Wanderlust Heaven!

So it was back to Bangkok, my homebase for Southeast Asia.  Not a bad place to come through frequently, it’s unparalleled globally in its travelers’ infrastructure.  Within 1-2 blocks around the Sukhumvit area, you’ll find loads of internet cafes, travel agencies, contraband dealers, and bars/restaurants.  And more, if you’re looking for that…

Wasn’t sure if I’d be landing in the newish airport, Suvarnabhumi, or the oldie, Don Muang.  When I last fled Thailand, two days ahead of the coup (not that I knew it was coming), Suvarnabhumi was about to come online and Don Muang was headed for retirement.  But the usual cockups occurred and Don Muang was turned into the domestic airport, for the time being.  Anyway, I came into Suvarnabhumi, and was somewhat impressed by the modern design – looks like a gigantic beetle, with a central pod and lots of ‘legs’spanning out from it.  My positive impression quickly faded upon seeing the line at Immigration.  It was so bad I could barely make out the agent at the other end of the hallway.  And despite my best efforts to shift lines and be ready for a sudden lane opening, I was there for well over an hour.  Don Muang was never half that bad, in my experience.  New airports, deteriorating customer experience – how depressing.  They build these new airports to showcase their nation to the world, but travelers find themselves farther from the city, and without any meaningful improvement in lines, service, etc.  There might be a few decent restaurants, but that’s about it.  Exceptions:  Hong Kong and Singapore, whose airports are among the very best in the world.  Lessons to be learned from those two, for certain…

Because I was late from waiting in line, my entire evening became a blur.  Had to get a SIM card and phone friend Bob, as we had planned to meet for dinner/drinks.  Checked into the guesthouse, Soi 11, a good little place.  Went to 7-11, got the SIM card, and managed to sort it out.  Rang Bob, decided to meet chez moi.  Unpacked, grabbed a couple beers to cool off, and brother-in-law Dwax called (after I texted him my new #) to catch up discuss various matters.  Before I knew it, I was sitting at the bar hot, sweaty, filthy, buzzed, and with about 15 minutes to shower and meet Bob.  Did it, I’m glad to report.

Last saw Bob when I left Thailand last September, was great to see his lanky frame coming towards me on Sukhumvit.  Walked over to Little Arabia for some kebabs, salad and pita, was in the mood for the tastes of my (and Bob’s) ancient homeland.  Discussed Bob’s recent trip to Leh, Ladakh – he had read my blog entries of that place and decided to visit with his Delhi-based friend.  And he thoroughly enjoyed the trip – he used the same travel agent there to book some excursions, which were generally good although he did have an annoying ‘misunderstanding’ with Angdu, who drove me around for several days last year.  Anyway, Bob looked refreshed and I think it served him well to see India, the good (Leh/the north), the bad and the ugly (Delhi).

After dinner we went out to the RCA complex, it’s full of bars and restaurants.  Hadn’t been there before – Bob’s a big fan and goes there to check out the talent from time to time.  I don’t blame him – there was plenty of it.  He is seeing someone right now, so was well-behaved – I was too, given my long day of travel.  We knocked back our share of Singhas and stayed out till about 1 p.m.  I collapsed into my bed and slept straight through to 9 a.m. or so.

Read the Bangkok Post the next morning.  Was surprised and pleased to see a column by Maureen Dowd, one of my very favorite reports – she covers the White House for the Washington Post, and does it quite well.  Her specialty – roasting our inept Commander-in-Chief.  Some readers will recall that I celebrated one of her columns last year, in which she lambasted Bush for ‘breaking the Presidency that Daddy and his friends gave him.’ Precisely.  This new column was hard-hitting, as usual.  Can’t recall the contents as it was last week, but I really do need to follow her more closely on the web…

Was very busy after that – it seems that whenever I come to Bangkok, I’m full-on with errands, probably because I save ém up for Bangkok and its excellent infrastructure.  Tried to book a flight to Laos online, but Lao Airline doesn’t make that possible – so went to an agent and did that.  Had to print some flight e-tickets…get some toiletries…transfer some photo files between camera and external hard drive…book a hotel in Phnom Penh, my next destination…and, of course, eat a large lunch.  And it was Friday the 13^th, so I was a bit careful throughout the day…

Went for a run in the early evening, before meeting Bob again.  Sukhumvit Road and its various alleys (soi’s) are unbelievably crowded, but found a decent little park nearby.  Bob later told me that the park was built by Bangkok’s ‘massage parlor king,’ who ran for the Parliament after coming clean and admitting that he bribed cops to leave his dodgy parlors alone.  I think he later resigned his seat, but is a major celebrity in the city and highly admired.  Not sure if he still has his parlors – but I imagine so.  Welcome to Asia!

