Sorry guys and gals, it's a long one! Hope you are sitting comfortably. Perhaps you should get a nice cup of tea before you start reading!
Siem Reap
After arriving in Siem Reap, the first evening was spent visiting a project that GAP supports: www.newhopecambodia.com where they have been building a school and clinic to help the very poor.
I didn't see the worst of the poverty in Zanzibar, although I know it exists. Here, though, it is very evident, especially in the villages and it is difficult to grasp just how little these people have. It is also uncomfortable going on trips to see the worst areas; it feels like the villagers are a tourist attraction, as if they some kind of poverty freak show. However, I don't think the villagers see it like that. The Khmer have a similar outlook to life as Zanzibaris, as the children's faces light up with a smile when they see you, waving at you and trying out their English, and the people you meet in hotels, restaurants or around town (beggars aside) always seem happy. (There's that word again - desperate poverty and happiness seem to be perversely good bedfellows.) The joyful demeanour of the people is all the more surprising when you consider the recent history of this country, with its unwanted involvement in the Vietnam war and then suffering long-running civil wars, including the Pol Pot regime of the late seventies. It is amazing to think that this country was in the midst of a bloody civil war just 12/13 years ago. As this trip involves moving around from place to place, I haven't got to know any Khmer like I got to know the Zanzibaris, but if happiness is measured in smiles, then they are doing ok on that front.
The first day of the tour started with a 6:00 pick-up for the drive to Cambodia. The second day was even earlier, boarding our minibus at 4:45 to head to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately, the gods had other plans and the sunrise over Angkor Wat was scuppered by rain clouds, but the sight is impressive nonetheless.
Angkor Wat is the most famous of several temples in an enormous complex. It does not have the most intricate carving of temples I have seen, but the sheet scale of it and its age (built in the early 12th century) makes it very impressive. For one of the more famous wonders of the world, the crowds were actually rather sparse. Of course, tourism is still fairly new here, so this means that the infrastructure around the temple (the paths, the kiosks etc.) is very basic and the tour guides are still learning their trade. Our guide wanted us to ask questions rather than have a pre-prepared brief and, when we didn't, he would put people on the spot to come up with a question. At the end, we were told off because we didn't ask the right questions to get the information he wanted to tell us! One of the bonuses of not having swarming throngs of people is that, as the temple is surrounded by forests, we shared the sightseeing with a family of monkeys who were quite content running up and down the steps and walls of the temple. (A couple of the monkeys were clearly very happy, as we were treated to an impromptu sex show on the steps of the temple!) The lack of commercialisation and relative isolation that you get to wander around the grounds adds to the charm of the place.
After the visit to Angkor Wat, we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon exploring three of the other temples: Ta Prohm, Ta Keo and Bayon.
Ta Prohm is known colloquially as the jungle temple. For those of you that have seen the film, it is the one used in the making of Tomb Raider. It is unusual; the surrounding forest has devoured parts of the temple and the walls are draped with roots and branches. Because it is so unusual, I think I preferred this temple to Angkor Wat, although it is much smaller so the tourists were more concentrated.
Ta Keo is one of the oldest temples in the complex, built around the start of the 11th century. Unbelievably, after who-knows how many years building the site, it was left unfinished after a lightning strike hit it and the locals considered it to be unlucky to continue with it! The steps that lead up the temple were so steep, they would not be allowed in the UK and I'm sure that when tourism does take off here, there will be restrictions on where you can go.
The final temple that we visited was Bayon, in the ancient capital city of Angkor Thom. The temple is famous for the hundreds of Buddha faces which decorate the towers and, as an ex-monastery, there were several monks there which gave the place an added sense of authenticity.
