hey guys, So, to start, we are in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. We left Bangkok yesterday morning and flew from BK to PP. From there, we took a taxi to some random guesthouse recommended by Lonely Planet. We're at Tat Guesthouse and spending a whopping $5 a night for a room with a fan (bathroom down the hall). After settling in, we explored the city a little and ended up at the top of a restaurant in the "Luxury World Hotel" where you can get an incredible room for under $50 US (note: in Cambodia the US dollar is commonly used). We had a few drinks there and took a motorbike to a nightclub called "Rock Star", which was recommended to us by the server at the restaurant. It was the funniest thing...you walk in to gangsta rap, and all I saw were Cambodian dudes...it wasn't a gay bar, I think it was just where they like to hang out. It was fun to be away from foreigners and hanging out with the locals. At one point, I went to the bathroom and when I came out, Jason had found himself a little entourage of short Cambodian dudes (I think they were more interested in him than in me). We had a few drinks and danced to random Cambodian tunes. I am pretty sure we were the only foreigners in the whole place. Most of the girls were in another part of the club, just hanging out, while it was a total sausage party on the dance floor. Today, we hired a driver to take us around the city. He first took us to a shooting range (part of the Cambodian military training ground) where Jason shot an M-60. I was in the room taking a video..wow was it ever loud! The 50 bullets he shot were gone in no time. From there, we went to the killing fields (for more info, see
http://www.dithpran.org/killingfields.htm).
(from left to right: building where the skulls and remains of clothing are kept, examples of what is in the building, and a sign along the way) It was crazy to see pieces of bone and clothing still on the ground and near the sites were the bodies were found. Afterwards, we went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum), where the victims were first interrogated before going to be executed at the killing fields.
(tiny cells where people were held) It seems so surreal to be there in all of this horror that took place not too long before Jason was born. Cambodia has a way of slapping you in the face of reality, something that Thailand didn't really do. Thailand was mostly sugarcoated life, filled with drunk tourists, spectacular sites and openness to doing pretty much anything you wanted. In Cambodia, driving is a nightmare, with people going all over the place. There is garbage on the streets, cows tied up near ditches and dust everywhere (a lot of people wear masks when they are driving). For an example of the crazy driving:
On the plus side, in Cambodia, people drive on the right side of the road, unlike in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, where they drive on the left (likely because Cambodia has ties to France, whereas the other countries have ties to England). In a way, it's refreshing to feel a stronger feeling of culture, where you cannot see a foreigner for hours and hours. If anything, I feel that this trip has changed us into people who are more tolerant of differences and who are more prepared to accept whatever comes our way. Tomorrow we are going to the grand palace and then from there, we are heading out to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat. We hope you had a great thanksgiving!
(from left to right: building where the skulls and remains of clothing are kept, examples of what is in the building, and a sign along the way) It was crazy to see pieces of bone and clothing still on the ground and near the sites were the bodies were found. Afterwards, we went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum), where the victims were first interrogated before going to be executed at the killing fields. 
(tiny cells where people were held) It seems so surreal to be there in all of this horror that took place not too long before Jason was born. Cambodia has a way of slapping you in the face of reality, something that Thailand didn't really do. Thailand was mostly sugarcoated life, filled with drunk tourists, spectacular sites and openness to doing pretty much anything you wanted. In Cambodia, driving is a nightmare, with people going all over the place. There is garbage on the streets, cows tied up near ditches and dust everywhere (a lot of people wear masks when they are driving). For an example of the crazy driving: 
On the plus side, in Cambodia, people drive on the right side of the road, unlike in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, where they drive on the left (likely because Cambodia has ties to France, whereas the other countries have ties to England). In a way, it's refreshing to feel a stronger feeling of culture, where you cannot see a foreigner for hours and hours. If anything, I feel that this trip has changed us into people who are more tolerant of differences and who are more prepared to accept whatever comes our way. Tomorrow we are going to the grand palace and then from there, we are heading out to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat. We hope you had a great thanksgiving!
2 comments:
I was wondering where and went Jason would fire a gun! At least he didn't catch fire. He would have if you didn't stop him Michelle. It's all fun and games until the tall guy is a pillar of flames tangled up in a skipping rope!
That each skull once was part of a human being must have been bone chilling.
Post a Comment