Overall Cambodia has been an interesting experience, especially Phnom Penh. The younger generations of Cambodians are very kind and always very helpful to tourists. The older generations keep to themselves and almost always have a cold look in their eyes, but rightfully so. The country has a sickenly sad history, they have been through a lot. Almost anyone over 35 has witnessed and been a part of this horrific time period in their country. Spark will explain a part of the history we learned later on to help better understand the places we visited while in Phnom Penh.
We arrived there on February 15 and left on the 19. Our first full day in Phnom Penh we walked around the city getting familiar with our surroundings. We visited the central market which was HUGE! They had everything you can imgaine.. clothes, electronics, household items, souvenirs, accesories, shoes, etc! We walked down by the river and enjoyed shakes and fifty cent beers. I still can't get over fifty cent beers... the cheapest thing on the menu... cheaper than water! The best part is they don't have happy hour... they have happy day... all day incredibly cheap beer and apps! Leah it's your calling! Sitting outside any cafe it is crazy how many beggers there are... and they are mostly children. They will stop at the table every five mins asking you to buy something out of the baskets they carry around including bracelets, books, small items or just beg for money. We have seen it in every country but Cambodia is by far the worst. They tell you how poor they are and they will carry their baby sibling to show they need money for the baby. It's incredibly sad. We always try to talk to them and ask about school or their interests. It is something I cannot accept about this culture. Parents making their kids do this while the child should be at school. The child is taught to beg at a young age... some are only five! Many disabled people approaching you begging for money as well... all the time. Instead we have bought many items at NGO stores which are stores that sell items made with recycled material that are made by disabled people. It helps them get jobs in the community as an alternative to begging. Also we have seen bands composed of mine victims with a sign that says "we dont beg we want to work". It is a very different culture from what we know. We ended the day at the internet cafe job hunting for the summer... woot woot!
The following day we declared our tourist day... we visited the National Museum, S21 (prison), and one of the killing fields. The museum was quite intriguing. Many artifacts from the past including clothes and accesories of the past king and queen, statues and sculptures dating back to the 6th and 7th century, paintings, silverware, and so much more. In order to better understand S21 and the killing field here is a little history on Cambodia...
The reign of the Khmer Rouge was the darkest time in Cambodian history. They killed somewhere between 1.5-3 million of their own people. Government officals opposed to the Khmer, teachers, scholars, bankers, intelluctuals, even people who wore glasses were seen as Intellectuals and they were all murdered without reason. They were brought to S21 which was a school they transformed to a prison. Others who lived in Phenom Pehn were forced out of the city to work in the fields as peasants. Some people were tricked into thinking they would have a better job in Phnom Penh but then brought to the prison. After people were interrogated and tortured they were forced to live in the horrible conditions of the prison they were brought to one of the several killing fields. Truck loads of people arrived every other week to be killed. The worst part is after the Vietnamese drove the khmer out of cambodia (into neighboring thailand) they were still seen as the major polictical party by the rest of the world. Pol Pot the leader of the khmer rouge was even invited to Washington in the early 90s. He died a few years later and was never charged for the crimes he committed. Other leaders in his party are still currently being tried for the crimes of murder and genocide some 40 years later.
It was incredibly sad walking through S21. A school, a place full of laughing and learning goodtimes, turned into a cold nightmare prison. The last days of peoples lives spent here dwelled up in old classrooms packed with 50 other people, little area to sleep, very little to eat. The buildings have remained unchanged.. chains on the floor where people were locked in tiny cells before being interrogated, barb wire covering the building so people could not attempt suicide by jumping off the ide, blood on the floor and walls, etc. It was
The killing field we visited was just as wickedly horrible. Huge holes in the ground filled with dead bodies. An entire pit with women and babies. A tree near the pit (the killing tree) had skull fragments from babies where they would grab a babies feet and swing their heads into the tree to kill them. They threw small kids and babies in the air while another man shot them. Bullets were expensive so they often used farm tools to kill people. People were thrown into the pits still breathing so they would pour The chemical DDT on them to kill them and reduce the smell of the bodies. The stories we heard and the way the people were treated is so incredibly disgusting and in humane I cannot even believe it was their reality. That there are people out there like that. After the monsoon season clothes, rags, and bones come to the surface from all the rain. They keep display cases around the field with the items that surface. In the entrance of the field they built a large monument storing skulls and bones of people they dug up. Spark went in their while I chose not to and he took a few pics that we will post later. Had I known the detailed gruesome of these places I'm not sure I would have gone. Overall, it was a Rough day. Learning about the past was difficult and eye opening. It truly makes you appreciate how fortunate we are. And it helped us better understand the coldness of Cambodians. That was all kind of a downer for today ill finish up the rest of our trip in Phnom Penh later.
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