After spending half the day exploring temples, we had a change of pace on the late afternoon, going on a cruise on Tonle Sap lake. We were told it is the second biggest lake in the world, although I'm not sure this is correct. The lake is very shallow - it is at its biggest in the wet season (naturally) but even then it is only ever 10m deep. In the dry season, the majority of the lake is less than a couple of meters deep. I would have believed them if they said it was the world's biggest puddle! Having said that, it is currently the rainy season here and so a few of the group went for a swim in the warm waters. After a quick dip, we headed to the floating villages to watch the sunset, visit a floating crocodile farm and try some of the local delicacies, like fried snake (which is quite salty, but nice). Like the sunrise, the sunset was almost spoilt by clouds again, but it eventually broke through before we set off back to town for a night out.
Because we had had two early starts on the trip, it was the first time the group had gone out for a party and it was a really fun night out. We went to the appropriately, but unimaginatively, named Pub Street, where cocktails were two dollars a throw, so we started to work our way down the list, before having a bit of a boogie. It was good to start to get to know the rest of the group better, including discovering that 21 year olds can't drink as much as they used to! Sorry Kio! And I must admit, to my disgust, my tolerance of shit dance music is improving.
In the morning, after the biggest mango smoothie in the history of mankind, Marlen and I went for a massage. In a virtually open plan parlour, the modesty towel lasted about five minutes before being whipped away as it was getting in the way - Cambodia is a lot more liberal than I imagined! I thought it would be the perfect preparation for the seven hour bus ride to Phnom Penh but actually, as far as massages go, it wasn't the most relaxing. I don't think it helped having the two girls who were giving me a massage constantly chatting with each other and to the two that were with Marlen. But the aches and pains the following day must mean that it was good for me. Right?!
Phnom Penh
The landscape between Siem Reap and the capital is very flat, with endless farms stretching as far as the eye can see. Alongside the road, the people live in basic huts, built on stilts to keep the homes out of the water in the wet season. My first impression of Phnom Penh was that it is very busy, with lots of people, bikes and vehicles crisscrossing on the roads and pavements, but this is mainly due to the fact that we arrived in the city when the annual water festival was on, which also coincided with a full moon celebration (I'm not sure if that happens every year). The government had decided that they would not have a big festival this year, with the money saved going to help those affected by the floods, but there were still lots of people out celebrating. The only organised entertainment I saw was a firework display and some live music but, much like Forodhani at Eid, the celebrations seemed to be people meeting up with their families, sitting on rugs by the river eating together.
S21 and the Killing Fields
Hmmm. Where to start? The story of what happened during the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979 is horrific beyond comprehension. Our tour guide on the day had lived through it, as a boy forced to work in the fields, so the stories were delivered with an added poignancy.
I do not intend to tell the story of the Khmer Rouge here; there are better informed reports available elsewhere and I could not do it justice in such a brief note. Suffice to say, 2 to 3 million Khmer (from a population of 7 million) were killed in under five years. Anybody who was regarded as a threat to the regime was killed. This includes soldiers from the previous regime, soldiers from the Khmer Rouge regime who knew too much or started to question orders and the country's intelligentsia who may challenge the regime or start an uprising. Everybody from the cities was driven from their homes to work in the fields, so how did the soldiers identify the educated classes? It was by taking a no-risk approach: if you wore glasses, you were deemed a threat; if you could speak a foreign language, a threat; if you had soft hands, a threat; if you had paler skin (indicating you spent time working in an office rather than fields), a threat. And if one member of a family was regarded as a threat, the rest of the family was also condemned by association - even the babies. All were killed. The country's population is now about 14 million and the fact that over half are under 18 highlights how the country had to rebuild itself following the years of civil wars.
Tuol Sleng or Section 21 (S-21) is one of the prisons in Phnom Penh used to incarcerate and interrogate people before they were taken to the Killing Fields to be murdered. S-21 used to be a school and, from the outside, it is not very foreboding. However, for 17,000 people it was their torture chamber and final home. There is barbed wire covering the front of the buildings, but it was not to prevent escape. No one escaped. It was put in place to prevent suicides, as the prisoners would rather die than endure the rape and torture that waiting for them inside. Of the 17,000 that were taken in for interrogation, not one was released and, when the city was liberated by the Vietnamese in 1979, there were just 7 survivors. Two of those survivors are still alive today and we met them. They work at the site of their torture in S21, selling books that tell their stories, explaining to tourists in broken English the horrors that they went through. It made the experience very, very real and helped you realise how recently these atrocities took place.
