Gods of Emo

Distance Traveled:   14,340 kms (BNE-MEL-SYD-BKK-PKT-BKK-CNX-BKK-PP-SR)

Flags Collected:   0
Time Difference: -3 hours (from Brisbane)

Soundtrack:  Kate Bush and Santana - a weird combo but they are both helping me flesh out the romance I will have in my book.

Currently Inspired by:  Somaly Mam.  Have been reading stuff about her.  She's a goddess.

Stacks:   None but am in plenty of pain from my ear!

Words written:   7,532 

It's been a fabulous week.  One of the English ladies on my tour, Betty, is 82 years old and here on her own.  She's amazing!  She has done almost every bit of hiking, clambering up and down hills and through caves and other physical experiences that we have all done, and still manages to have enough energy at night to drink whiskey like a fish, smoke like a chimney and make me laugh :)  What a character!  I love her.  Eve and Chris are the other couple so there are five of us, and they're great too.  Chris and I are always quoting Monty Python and Douglas Adams at each other.  They're all so ENGLISH! I do love me a bit o' dry humour.
We met our guide on Sunday night, Phaly (pronounced Polly) who was so cute and sweet!  She knew a ridiculous amount of history and would list names and dates endlessly at every site we were at.  I was unable to take the majority of it in, but she was really very knowledgable.  Monday we headed off on a cyclo tour of Phnon Penh city.  Cyclos are seats with a bicycle behind them, like a reverse rickshaw.  Taking these unprotected vehicles through Phnom Penh traffic is an adventure in itself!  Fun, though.  We did quite a bit that day, actually.  The royal palace was just beautiful.  One of the buildings was a silver pagoda, so named because the floor tiles are made of pure silver.  This temple contains a statue of Buddha made of 90 kilograms of pure gold, and containing 9,000 diamonds, including a 25 carat one in its crown.  I know that religion is very important to Cambodians, but I couldn't help but wonder how many houses it would buy for street beggars, how many disability pensions it could create for the lepers with no hands or legs and no help from the government, or how many children it could feed.  A trip to an art history museum and the child safe centre where we learned how to deal with street children as tourists were next.  The idea is that buying anything from these children or giving money to the begging children, keeps them on the streets.  They suggested rather donating to them or other aid organisations who provide practical assistance.  I saw the sense of it, but it is tough to say no to these gorgeous little kids!  I want to bring them all home with me!!!  They are so different to bratty, entitled Western kids :)  At lunch I tried my first Amok, which is a traditional Khmer curry that is sweeter and more fragrant than the Thai curries.  I've had a few since.

*possibly upsetting content below*
The afternoon was harrowing.  We visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.  The building was originally a school, and then upon the Khmer Rouge taking power was used as a prison, the most notorious of all of their prisons called S-21.  Of the 17,000 prisoners who were brought their for interrogation, torture and eventually sent to be slaughtered in the nearby killing field, only 7 survived, prisoners who had been removed earlier.  The final 14 prisoners were murdered as the Vietnamese were liberating the country and are buried in graves in the museum grounds.  Our guide Phaly was 8 years old when her family was displaced, separated and sent to work in various fields for the next three years.  She nearly died of starvation several times, and her brother, who stole some food, was apparently caught and tortured to death in front of the other workers as a lesson.  Her aunts and uncles who were there told her parents after they were all released and reunited.  She considers herself very lucky that she only lost one family member.  Considering that the Khmer Rouge killed over one fifth of the country's population in just four years, losing only one family member was pretty rare. NB: People often refer to the "Khmer" when they mean Khmer Rouge.  It's important to use the full name, as Khmer just means "Cambodian".  It's how the people here refer to themselves and their language.  The next morning we visited the nearby killing field that I referred to earlier, actually quite a visually pretty little spot with the most dreadful vibe and energy to it.  We all felt ill and depressed there.  Because of the recent rains a lot more bones and clothes have been washed up towards the surface and as they just leave them there now we were actually walking on them... I was very careful to watch my feet as we were going, because I couldn't bear the idea of walking on a human being like that.  I won't get into the politics of the killings because I will be discussing the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot in more detail in my rant at the bottom, but it was an intensely painful and personal story that Phaly shared with us in those two locations and I was profoundly grateful to her and wanted to share it with you.  So many people have heard of the killing fields but don't really know what it was about.  I think it's important that the 1.7 million victims or more are acknowledged.  I have created a separate facebook album with a warning on it specifically for the killing fields and genocide museum.  If you are easily upset or traumatised, I wouldn't look at it.  It is very informative though, so if you are interested in knowing more then click here to have a look.

