Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Heavy day in Cambodia
Today was definitely a highlight of the trip, but also probably the heaviest and darkest day of the trip. Today we went to S21 and the killing fields, home to millions of Cambodian deaths in only 3 years.
S21 is a former high school converted into a prison and torture centre. Much of the building hasn't been touched...right down to the blood stains still visible on the floors and the piles of sculls left on the site as a warning to other prisoners. Out of the tens of thousands of people imprisoned there in the 3 years it was operational, only 7 survives remained when it was liberated by the Vietnamese in 1978.
40 minutes out of town is the other half of the story Home to over 20 thousand deaths, part of the overall 2-3 million deaths that took place in the span of 3 years, the killing fields are exactly what they say they are. After the guards had extracted all they could from the prisoners, they were loaded into trucks in the middle of the night and taken to mass graves in the countryside to be exterminated. They warned us it would be graphic, but much of the graves have only been partially excavated, leaving bones and teeth and bits of clothing to come out of the soil over time. It's a completely eerie sensation of having to watch where you step to keep from stepping on people's bones. The centre of the grounds features a huge tower maybe 3-4 stories high, with level upon level of human sculls that they've excavated. It was definitely a lot to take in.
We were eager to get away from all that death. After a fantastic lunch at the foreign correspondents club (where all the rich English journalists hang out) we went to the royal palace (lots of photos there) and finally took a tuktuk back to the hotel.
Now it's time for a quick shower, then a nap before a nice dinner at the best restaurant in town! You're finally caught up!
S21 is a former high school converted into a prison and torture centre. Much of the building hasn't been touched...right down to the blood stains still visible on the floors and the piles of sculls left on the site as a warning to other prisoners. Out of the tens of thousands of people imprisoned there in the 3 years it was operational, only 7 survives remained when it was liberated by the Vietnamese in 1978.
40 minutes out of town is the other half of the story Home to over 20 thousand deaths, part of the overall 2-3 million deaths that took place in the span of 3 years, the killing fields are exactly what they say they are. After the guards had extracted all they could from the prisoners, they were loaded into trucks in the middle of the night and taken to mass graves in the countryside to be exterminated. They warned us it would be graphic, but much of the graves have only been partially excavated, leaving bones and teeth and bits of clothing to come out of the soil over time. It's a completely eerie sensation of having to watch where you step to keep from stepping on people's bones. The centre of the grounds features a huge tower maybe 3-4 stories high, with level upon level of human sculls that they've excavated. It was definitely a lot to take in.
We were eager to get away from all that death. After a fantastic lunch at the foreign correspondents club (where all the rich English journalists hang out) we went to the royal palace (lots of photos there) and finally took a tuktuk back to the hotel.
Now it's time for a quick shower, then a nap before a nice dinner at the best restaurant in town! You're finally caught up!
I've been a bad blogger....
Sorry everyone! I had planned on writing daily updates, but it's been a busy few days!
On the 24 in Ho chi min city, we said goodbye to 3 from our tour group, and picked up another 3 for the very last leg of the tour, Cambodia. I exchanged an Italian roommate for an American one, and off we went!
First up was a day long trip on the Mekong river delta, visiting a floating market, having a traditional lunch...it was nice! (though this now being the third or fourth trip on the river, its lost any novelty...still cool though!)
Yesterday we said goodbye to Vietnam and crossed the border into Cambodia after an hour spent waiting for travel visas. It was a long 6 hours on the bus, and everyone was happy when we finally arrived at the bus station in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. A quick tuktuk ride to the hotel and we were home.
We had just enough time for a quick orientation walk of the area before we were picked up by a group of 15 men on cyclos (think of a bike/rickshaw hybrid, with one big back wheel and 2 small front wheels under a basket that holds passengers) for an hour-long tour around downtown Phnom Penh. It's actually a pretty cool charity that runs the tours...they hire homeless and handicapped men (a group that is typically forgotten by most charity organizations here) and give them a good job. My driver was obviously the winner of 'pimp my cyclo'...he had reflective tape and old cd's stuck on it to make it blinged out...it was great! Then dinner at an orphanage-run resteraunt, and an hour-long film about the atrocities that happened in Cambodia in the 70's. I'll post more on that in another post. That's enough words for this one post!
************
Listening to: the hum of the air conditioner on high, and the sound of the traffic in the street.
Current Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Craving: Clean laundry!
Philosophical question: which is worse...the sunburn, or the peeling and itching that comes after. I'm going crazy with the itching!
***************
On the 24 in Ho chi min city, we said goodbye to 3 from our tour group, and picked up another 3 for the very last leg of the tour, Cambodia. I exchanged an Italian roommate for an American one, and off we went!
First up was a day long trip on the Mekong river delta, visiting a floating market, having a traditional lunch...it was nice! (though this now being the third or fourth trip on the river, its lost any novelty...still cool though!)
Yesterday we said goodbye to Vietnam and crossed the border into Cambodia after an hour spent waiting for travel visas. It was a long 6 hours on the bus, and everyone was happy when we finally arrived at the bus station in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. A quick tuktuk ride to the hotel and we were home.
We had just enough time for a quick orientation walk of the area before we were picked up by a group of 15 men on cyclos (think of a bike/rickshaw hybrid, with one big back wheel and 2 small front wheels under a basket that holds passengers) for an hour-long tour around downtown Phnom Penh. It's actually a pretty cool charity that runs the tours...they hire homeless and handicapped men (a group that is typically forgotten by most charity organizations here) and give them a good job. My driver was obviously the winner of 'pimp my cyclo'...he had reflective tape and old cd's stuck on it to make it blinged out...it was great! Then dinner at an orphanage-run resteraunt, and an hour-long film about the atrocities that happened in Cambodia in the 70's. I'll post more on that in another post. That's enough words for this one post!
************
Listening to: the hum of the air conditioner on high, and the sound of the traffic in the street.
Current Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Craving: Clean laundry!
Philosophical question: which is worse...the sunburn, or the peeling and itching that comes after. I'm going crazy with the itching!
***************
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)