After the visit to S-21, we took a short drive to an area called Choeung Ek just outside town where the prisoners were taken on their final journey. At this site, there are over 100 mass graves. Around 80 have been excavated, but the rest are being left - the survivors do not need any more reminders. There is no mawkish sentimentality at the site - everything is just presented as matters-of-fact. The focal point is a giant stupa, where the skulls and bones of the excavated graves have been collected. The bones are stored in an enormous cabinet, perhaps ten meters square, with over 15 shelves, each shelf about 2 meters deep and stacked with skulls. The skulls have been separated into various categories: 15-20 year old females; 20-40 year old males etc. It is not a sight for the faint of heart.
The most disturbing aspect of the tour is that, as you walk around the site, you are walking over teeth and bones of the dead. Quite literally. As the rains wash away top soil, bone fragments and teeth rise to the surface on the paths around the site, and they are everywhere. There are also partially buried rags - the clothing that the murdered were wearing when they were sent to their death. And this is just one of the killing fields - there are over 300 throughout the country, with 20,000 mass graves in total.
And of all the horrific aspects, the most shocking is still taking place today. The killers have had an amnesty and are free to walk the sites, selling their stories to journalists. Others have positions high up in the current government. Only four of the highest command from the Khmer Rouge regime are facing trial for crimes against humanity (and this only after having an initial amnesty, where for 10 years they lived a life of luxury in the city where they were responsible for the deaths of so many) and Pol Pot himself died without being captured. The tour guide was not able to talk freely about politics when we were outside the coach, because there is still a fear of those in power. The scars on this country will take some time to heal.
As we left, the group was understandably very quiet, driving back to the city each with their own thoughts.
Rest of Phnom Penh
It was a day of contrasts, straight from the Killing Fields, we went to the Russian Market where the girls tried their best to buy one of everything. After that, we went to the national museum (which to be fair was not that great, lots of statutes of Buddha and Hindu deities and some artefacts, but compared to Siem Reap it wasn't too interesting). After a late lunch overlooking the river, we went to a local tv station to watch some kick boxing. As the only foreigners in town, the cameras were trained on us half the time! It was strange to mingle with the boxers as they came out of the ring, with one of the victors posing for photos with Sabine and Camilla. It sums up the openness and welcoming nature of the country.
Tuk-tuks have been the mode of transport here for all journeys up to about 45 minutes. It's funny how the local cheap transport varies from country to country. Same same, but different. They are a great way to see a new city and the several rides we had give a real insight to how the locals live their lives.
Sihanoukville
As we headed south to the coast of the Gulf of Thailand at Sihanoukville, the landscape changed. Endless flat plains were replaced by rolling hills, paddy fields disappeared and in their place were rows of palm trees and other fruit trees.
Our first day in Sihanoukville was spent playing pool, walking down the beach and drinking in the bars; because, to be honest, there is not much else to do there. It is a bit if a tourist place, bar after bar after bar lined the beach (which is not the most pretty I've seen) and kids and traders wander along trying to sell various souvenirs and snacks. The beach was very busy by the bars and restaurants and, perhaps surprisingly, the customers were mainly locals. The water festival was still going on, so lots of families were out celebrating.
On our second day, we took a boat to visit three of the islands in the bay. The snorkelling was the worst I have ever seen: next to no visibility, next to no fish and the water was full of all kinds of rubbish. After the snorkelling, we had lunch on another island and spent a few hours chilling on the beach or playing games in the sea. After the hectic and non-stop start to the tour, it was a nice break.
After two nights in Sihanoukville, it was time to head over to Vietnam at the border crossing at Phnom Den. The border is just a bridge with a few wooden shacks for immigration, customs etc. I hadn't previously crossed an international boundary on foot before this trip and now have done it twice in a week. It is remarkably straightforward, even in the more restrictive countries, despite a hiccup with the visa for one of the group.
