The Plan B Adventure

We have been a bit deliquent in our reports to the outside world due to multiple beach visits and more than unreliable internet connections. We are happy to recant some of our experiences as we finish a great two week stay in Cambodia and enjoy our first week in the southern half of Vietnam.

So we start with a great time in the capital city of Phnom Penh. Although a bit under-developed from an infrastructure standpoint, this city has a lot to offer. The Cambodian people are tremendously welcoming and enjoy practicing their English much more than the other nationalities we’ve encounterd. We opted for a few days here seeing the national sites (Silver Pagoda and National Palace) as well as educating ourselves on the brutal leadership of the Khmer Rouge and their notorious impact on all things Cambodian. Then to lighten things up we decided to take another cooking class and then head off to the beach before the short bus ride to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and the wonderful world of Vietnam.

The national sites were entertaining for an afternoon as we got to see the Silver Pagoda, a shrine that has flooring completely made from silver plates and the National Palace, which houses many of the National arts, relics, and treasures. We allocated these sites about our normal museum time of 2-3 hours. Just enough time to round out our educational need and short enough not to burn us out on other museums to come.

The education we received at Tuol Sleng High School was nothing short of frightening. Tuol Sleng’s other name is Prison S-21 and was used as a torture facility during the violent reign of the Khmer Rouge. Many of you might be familiar with this atrocious regime, yet as infants during the time we had no idea of the severe impact Pol Pot and his group of cronies had on an entire generation of Cambodians. Let us rephrase that….three generations and still counting. As with any facility like S-21, Dachau, Auschwitz, and those secret CIA prisons the time spent there is educational but sickening. We won’t go off on a tirade against war atrocities (as we will once we get to Vietnam) but understanding the dramatic impact this regime had was an eye-opening experience for us both.

In order to lighten up the scene we opted to stop by Psar Russei (The Russian Market) and support the local economy as well as sign up for an introduction to Cambodian cooking for the following day. Good choice….not only did we learn to make our own curry pastes, Fish Amok, and a wonderful banana leaf-wrapped dessert, but we met two Cambodians indicative of the past, present, and future of the country.

This class was different from the 10-20 person classes in Thailand as it was us plus two others. This allowed for a slower pace, longer relishing of our creations, and more intimate conversations. Chanton was our teacher in both Cambodian life and Cambodian food. She is a 50 year old Khmer Rouge survivor whom escaped to a Thai border camp for over 10 years. She has five lovely kids (yes, she has pictures) and works as a chef at Frizz as well as a teacher for Frizz-sponsored cooking classes. As she taught us the in and outs of Fish Amok she also was open to our prying questions about her history and present-day Cambodia through the eyes of a survivor. These are the conversations you relish and Chanton had a dramatic impact on both of us. (As a side note – her 18 year-old son is graduating from high school this year and hopes to go to college…if you are in Phnom Penh stop by and support her at Frizz as she works towards helping him with his $400USD/year college tuition) The present and future we met was Vannak. He is a 21 year old college student in Phnom Penh whom joined the cooking class in order to develop the skills to woo his English girlfriend. (Just kidding Vannak, we know she loves you for more than your cooking!!)  We were all (including Chanton) extremely impressed with Vannak. At 21, he is going to school, working, and donating his time at local NGOs supporting Cambodia’s youth. These two exemplify the spirit and fortitude of Cambodians nationwide and helped to inspire the two of us.

After a fabulous Mexican fiesta (margaritas included) at The Cantina we went to bed early, not knowing what to expect as we headed the next morning for Vietnam. At this point we must mentally prepare ourselves for the unknown at least before the head hits the pillow. What a welcome surprise when we left on time (Thanks SaPaCo), passed through customs and immigration with ease (is this really Vietnam?) and sailed down the bumpy road to the Jewel of The Orient, Saigon!!