Decided not to wear my red bandana for the run – in fact, need to get rid of that and get a less inflammatory color.  Although it could prove useful in countries like Vietnam and Laos, where the Reds won their wars…

It was Friday night – time to let my (remaining) hair down.  Not that I spend most nights in front of the TV.  Went over to Bob’s flat to drop off some stuff – I wanted to travel light in Cambodia.  Checked out a ‘fishbowl place’ nearby – send me an email and I will provide further details on these places.  Dropped into a nearby restaurant for drinks/dinner – and while sitting outside a horde of cops showed up and went in.  They were there for the better part of an hour, bothering the management – probably didn’t get bribed on time/sufficiently.  One cop was taking photos – not sure what those will be used for.  They smiled at Bob and I – we obviously posed no threat and I guess a couple balding Jews look innocuous enough.  A baby elephant and its mahout wandered by.  Quite a stink.  We ate a strange fish dish that was dry and a bit dusty – not the best of Thai cuisine.  Also had a raw prawn dish that I should have been more concerned about in the ordering stage – more on that later.

Bob’s friend Jan showed up and we had a couple last beers with him.  I had a 7:40 a.m. flight to Phnom Penh and needed a few hours of sleep.  Finally headed home around 2 a.m., walked by the infamous Nana Plaza where a few lingering bargirls greeted me with the infamous ‘I go wit you?!’  Sorry ladies, keep looking…

Arose feeling rather heinous.  It was 5:20 a.m., had to get to the airport reasonably quickly, in case the lines were bad (a very possible scenario).  Got there…lines were fine.  It was a Saturday morning, that was probably it.  Also noticed that it was Bastille Day – a fitting day to fly into former French Indochina.  Was happy that Thailand did away with the separate airport departure surcharge – I always find that a tawdry affair.  Of course, they didn’t do away with it completely – they just shifted it to the flight ticket, and I think they also increased it – it’s now 700 Baht.  Still, it’s one less thing to deal with at 6 a.m…

I had only been to Cambodia once, very briefly, for a business offsite.  We flew into Siem Reap in the afternoon, saw Angkor Wat for an hour, and then had an all-day meeting the next day.  Then we flew out.  Not particularly enriching from a cultural standpoint.  So I had always wanted to return, to really get a taste of Angkor and also to see the capital, Phnom Penh.  I hadn’t heard much about the latter – but my sense was that it was a pleasant riverside capital with a lingering touch of the old French empire days.  And I heard there were some pretty fun bars.  More than enough reason to visit, methinks.

And reaching further back in time, I recalled that when I was a university student at Tufts, I attended a seminar about the infamous ‘Killing Fields,’ which had spawned a recent movie.  Dith Pran, the star of the movie (he was played by another Cambodian fellow), came to the seminar and spoke to us.  Pran was a translator for reporter Sidney Shanberg and was caught by the Khmer Rouge in PP when it fell in 1975.  He experienced 3 years of hell before escaping into Thailand.  The story he told has stuck with me for years.

During the hourlong flight I reflected, as much as I can at 7:40 a.m., on the touchy Cambodia-US history.  We had supported the French when they took back Cambodia from Japan after WW2…later, years after independence (1953), the Vietnam War spilled over into Cambodia when Nixon and Kissinger authorized heavy bombing of the countryside.  Our boys also supported the deposing of Prince Sihanouk by General Lon Nol, thereby uniting the Prince with the Communist Khmer Rouge.  Our bombing drove peasants into the hands of the Khmer Rouge…our political gambling enabled a feckless military regime a la South Vietnam…and in April 1975 the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh.  And within 3 years they had murdered 2 million or so of their countrymen – probably history’s worst case of auto-genocide. 