That's it for now. The next blog will be full of stories from Vietnam.
Bye!
Siem Reap
After arriving in Siem Reap, the first evening was spent visiting a project that GAP supports: www.newhopecambodia.com where they have been building a school and clinic to help the very poor.
I didn't see the worst of the poverty in Zanzibar, although I know it exists. Here, though, it is very evident, especially in the villages and it is difficult to grasp just how little these people have. It is also uncomfortable going on trips to see the worst areas; it feels like the villagers are a tourist attraction, as if they some kind of poverty freak show. However, I don't think the villagers see it like that. The Khmer have a similar outlook to life as Zanzibaris, as the children's faces light up with a smile when they see you, waving at you and trying out their English, and the people you meet in hotels, restaurants or around town (beggars aside) always seem happy. (There's that word again - desperate poverty and happiness seem to be perversely good bedfellows.) The joyful demeanour of the people is all the more surprising when you consider the recent history of this country, with its unwanted involvement in the Vietnam war and then suffering long-running civil wars, including the Pol Pot regime of the late seventies. It is amazing to think that this country was in the midst of a bloody civil war just 12/13 years ago. As this trip involves moving around from place to place, I haven't got to know any Khmer like I got to know the Zanzibaris, but if happiness is measured in smiles, then they are doing ok on that front.
The first day of the tour started with a 6:00 pick-up for the drive to Cambodia. The second day was even earlier, boarding our minibus at 4:45 to head to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately, the gods had other plans and the sunrise over Angkor Wat was scuppered by rain clouds, but the sight is impressive nonetheless.
Angkor Wat is the most famous of several temples in an enormous complex. It does not have the most intricate carving of temples I have seen, but the sheet scale of it and its age (built in the early 12th century) makes it very impressive. For one of the more famous wonders of the world, the crowds were actually rather sparse. Of course, tourism is still fairly new here, so this means that the infrastructure around the temple (the paths, the kiosks etc.) is very basic and the tour guides are still learning their trade. Our guide wanted us to ask questions rather than have a pre-prepared brief and, when we didn't, he would put people on the spot to come up with a question. At the end, we were told off because we didn't ask the right questions to get the information he wanted to tell us! One of the bonuses of not having swarming throngs of people is that, as the temple is surrounded by forests, we shared the sightseeing with a family of monkeys who were quite content running up and down the steps and walls of the temple. (A couple of the monkeys were clearly very happy, as we were treated to an impromptu sex show on the steps of the temple!) The lack of commercialisation and relative isolation that you get to wander around the grounds adds to the charm of the place.
After the visit to Angkor Wat, we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon exploring three of the other temples: Ta Prohm, Ta Keo and Bayon.
Ta Prohm is known colloquially as the jungle temple. For those of you that have seen the film, it is the one used in the making of Tomb Raider. It is unusual; the surrounding forest has devoured parts of the temple and the walls are draped with roots and branches. Because it is so unusual, I think I preferred this temple to Angkor Wat, although it is much smaller so the tourists were more concentrated.
Ta Keo is one of the oldest temples in the complex, built around the start of the 11th century. Unbelievably, after who-knows how many years building the site, it was left unfinished after a lightning strike hit it and the locals considered it to be unlucky to continue with it! The steps that lead up the temple were so steep, they would not be allowed in the UK and I'm sure that when tourism does take off here, there will be restrictions on where you can go.
The final temple that we visited was Bayon, in the ancient capital city of Angkor Thom. The temple is famous for the hundreds of Buddha faces which decorate the towers and, as an ex-monastery, there were several monks there which gave the place an added sense of authenticity.
