| QUICK UPDATE Where are they now? |
| Cambodia |
| We're not here anymore. See Romania: 9/19/2002 Bangkok, Thailand (in transit) Flew back to Bangkok, collected a bag from storage, spent one night sleeping, and now ready to leave at midnight. 9/14-18/2002 Phnom Penh The express boat for the capital left the dock 2 minutes early, at 6:58 am. It takes about 6 hours to reach Phnom Penh this way, or 10 torturous hours on a bus over broken roads. The boat travels on a lake that this time of year is 3 times as large as it is during the dry season. In places you see entire villages and forests flooded out, and they'll stay that way until November. Some of the guidebooks warn travelers about the dubious condition of some of these boats, but ours was the nicest thing we've been on in all of the region. It had working A/C, nice seats, 3 new Yanmar 450 hp diesels in a spotless engine room (I couldn't restrain myself and took a tour of the engine room), and new lifejackets! By 1 pm we were in the capital. The city is a bit grittier and dirtier than anything we've seen before. Tomorrow we take a tour of the Killing Field . This was where some of the 21% of the population that was exterminated during the rule of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge during the late 1970s, were killed. Targeted for death were the educated, leaving this country with a serious problem which they seem to be handling with a degree of success. All children learn Khmer, English and French in school, and are very profit motivated. The trip to the Killing Field outside Phnom Penh (there were many others throughout the country) was terrible. Anyplace else in the world where terrible things happen, the UN or the government clean things up all nicely, build a memorial and plant a park. This allows the visitor to peacefully reflect on the tragedy that took place, and feel a sense of peace. Not here. What you see is a pagoda stacked with 100s of human skulls (many with bullet holes in them), piles of bones, and heaps of unearthed clothing. The site is almost park-like, except that mass graves dot the site like bomb craters. Clothing worn by those executed is still mixed with the dirt throughout the site. Bones still come to the surface whenever the ground is disturbed. Only about half of the mass graves at the site have been excavated, leaving roughly 4,000 bodies of the 8,000 believed to have been killed there still in the ground. Next stop was the prison (which was at one time a high school) in Phnom Pehn where thousands of the soon-to-be-dead were "processed" prior to their trip to the Killing Field. Some died while being tortured, or from disease or starvation, before they had the chance to suffer more. 'Enemies' of the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea were guarded by a bunch of sadistic 10 to 15 year-old boys who tortured and sometimes murdered the prisoners. Confessions of crimes against the revolution and the state were extracted using unbelievably cruel techniques. Only 3 prisoners managed to leave the jail or the Killing Field they were sent to afterwards - alive. The Khmer Rouge documented the crimes of each prisoner, and even took their picture. Hundreds of faces stare back from the walls - old men, women and children. This happened while the world stood by and allowed the right to self determination to be taken to a heartless and grisly end. The site is mostly in ruins, and the government isn't motivated to preserve it, so it is deteriorating quickly. Squatters are moving in and taking over the land. Soon there won't be anything left. We've noticed that several Kingdoms in the region have the motivation to support a King and Queen, along with the trappings of fine living that these people demand; yet they claim poverty and cry to the UN and international community to provide the funding to preserve their important historical sights or keep people from starving. After all, a Rolls is the only vehicle fit for a King, right? Sick. 9/12-13 Siem Reap Spent another day touring the Angkor complex by taxi. There is an incredible variety of temples in varying styles and states of disrepair. Some of the smaller ones were easier to appreciate in and hour or so. One of the roads we took went through territory formerly (as recently as 8 years ago) closed to tourists, as it was under the control of the Khmer Rouge rebels. The sandstone carvings on some of the temples were very nice. We tried to get a paper rubbing of one relief, but were dissuaded by a 14 year-old with a machine gun. I think in two days we made a superficial tour of about 70% of what is in the area to see. It would take 2 weeks to see it well and understand what the images were all about, but the physical demands would be too much for all but the most rugged individual. We are very happy we took the time to come here. In town we found two family-run restaurants to eat at, and never got sick. Wait till you see the pictures of the kitchen. I think (no, I know) they would get an F- from the Los Angeles Health Department. They did a good job in some respects. Utensils were delivered to the table in a cup of boiling water. We've been exposed to germs from the region for 3 months now, and have built up a bit of resistance to most things, but it was nice to see a good effort on their part to keep us off the toilet. The children of the owners helped out with all the work at the restaurants, so we bought the little guys crayons and paper before we left. You can't imagine how happy they were for such a small gift. We gave two small girls at one of the temples a pen each (the #1 item asked for from tourists), and their eyes lit up. I asked them if I could make a picture of them, and they agreed. Both put on a smile and straightened up to pose with their new pen! It is easy to spread a little joy. Our last day was spent shopping for souvenirs and inside anything air conditioned. It was hot and sunny on our last day. The previous three days had cloud cover and a little rain at times. This kept the temperatures down, thank God. It would have made for a great day for photography, but instead I got lucky and found a bunch of sunny day photos (on a computer at the internet cafe) for this site. The photo opportunities during the dry season must be great, but the 100+ (35 C) degree temperatures would be a killer. 9/11/2002 Siem Reap, Cambodia Wow, what a country! Definitely another of the great delightful surprises of our trip. We have been seeing the Angkor Wat (temple) complex with a great Belgian couple and the assistance of the taxi driver who brought us to town from the airport. The Angkor Wat area is absolutely amazing. It has been said that had it been located in the Mediterranian area, there would either have been eight wonders of the ancient world, or one of the seven that was in the running would have been bumped off the list by this one. The scale and size of this entire building complex is unfathomable until you see it in person. In the 6th century the Khmer people built what I can say is a city as grand and full of interesting and awe-inspiring buildings as a mini-Washington D.C. No kidding! There are several temples and palaces that are gigantic and which tower over the great flood plain that they are built on. I've never seen the pyramids in Egypt or of the Maya in Mexico (give me a few years), but I'm sure an effort equal to that went into constructing everything I've seen. Some of the buildings have deteriorated quite badly because the people lacked the engineering knowlege that the Mayas and the Egyptians had. They also built on a site that is nothing but mud floodplain. Still, huge buildings made of stone, which were floated up-river from quarries over 80 miles away, are still standing. While the buildings are technically not sound and many are falling apart as their foundations sink or crumble, the artistry and craftsmanship that went into them is remarkable. They are about 600 years younger than the Colisseum in Rome, but because they were forgotten for almost 1200 years, they have never been altered or consumed by a modern city. The overall effect is that they look like something right out of an Indiana Jones set. We'll spend 3 days here. |
 |