The Vietnamese invaded on Christmas Day 1978 and threw out the Khmer Rouge, who became guerillas in the jungles on the Thai border.  Vietnam had just cause – the Khmer Rouge had been going over the border and murdering Vietnamese villagers.  So after they won, they installed a puppet government in PP.  And here’s where the US again chose unwisely:  because we hated the Vietnamese government and its Cambodian proxy, we actually backed a coalition of the Khmer Rouge, Prince Sihanouk, and another politician, and recognized that gang as the ‘legitimate’’ Cambodian government, with a seat at the UN.  Incredible – even after the Khmer Rouge’s crimes became well-known, we (and France, and other countries) backed them because we didn’t want the Vietnamese to run Cambodia.  Vietnam turned out to govern well enough, left in 1989 or thereabouts, and continues to influence the country today.  There’s a ‘Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Memorial’ in town that is not highly admired.  Still, the Vietnamese were the ones who got rid of the Khmer Rouge – admittedly, their intentions were selfish and not altruistic, but still, they deserve thanks for that.

Two thoughts spring from this.  First, we obviously haven’t learned much over the years.  We’re still picking the wrong countries to invade, and/or the wrong ways to do so, and/or the wrong regimes to back in their stead.  That’s a lot of and/or’s, but you get the drift.  Second, despite our sour history, Cambodians love the US and Americans.  I couldn’t stop blushing my entire visit.  Half the country wants to emigrate to the US – reminded me of Burma.  How do we bottle this shit?  And Cambodia (like Burma, but to a higher degree) uses the US Dollar – it has its own currency, the Riel, but dollars proliferate and generally I only got Riels in place of what would be coin change in the States.  I kind of like the lack of coins here – as I’m always losing those in taxis.

Back to the blow-by-blow.  PP Airport was very sleepy – no hourlong wait there, ever.  Got to my guesthouse, literally called ‘Okay Guesthouse.’ Had to wait a while for my room to be cleaned – and the woman did a thorough job.  I was not feeling great – system felt pretty loose.  I blamed the raw prawns in Bangkok and silently cursed my declining barriers against dodgy food.  Recalled that friend Curtis in a recent email re my 40^th birthday told me that after 40, body parts begin to come off warranty.  Knew precisely what he meant.  Couldn’t wait for the cleaning lady…spotted a recently cleaned room, sitting open, and dashed in there to do my business.  Ugh – could have set that one to music.

Slept for a couple hours.  I generally like to hit the ground running in a new city, but I was on low battery and feeling crappy.  The sleep did me well and then I went out sight-seeing.  First order of biz:  the Tuol Sleng Museum, also known as S-21.  Basically, the Auschwitz of Cambodia.  This was a former high school converted by the Khmer Rouge into a brutal torture centre – they’d take detainees there, photograph them, write their ‘biographies’(augmented by confessions obtained by torture, natch), and then ship them to the Choeung Ek Killing Fields 15 km from town. 

Tuol Sleng seems innocuous from the street – the banality of evil, indeed.  But as you go inside the numerous rooms, the smell of death is evident.  There are a few large rooms with exhibits and photos, with the rest being prison cells of various size.  Most have a metal bed, a photo of a bloody/dead prisoner, and an instrument of torture – usually a metal rod or the like.  Chilling stuff. 

The head of S-21 was a Khmer Rouge heavy named Duch, who was a former math teacher.  This is a bad time to make a joke – but I do feel that math teachers round the world should be kept from positions of power, just in case. 

There are houses surrounding Tuol Sleng, with the normal sounds of life emanating.  Probably wasn’t the case during the Khmer Rouge regime – they had immediately emptied the city of people (except themselves) and declared it to be ‘Ýear Zero.’

I thought the most disturbing aspect, by far, was the rows of photos of the detainees/murder victims.  There were thousands of these shown – and I think that all but 15 or so were killed.  Looking at the faces was absolutely compelling – I had to look at every single one. I don’t think it was just morbid curiosity – more a case of trying to connect and give a bit of justice to those who were silenced and exterminated.  Being Jewish wasn’t immaterial, either.

