Phnom Penh
In most places playing tourist means visiting temples and forts, however in Phnom Penh sites include Tuol Sleng Museum (Museum of Genocide), a former high school that the Khmer Rouge turned into a prison where tens of thousands of people were interrogated, tortured, and ultimately sent to their deaths, and Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields), the site of many of the executions and mass graves.
From 1975 to 1978 over one million (out of a population of approximately seven million) people are believed to have died through execution, forced work, and starvation; many of whom were brutally tortured prior to execution. As one of the major urban centers in Cambodia, Phnom Penh bore the brunt of much horror. Khmer Rouge troops emptied out almost the entire city, and the city dwellers were either imprisoned and tortured or sent to work camps in the countryside.
I was born after the era of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. The genocide that took place in Cambodia has always just been something that I read about in history books. But it’s not just history here; it’s still very much a part of the present.
At Tuol Sleng the photos of former prisoners (the Khmer Rogue photographed many of their victims before ultimately sending them off to be executed) stare out as you enter the torture chambers; otherwise the classrooms where prisoners were housed and tortured only 30 or so years ago stand unchanged. A memorial has been erected at Choeung Ek; the tower stands several stories high and is filled with skulls that have been recovered from the mass graves there.
Yes, there are other things to see and do in Phnom Penh, and in many ways the city is making a comeback, but it’s almost impossible not to be acutely aware that you are walking around a city where genocide took place not that long ago.
Photo of Choeung Ek Memorial behind the cut (more…)
Bangkok Impressions
First, apologies for not updating in awhile. Between painfully slow Internet and daily power outages, updating from Kathmandu proved difficult. My last week in Kathmandu was fairly uneventful; constant strikes and the usual horrific traffic and pollution made it hard to convince myself to leave the relative peace of Boudha. I arrived in Bangkok last night, and am heading off to Cambodia early tomorrow morning (I’ll be back in Thailand in about a week).
After over two months of traveling through India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, Bangkok is a welcome change. I haven’t gotten a chance to explore much of Bangkok, but here are some anecdotes from walking around today.
Booking plane tickets from Nepal proved impossible but Lao Airlines (yes, that Lao Airlines) helpfully agreed to hold our tickets until we arrived in Bangkok and could pay in person. A distinct lack of building numbering made it hard to find our destination. We arrived at their office, still not fully sure we were in the right place, on the 10th floor of a very white and very clean high rise. “Take of your shoes before entering,” a Lao Airlines representative told us before ushering us into an even cleaner and even whiter waiting room where we received impressive individual attention in getting our tickets booked.
Bangkok is full of modern coffee bars, but soy lattes have still proven to be next to impossible to find. I figured I was out of luck when the man told me they didn’t stock soy milk. Instead he went out and bought soy milk so they could make me a latte.
The traffic situation (constant gridlock) has resulted in Bangkok developing every imaginable transportation avenue from the Metro and Skytrain (which runs above the city) to motorcycle taxis and boats. The Metro and Skytrain are by far the best ways to get around Bangkok.
Traveling by boat was by far the most interesting way to get around. Public boats ferry commuters along the waterways in the same way that buses take passengers long the roads. The scenic ride took us from the Skytrain along the river by Chinatown, the Grand Palace, and numerous temples.
View from the Boat
Banglamphu (the main backpacker area) seemed to consist primarily of dive bars and street vendors selling fake IDs and DVDs and clothing of dubious quality and origin. We saw a woman getting a “pedicure” that consisted of letting fish feed of her feet.
We waited for the boat back. Below the dock were thousands of abnormally large catfish writhing around. As we struggled to find the reason behind the odd occurrence it suddenly became clear; folks waiting for the boats would buy scraps of old bread and toss them off the dock to the waiting fish.
River at Sunset
