I was going to write another random post, when I realized that I never finished writing about my vacation...so heres another installment!
After Siem Reap and Angkor Wat amazingness, we travelled to Phnom Penh. The main point of interest there was Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields. The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot was a piece of history they don't really cover (if at all) in school, so the visit was an incredibly edifying experience for me. For those of you not in the know (as I wasn't; I had heard the word Khmer Rouge and knew it was bad, but not why...), the Khmer Rouge was the result of Cambodia's brush with communism, and led to genocide, disease and famine. Pol Pot was the politcal leader, and Tuol Sleng was the former school turned prison (interogation camp). The prison has been since turned into a museum, and it is indeed an extremely unsettling place. It still looks like a school, the way the buildings are laid out, but the effects of its time as a prison are everywhere. Some rooms still have the metal bed frames that prisoners were chained to, and iron manacles are everywhere. One building is completely filled with the images of prisoners and guards (the Khmer was famous for photographing everyone, prisoner style with a front shot and a profile, before killing them). A last note, there was a survivor from the prison there (one of only 7 if I remember correctly). He encouraged people to take his picture, so that they will take it back to their home countries and discuss what happened there.
Next we went to the Killing Fields, where the prisoners were taken to be executed and buried. Strangely enough, in such a place of so much suffering, it was quite beautiful and peacefull, with small open fields and sunlit glades between trees. It was eerie. The air there was filled with butterflies...It gently provoked much contemplation. How could a place that dark be so inviting? I've thought many things, one being that maybe what man does on earth ultimately doesn't change the nature of the earth itself, regardless of how horrible;that the trees and grass and butterflies were not a part of what happened. Another thought was that maybe the earth was aware, and was trying to make up for what transpired...Standing there in the sunshine, looking at scraps of clothing stuck in the hard packed dirt, and the gentle depressions characteristic of a hidden grave, I also thought that maybe the butterflies were the souls of those buried there, unable to rest. Our guide said that because they were improperly buried, the victims could never move on.
Sorry to be such a downer! But places like that really should be visited, and not forgotten.
To lighten things up, that night about half our group decided to find some genuine Khmer Kickboxing at the suggestion of the local tour guide (not to be confused with Thai Boxing, apparently Thailand "stole" it). This was an adventure in itself, as we had to set this up ourselves with the tuk-tuk drivers (this was not in the program). After negotiating a price ($6 roundtrip per tuk-tuk), we set off! And drove. And drove...and drove. Right out of the city center...and the not so city center...and onto a dirt road. Exciting. Then through the chain link, barb wired fence of a broadcasting building, to, naturally, the airplane hanger in the back. Upon entering the hanger our fears were dispelled, as it proved to be a well organized, nationally televised fight. The only other hiccups were the failure of our drivers to return...but, thankfully,we befriended a few other foreigners who kindly called us a ride. We just had to wait for them, in the dark, outside the building...But, as I am writing this, now, months later, nothing bad happened. And I have an adventurous story to tell!
Next Vacation Installment: The Beach!