Most of the faces were neutral – just a regular, fairly composed look.  Composed, but there was usually a touch of knowing in there – I imagine that many/most knew their fates.  A few were quite different – a few men were smiling/smirking, a few were defiant.  These were just normal people – the ones who always get the shaft in any ‘revolution.’ I tried to imagine the faces of my friends and neighbors up there – talk about a chilling feeling.  A few of the photos were what I’d expected in advance – true portraits of misery.  I recall a photo of a man reaching out to the camera, as if begging for mercy.  One woman, marked #112, looked out at me through the years and her eyes seemed timeless and undimmed.  They went right through me.  There were many photos of children.  Every photo was different, and I had to look at them all.  I saw one man in the room running a small flower on a photo of a woman.  Was she his mother?  His wife?  The number of stories in that room would never be known or counted.

An upstairs gallery had a series of portraits with stories of survivors and their lost loved ones.  Absolutely heart-rending.  The Khmer Rouge started by killing anyone with outside influences’- if you could speak French, if you worked for the Lon Nol regime, if you had been to Vietnam, etc.  They later turned on their own cadres.  People were taken off without warning and murdered.  I can’t hope to tell the story well or properly, but I do urge you to see the Killing Fields movie if you haven’t, and it pick up a book or two about those awful times.  Email me and I can recommend some.

I mentioned that the Khmer Rouge emptied Phnom Penh when they took power.  There were photos at Tuol Sleng of the largely emptied city.  And for some reason I thought about Rangoon, not so far away.  Rangoon was never emptied, just misgoverned and repressed for decades by the military junta.  And the difference between PP and Rangoon today is enormous – PP is connected to the world, there are ATMs, email, you name it, whereas in Rangoon it feels like the 1950s all over again.  The Khmer Rouge emptied the city – but when they were overthrown by the Vietnamese, PP came back to life.  The Burmese military didn’t move the people – it moved the capital away from Rangoon, to a jungle city near Pyinmana.  Interesting to ponder the differences between these two cities with bizarre and disturbing pasts…

I was pleasantly surprised by PP’s cosmopolitan nature.  All I’d really heard was that there were lots of beggars, and that the river walk was nice.  Fair enough.  I went out my first night and visited the Foreign Correspondent’s Club, the FCC, which was a well-known place during the Indochinese Wars and which is a classic old watering hole/eatery.  Great views of the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers.  Moved on to the Elephant Bar at the Raffles Le Royal Hotel.  Was taking advantage of the happy hours at these flash places.  Then had dinner at Friends, which trains street kids and gives its profits to charity.  Sat next to a table of Americans, they were law students spending their summer in PP training Cambodian lawyers.  The Khmer Rouge killed nearly all the educated Cambodians, and even 30 years on there’s a huge shortage.  Chatted for a while about the rightward shift of the US Supreme Court, then got sick of that topic and left to barhop (round two).

Took a moto over to Walkabout.  Lots of working girls there – too annoying.  Moved over to Shanghai Bar.  Much better – infectiously happy place, excellent Italian DJ and plenty of people dancing.  Talked to my bartender – a very cute lass who spoke good English.  I bought her a drink…she came and sat next to me…we danced a bit…we went to sit outside and catch the breeze.  Turns out she comes from a broken home – father is no good – but has pulled herself up in life.  Finished high school, working now, trying to save up for university.  Good girl.  Talked till about midnight, then went over to the infamous Heart of Darkness, one of Southeast Asia’s notorious hotspots.  It’s rumored to be dangerous these days – people have been shot in there and fights often break out, sometimes between rich young local brats (with bodyguards) and foreigners.  Guess who tends to start the fights?  Anyway, I asked around and people thought it was safe enough.  Just had a drink there – was crowded but no problem.  Very noisy, so retreated to Howy’s Bar nearby – apparently that’s what most people end up doing.  Had a couple there, then called it a night.  I was still feeling a bit off from the morning’s bathroom visits…

It was an unusual day, to say the least.  Morning:  Tuol Sleng and its house of horrors.  Evening:  barhopping at colonial villas and modern establishments, with vivacious bargirls and customers.  What a contrast.  I did hear later that many young Cambodians either aren’t aware or don’t believe what went on in the late 70s.  And it has been 30 years, for sure.  Still, the city seems to have recovered, at least on the surface.  But I wanted to know more about peoples’ backstories – what did this fellow go through back then?  Where’s his head today?  Etc…

There’s a pizza place called Happy Herbs.  Notice the lack of apostrophe.  Guess why the pizza (or, more precisely, the eater of the pizza) is so happy.