The next day was derailed because a scheduled boat trip was not able to take place.  The man who owned the boat had hired it to another group who arrived before us, despite having booked it and confirmed for us.  It's an interesting attitude I've seen a couple of times.  The dollar is king here, and probably the other group had more people = more money.  I was surprised that he would tick off a tour company though, because surely they give him a lot of business.  When I queried it with Phaly she said that he was making enough money from prawns right now and didn't really care about the boats.  What an odd, short-sighted idea, and it certainly gives you an insight into the mindset of some of the "service" industry in Asia.  It's driven only by money, not out of a desire to provide a good service or have a good reputation.  I guess that's a direct result of living in such poverty... Any takers on that idea?  We ended up in a cute beachside town called Kep with the beach view direct from our rooms, and the following day drove around the town, looking at abandoned homes, most of which still had some structure standing but some of which were completely burnt or razed to the ground during the war.  People just can't afford to fix them, so they stand there like scars on the landscape.  One of the king's old residences from during the French occupation was riddled with bullet holes through all the walls.  We chatted to the caretaker families who live there and they let us walk through, despite the efforts of the Attack Geese and Attack Puppies that set about our feet as we came up the stairs! :D  An afternoon boat trip down Kampot River was not as relaxing as it sounds, due to the ridiculously high water level in the bottom of the boat that kept my nerves thrumming for the majority of the trip.  Our driver had a wee hand pump and would pump out some water now and again, although the level never really went down.  I've never been happier to get back on land, I can tell you!  Betty had trouble getting off the boat because we pulled up at a beach and it was a bit of a jump, so these strong young Cambodian fishermen in these sort of loin clothy type things lifted her down and carried her like a Queen!  I should have pretended to have trouble ;P

The caves are incredible here.  We went to two lots of them.  At the first lot, there were two of the cutest monkeys I've ever seen in a tree near us who came down and chittered at us for a bit.  After walking through the caves you walk out into this circular - I don't even know how to describe it really - rock formation, incredibly high, and you can stand in the bare circular part in the middle and just look in awe at these sheer walls around you, most of which have been slightly carved out at the bottom by water, so you can walk under them.  The second cave contained a tiny, pre-Angkorian temple and was accessed by 203 steps.  I don't think I've ever felt so hot in my life as I did that day.  Everything I was wearing was completely soaking wet with sweat.  My "guide" was a local boy called Dara, who wants to study IT and get a job in Phnom Penh one day.  I really hope he does.  We also stopped at a local school as well and visited the English classes.  They can all say "hello, how are you?" and that's about it.  It's heartening to see poor children in school rather than out begging and I feel it should be wholeheartedly encouraged.  If anyone has any second hand primary school English class resources like books or learning cards or anything like that, that they would be happy to donate to this school, please let me know and I can get the address.  They need everything desperately.  To check out the photos of everything I have just described, click here.

