Phnom Penh

So Phnom Penh turns out to be an interesting place...perhaps it's because I really like 'the larger' cities. At 1M people, this is the largest city we've seen since Bangkok. As a result of the size, you blend more into the city as opposed to many of the others where it seems the tourists overwhelm the locals. It also helped that we liked the hotel, a large older building with some character in the french colonial style with old plank wooden floors and furniture and a balcony with a great view overlooking the Mekong river (about 1000kms downstream from when we last saw it in Laos).

Having said all that, it is a city of grave contrasts, where there is more extreme expressions of wealth and poverty. For instance when it comes to vehicles on the road, there is a huge number of spanking new Lexus and Toyota SUVs, and Landcruisers. Sometimes it seemed like they were 20% of the vehicles on the road. Of course there is the usual dizzying array of 125cc motos which seem to come at you from all directions. On the poverty side, at least anywhere near the tourist attractions or hotel ghetto, there is all manner and sorts of children and people begging and/or trying to sell you things you don't want. It is quite a bit more expensive a country than Laos or Thailand and US$ are common currency (that's what the bank machines dispense). You get the feeling that more than in other places, there are those with and making big money and the rest who are not. There is large construction projects going on all over. It is also an astonishingly young country with 50% of the population under 15 ...and you notice that on the streets.

So among the usual circuit of things to see are the Killing Fields where they have unearthed a number of mass graves and put 8000 skulls into a glass tower of 3 levels and looking out to the 4 directions of the compass. It is a sad place - words do not convey the overwhelming remorse one feels here. There is also the S-21 prison (pre-Khmer Rouge, a school - post Khmer Rouge, a museum) where political prisoners were kept and tortured and eventually sent to the Killing Fields. This turned out to be an interesting but heart-wrenching place with a mix of historical background to the Pol Pot regime, and perspectives from different players in the 1975-1978 drama. First came the backgrounds of the ringleaders (many had scholarships in Paris in the 1950's where they became enamoured with communism), then statements from some of the people who had joined the Khmer Rouge and eventually participated in the ugly, brutal, inhumane ways of the regime, and then statements of people who had suffered and lost family. There was also an interesting display of photos taken by a swedish group invited to tour the country in 1976 to see the 'wonders of the revolution'. They had believed what they saw and now were reflecting back on why they ended up being 'taken in'.

There is a process in place to try and bring some justice on people who led the revolution, but on closer inspection it is very complex. Where do you draw the line on who participated enough in the Khmer Rouge to warrant prosecution? and what constitutes sufficient evidence with direct linkage to a 'crime'. That's complicated further by the fact that so many of those people are regular participants in the country's life again now.

It's a complicated country and it has been rewarding to learn more about what happened here...Yet another failed attempt to impose a utopian view of what society is supposed to be like.

From the Vietnam War, the Khmer Rouge Genocide and civil war, Cambodia has a recent, turbulent past from which to heal while trying to find its way toward a brighter future. Let's pray that the growth it is experiencing now (largely due to tourism) does not inhibit these people from being the authors of their's and their country's restoration.

On a lighter note, there is also the tour of the royal palace and garden which contain many beautiful views and buildings in the traditional buddhist wat style.

Lori, feeling the need to be more than a tourist for a day, googled up a local orphanage and called them to arrange a visit for the day. On the way there in our tuktuk we picked up 20kg of fruit and let me tell you they disappeared pretty fast among the 91 kids as soon as we arrived. It is quite an experience to be welcomed by dozens of kids asking your name and holding on to you. It is amazing how much they seem to crave touch and want to come up and be close to you. So we basically hung out and played volleyball and skipping with them and watched them in a performance of traditional Khmer dancing later in the afternoon. The orphanage seemed very much like a hand-to-mouth operation with a lot of support coming from tourists dropping by (and from some of those who continue to provide support in an ongoing way). They are sleeping in small dorms, 3 to a bed, go to school half the day and get some english, french, and japanese training on the side. Many of them spoke quite good english. In a moment of reflection, especially gazing at the younger ones I felt a heartbreak to know that they didn't have some adult to whom they belonged and who was their source of love and security.... Leaving was tough...tougher on us than them. I think because they have just come to expect that this is what happens with all their visitors at the end of the day. One guy in particular, who had had a brain haemorage that left one arm paralyzed had really attached himself to me...driving off with him in the distance was hard...

The manager of the hotel upon learning of our activities that day invited us to contribute some money for water filters and school books for the village from where he hails (100km south of the city). He mentioned how much poorer it was there than even a place like the orphanage. I believe him. Being disconnected from an urban area with roads, electricity, water and access to employment opportunities makes it extremely difficult to improve one's life. You realize that many young people have made their way to the city to earn cash and use a lot of that money to help out with life in the villages they've come from.

Well, that is a simple summary of 3 days in Phnom Penh....the next morning it was time for the 5 hr road journey to Angkor Wat (the nearest town=Siem Riep). As the city of Phnom Penh receded behind us the houses along the road became quite primitive huts before long and one is quickly put back in touch with the reality that Cambodia is still a very poor and undeveloped country.