Next morning, went over to the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek.  I had intended to go there after Tuol Sleng the previous afternoon, but a combination of not feeling well and being depressed by Tuol Sleng made me change my plan.  Took a moto to Choeung Ek.  There’s a monument to the roughly 9,000 victims found there after liberation.  More than 20,000 were actually killed there.  The monument is eerie and gripping – you’ve perhaps seen photos of it.  A glass enclosure is filled with skulls of the victims – many with blunt traumas, indicating they were beaten to death to save precious bullets.  Insane. 

Still, I found Choeung Ek less disturbing than Tuol Sleng, because it was less personal.  No photos, just remains and signs with explanations of what went on there.  But it was profoundly disturbing – as you walk around the excavated pits, there are bits of clothing and even tiny fragments of bones all round you.  You can’t help but walk over some.  The rains bring them up, as do animals.  Really brings tears to your eyes.

I read a book years ago called For the Sake of All Living Things, about that time in Cambodia.  And I recall the grotesque method of killing described therein, in which victims were blindfolded, made to kneel over a pit, while a loudspeaker played music to drown out the cries of death.  The executioners were often enslaved themselves, sometimes eyeless, mutilated teenagers who were barely human by that point.  I won’t get into more details here, it’s just too depressing for me.

That completed my visits to PP’s monuments to the Khmer Rouge atrocities.  Very moving – I won’t forget those places and what I learned anytime soon.

Started reading My Country by Abba Eban.  Eban was the former Israeli Ambassador to the UN, and a real aristocrat/wise man.  He died last year.  I got the book from my former client and fellow Jew Danny Feldman, who gave it to me in Tokyo last week.  Great book thus far – really gets into the details around the founding of the country.

Having had a couple days in PP under my belt, it occurred to me that Cambodia, and Indochina in general, might be the best mix of Asian and European culture in the world.  PP has a few great French restaurants – I had a nice salad nicoise for US$2.50.  I heard about a place with US$5 foie gras – not sure I want cheap foie gras, but the mere fact that you can get it is oddly reassuring.  And the local Khmer food is excellent – like Thai food, less spicy.  Other Asian cuisines – Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. – are all available too.  Seems to be a bit of everything here.  Again, much more cosmopolitan than I anticipated.

Did the Hash House Harriers run on Sunday.  Met at the train station at 3 p.m., took a lorry out to the countryside.  Started out innocuously enough – then the rain came.  It is rainy season, so that shouldn’t have been a shocker.  The trail deteriorated rapidly – soon we were walking, not running, and my lower body was covered in mud.  Reminded me of the Hash I did last year in Burma.  I recall spending an hour washing my clothes and shoes after that – not my idea of fun.  This Hash was even worse – good people, fun drinking songs, but I dislike being covered in mud (at least when not accompanied by a female wrestler).  Mea culpa, I suppose (though I really blamed the guy who set the trail, he should have known better).  I vowed not to Hash again in monsoon season – let’s see if I follow through on that.

Had a drink that night at Sharky’s Bar.  My bartender wants me to get a US visa for her.  She’d be happy cleaning houses for 6 months, then return.  She makes US$50/month here.  Ugh.

Gotta come back to this – it is hard to reconcile the past darkness of this place with the current feeling of gaiety.  Cambodians are pleasant, happy people, or so it seems.  And half the population is 18 or under – there’s a big reason, I’m sure.  Still, it’s almost like someone rebooted the place and so far the system is running well enough.  I’m sure, though, that by not working here, I’m missing the big pic.

The Khmer Rouge leaders are still awaiting trial.  Long time coming, with lots of money spent thus far.  Many think the $ should be spent on other things, like schools, victims restitution, etc.  Not sure how I feel – I’d personally loved to see the remaining heavies swinging from the end of a rope.  Unfortunately, Pol Pot and a few others have already died and there’ll be no real justice for those scum.

Walked around for a while on Monday.  Saw the colonial-style National Museum.  The Khmer Rouge destroyed the books in there and turned the place into a stable.  Can you believe this shit?