Sihanoukville was a groovy little beach town that we stopped in next.  Previously the "Second city of Cambodia" (now taken over by Siem Reap), it was full of tourists and funky little beach bars with tables and chairs on the sand.  We basically just baked ourselves, drank lots and set off fireworks on the beach.  Good times.  Before arriving there we went up Bor Kor mountain and visited some long abandoned buildings - another king's residence, a rather incongruous Catholic Church which now has people squatting in it, and a crumbling old hotel and casino.  The view from the top was worth the trek!  The day after we arrived we headed on a boat down the river through Ream National Park, where I had a great chat with a young park ranger called Pisiat who told me a lot about the park and also about Cambodian culture.  He's determined to marry "for love" when he's older and can afford the bride price, which gives me the impression that love marriages are still less common than arranged / business transaction type ones.  The 1.5 hour boat trip, the water, everything was stunning.  After we disembarked and walked through the jungle for about 45 minutes, we should have come out at the beach.  However due to the rains the paths had changed, and we ended up taking a wrong route through the jungle and off the path.  Phaly, who was walking in front of me, walked into a spider web and the spider ran off along the ground.  Someone who is less arachnophobic than I might have even described it as pretty - it was big but skinny and had red legs and colours on its back.  However from that moment on the walk was completely ruined for me and I wanted to get the HELL out of there.  We got lost, hit a stream that we couldn't cross, backtracked past bushes with big, snake sounding things rustling in them and a massive wasps nest which really freaked Phaly out, got bitten by millions of these nasty red ants, and finally popped out on this baking red road in the middle of the day's heat and had to walk another ten minutes or so before getting to the beach.  Phaly told us later when we were leaving that the spider we encountered had a deadly bite.  I'm so glad I didn't know that before.

The beach was worth the effort, and I'm from Queensland.  It was, in one simple word, paradise.  There was hardly anybody else there (probably due to its inaccessibility!) and I hope it stays that way, although the locals who run the restaurant probably disagree.  It was a huge blinding white stretch of sand on a hot blue day, clear green water that sparkled like millions of emeralds, gentle waves and basically an ocean to ourselves!  It was ridiculously blissful, I felt my pleasure centres on overload.  In addition we had stopped at a supermarket in the morning and bought some sandwich stuff so we had yummy sandwiches (something I've been craving) and beer.  Can anyone think of a more perfect day?  There is just so much beauty in Cambodia, both beaches and inland in the all the different country areas that we drove through.  Sometimes it became a little overwhelming, particularly on top of all the sadness and pity we had been feeling earlier in the week.  To see photos of these areas, click here.

On Saturday we said a sad goodbye to Phaly and flew up to Siem Reap to met our new guide, a guy called Janny.  He advised us that we'd have to meet at 4.45am to catch sunrise over Angkor Wat and I nearly burst with excitement!  Finally, the place I have been dying to see.  In the morning we caught tuk tuks to the temple, and walked in through the back way with our torches.  It was so dark (aren't we used to electricity!) and eerily quiet as we walked through part of the temple, a perfect setup to the morning's activities.  When we arrived on the other side we saw the millions of tourists at the viewing point on the other side of the pond (so you can get the temple reflected in the water).  Then we waited until the sun came up!  It took about forty minutes in all, and I have photos of quite a few stages.  It was absolutely breathtaking, and I could imagine the ancient Cambodians coming there to worship.  It was as religious an experience as an agnostic person could have I suppose!  Unfortunately that's where my day had to end as my ear became unbearable.  I have missed the other three temples, lake trip and cooking class that were also scheduled.  I have decided to stay in Siem Reap until Saturday so perhaps when I'm feeling better I can do some of the other sights.  To see all the Angkor photos, click here.

As this has been such a long blog, I have decided not to rant about Pol Pot today.  Next time.  I am also reading a fairly comprehensive book on the subject which I am hoping will provide me with some answers to my question of "WHY?" which is currently beyond my understanding.

Til Next We Speak
*LOVE*
N

NOTE: Why are there so many headless Buddha and other religious statues in my photos?  Most of the ones we have seen thus far were desecrated by the Khmer Rouge who were quite anti-religion.  As for the ones at Angkor, no one is really sure, but possibly it was done by nearby poor people who wanted to sell them as souvenirs of the site.