucks. We also saw a film on the place, where guards who worked there and survived enacted their daily routine. It was gruesome: they got right back into it. Only 12 people survived the prison of the tens of thousands who passed through it in the 5 years it was in operation.

The ability to be able to stand in one of the cells alone and reflect on the misery and tragedy that occured here had me profoundly unnerved. I needed to get back on the balcony to regain my bearings. I found myself reflecting on the allegiances men make and the causes to which they commit themselves. Karen asked how this differed from other prisons, such as those in the news today.

A place of ghosts

Veal Samnap

Took a litte birding trip on a wooden boat today. Went across the Tonle
Sap River and crossed the Mekong on a ferry and took the tuk tuk to the veal, a large lake that shrinks seasonally into rice cultivation around the edges. We watched plowing, planting, haying, fishing, snailing and gather aquatic vegetation. Here are a few photos of a vibrant ecosystem.

the harbormodern Cambodian lake house complete w/ TV

Tags: Birding Asia, Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Travel, Tuol Sleng

This entry was posted on Monday, February 20th, 2006 at 6:37 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.