The Real Cambodia

Phnom Penh

We spent a day learning all about genocide.  It's a real part of any tourist itinerary here.  First, we hit the killing fields.  This was popularized in a movie of the same name which I have never seen but is played in bars everywhere in Cambodia.  A little too much I feel.  I'll spare you the history lesson, but essentially lots of people were rounded up and exterminated by the Khmer Rouge in the late 70s. 

The killing fields are about an hour outside of town along one on the bumpiest roads on the planet.  Along the way are skinny cows and scenes of village life.  The fields are really just one field with holes in the ground measuring 20 feet by 20 feet, where hundreds of people were buried (the remains have been exhumed).  They are much smaller than you would think.  I had never seen a mass grave before, but I just pictured them much larger.  It's the smallness that's unnerving.  There is also one main tower on the site which houses hundreds of human skulls.  I couldn't really look at it for more than a few seconds.  It just doesn't seem completely right standing there looking at all these horrible things.  Walking around, I felt somehow ashamed. 

Afterwards, we went to the old prison from which people were sent to the killing fields.  It's an old school, and still looks like one, but in the classrooms sit beds where people were chained to and then murdered upon.  There was not a lot of other tourists there the day we went, so walking around alone bordered on frightening.  There are also mug shots of nearly all the people who spent time there.  It's hard to look at these faces looking back at you.  Again, I felt somehow ashamed.  Even taking pictures made me uneasy.  There are lots of pictures I took to try and convey what the place felt like, but it's tough not feeling cheap and exploitative when you're trying to take "good" shots.   

Sihanoukville

We spent four days here sitting at a beachside bar / guesthouse.  I did not move more than 30 yards on account that I was sick.  We met a bunch of young Americans living there, most sporting dread locks.  Apparently, it's a very easy to live in Cambodia  without any visa hassles.  One guy I met told me he just keeps reapplying for a business visa every month for $30.  He neither owns a business or works for a business.  As far as I could tell his only business was sitting at the bar smoking joints all day.  The authorities in southern Cambodia seem to take a very relaxed attitude towards softer drugs.

Kampot

This is a small town on the south east coast.  There wasn't much to see except for an abandoned French mountain resort.  The old crumbling four story casino hotel had to be haunted.  See pics here, here and here.  Same goes for the church.    

Siem Reap

The overwhelming reason to come here are the temples.  They are hundreds of years old and very photogenic.  See some here, here, here, and here.  We hired a tuk-tuk driver at $8 a day who took us from one temple to another.  All told, over two days, we probably saw 18 of them.  They are beautiful and it's fun / dangerous to climb on them, but early on the second day, my eyes began to glaze over.  Other attractions in the temple complex included monkeys doing unspeakable things to each other in broad daylight and hustling children.  These kids are everywhere.  Selling bracelets, postcards and fruit.  Sarah can't stand them.  When one or two kids start to follow her, she will do this little fake out move where she cuts back two steps and then jogs ahead.  It usually works.  I find that it's easier to engage them.  Short of violence, they are going to follow you anyway, so you might as well talk to them.  Once you start talking to them, they tend to forget they are supposed to be selling you things, and turn back into the five year olds they really are.  I got a handful of them to count to ten in unison in six different languages.  Also, taking pictures of them and showing their images to them is a big hit, but lots of times, they are used to this trick and ask you for a dollar just for the privilege of allowing themselves to be photographed.  Sigh.      

Comments

[Patrick]

I think you misplaced your modifier. The monkeys were (hopefully) not hustling the children. Although I once met a gorilla who could deal 3-card Monty.

[Joseph]

Hey Brendan,

Thanks for taking those prison pictures for us. I had a vague understanding of what the Killing Fields were, but your images still shook me up. All those faces... I couldn't help but put myself in their shoes.

[Liana]

Wow, Brendan, I think you just gave me nightmares with those pictures - both of the prison, which was really heartbreaking and hard to look at, as well as the creepy pictures you took in Kampot! But love your pictures as always! Especially with your buddy, the kitty!

[Johnny T]

since you mentioned prison...any relation to 'Bugs' Moran, the Chicago-gangster?

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moran)