The Royal Palace was very nice – a la its Bangkok counterpart, but roomier and somehow more pleasant.  Much like PP vs. Bangkok – I do find Bangkok a bit overwhelming at times…

Was walking on the sidewalk and saw a roving food vendor put down his pots (which were on a bamboo pole across his shoulders).  He walked over to a wall, dropped his pants, and took a leak right there.  Then he went back to his pots.  Classic.

Lots of great old French architecture around town.  Am surprised the Khmer Rouge didn’t blow it all up.  Well, hypocrisy is part of those sorts of folks – I’m sure they enjoyed hanging out at the FCC and other French houses once they’d cleared the city of normal people.

Had a date with my bartender from Shanghai Bar.  Met her at the FCC…played pool (we split two games).  Went to Metro on the riverwalk – very nice food.  She had a massive steak – I had half of that, plus my food.  Then caught some music at Riverhouse…had a good talk.  Then back to my guesthouse (I won’t kiss and tell).

Did some shopping the next day.  I generally hate this activity, but I feared lasting damage to my stuff from the Hash run, so went first to the ‘Russian Market,’famed for cheapo brand clothes.  Found nothing there – everything was cheesey.  Went to the modern Soprya Mall – it has nothing on Manila’s amazing malls, but I did find a white tanktop, some socks, and a few other things.  One store sold travel accessories, including stuff from Korjo, a great outfit that sounds Japanese but is actually Aussie.  Bought a little rucksack – have long been seeking a very compact bag for short excursions, and have resorted to plastic bags (which never last), a purse-like bag I got in Byron Bay (which looks a bit effeminate when in Asian countries), and so forth.  This new rucksack is perfect and should do the trick.

Checked out the National Museum – good selection of Khmer treasures.  But too much stuff – felt like I was drowning in a sea of half-broken statues.

What else…Cambodians might be the world’s craziest drivers.  They travel in both directions on BOTH SIDES of the street.  If a moto driver wants to take a left, he turns into the leftmost part of the left lane first – despite Cambodia being a right-side driving nation.  Later on, he’ll work his way to the right lane, in due time.  Takes some getting used to.  I saw 2 bad accidents in my 4 days in PP – and heard that Cambodia has the worst record in SE Asia.  That’s not a prize you want to win…

At least 3 different moto drivers offered to take me to illegal shooting ranges.  At these places you can apparently shoot cows, chickens, or paper targets (I heard one place offered targets shaped like Muslim clerics).  I think it’s US$1 per bullet, and you can use AK-47s and other well-known weapons.  Yikes.  I declined, but am curious what the ranges are like.  Unlike most US Presidential candidates, I am not a hunter and would be ecstatic if every gun in the country were seized immediately.  Mitt Romney, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner.  At least, I tried to go there…but it was closed when I arrived.  A fellow on the corner told me the owner killed his wife and was in jail.  And the place would be closed indefinitely.  That was odd news…I was really looking forward to the cold sesame beef noodles.  I know, I know – bad taste.

Went over to Shanghai Bar – wanted to see the cute bartender, and see if she’d be interested in coming to Siem Reap/Angkor with me.  I knew she hadn’t been there yet.  I asked her…she was interested, but feared leaving her little sister alone in their flat for a few days.  Or at least that was the story she told me.  I tried to come up with a few solutions – none worked.  Oh well.  Life is long.  Said bye and visited a few more bars before calling it a night.

Took a bus to Siem Reap next day.  Uneventful.  Read a book about the Khmer Rouge regime called First They Killed My Father.  Deeply disturbing – you really couldn’t dream this stuff up.  Highly recommended.

Passed a vegetable stand – a customer stood there picking his nose, then going through the veggies.  Nice.

Checked into the Two Dragons Guesthouse, run by Gordon, who writes the excellent and helpful Tales of Asia website/blog.  Unfortunately, he’s in Bangkok this week so won’t get to meet him.

Siem Reap is a nice little town, best known for being the access point to Angkor Wat and other temples.  I visited a slew of them earlier today, but am fried so will post those next week.  I’ll also post some PP photos, I’m too tired to dig them out right now.  Hope this entry made sense – welcome any feedback.  Over and out.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 19th, 2007 at 7:14 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.