After spending half the day exploring temples, we had a change of pace on the late afternoon, going on a cruise on Tonle Sap lake. We were told it is the second biggest lake in the world, although I'm not sure this is correct. The lake is very shallow - it is at its biggest in the wet season (naturally) but even then it is only ever 10m deep. In the dry season, the majority of the lake is less than a couple of meters deep. I would have believed them if they said it was the world's biggest puddle! Having said that, it is currently the rainy season here and so a few of the group went for a swim in the warm waters. After a quick dip, we headed to the floating villages to watch the sunset, visit a floating crocodile farm and try some of the local delicacies, like fried snake (which is quite salty, but nice). Like the sunrise, the sunset was almost spoilt by clouds again, but it eventually broke through before we set off back to town for a night out.
Because we had had two early starts on the trip, it was the first time the group had gone out for a party and it was a really fun night out. We went to the appropriately, but unimaginatively, named Pub Street, where cocktails were two dollars a throw, so we started to work our way down the list, before having a bit of a boogie. It was good to start to get to know the rest of the group better, including discovering that 21 year olds can't drink as much as they used to! Sorry Kio! And I must admit, to my disgust, my tolerance of shit dance music is improving.
In the morning, after the biggest mango smoothie in the history of mankind, Marlen and I went for a massage. In a virtually open plan parlour, the modesty towel lasted about five minutes before being whipped away as it was getting in the way - Cambodia is a lot more liberal than I imagined! I thought it would be the perfect preparation for the seven hour bus ride to Phnom Penh but actually, as far as massages go, it wasn't the most relaxing. I don't think it helped having the two girls who were giving me a massage constantly chatting with each other and to the two that were with Marlen. But the aches and pains the following day must mean that it was good for me. Right?!
Phnom Penh
The landscape between Siem Reap and the capital is very flat, with endless farms stretching as far as the eye can see. Alongside the road, the people live in basic huts, built on stilts to keep the homes out of the water in the wet season. My first impression of Phnom Penh was that it is very busy, with lots of people, bikes and vehicles crisscrossing on the roads and pavements, but this is mainly due to the fact that we arrived in the city when the annual water festival was on, which also coincided with a full moon celebration (I'm not sure if that happens every year). The government had decided that they would not have a big festival this year, with the money saved going to help those affected by the floods, but there were still lots of people out celebrating. The only organised entertainment I saw was a firework display and some live music but, much like Forodhani at Eid, the celebrations seemed to be people meeting up with their families, sitting on rugs by the river eating together.
S21 and the Killing Fields
Hmmm. Where to start? The story of what happened during the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979 is horrific beyond comprehension. Our tour guide on the day had lived through it, as a boy forced to work in the fields, so the stories were delivered with an added poignancy.
I do not intend to tell the story of the Khmer Rouge here; there are better informed reports available elsewhere and I could not do it justice in such a brief note. Suffice to say, 2 to 3 million Khmer (from a population of 7 million) were killed in under five years. Anybody who was regarded as a threat to the regime was killed. This includes soldiers from the previous regime, soldiers from the Khmer Rouge regime who knew too much or started to question orders and the country's intelligentsia who may challenge the regime or start an uprising. Everybody from the cities was driven from their homes to work in the fields, so how did the soldiers identify the educated classes? It was by taking a no-risk approach: if you wore glasses, you were deemed a threat; if you could speak a foreign language, a threat; if you had soft hands, a threat; if you had paler skin (indicating you spent time working in an office rather than fields), a threat. And if one member of a family was regarded as a threat, the rest of the family was also condemned by association - even the babies. All were killed. The country's population is now about 14 million and the fact that over half are under 18 highlights how the country had to rebuild itself following the years of civil wars.
Tuol Sleng or Section 21 (S-21) is one of the prisons in Phnom Penh used to incarcerate and interrogate people before they were taken to the Killing Fields to be murdered. S-21 used to be a school and, from the outside, it is not very foreboding. However, for 17,000 people it was their torture chamber and final home. There is barbed wire covering the front of the buildings, but it was not to prevent escape. No one escaped. It was put in place to prevent suicides, as the prisoners would rather die than endure the rape and torture that waiting for them inside. Of the 17,000 that were taken in for interrogation, not one was released and, when the city was liberated by the Vietnamese in 1979, there were just 7 survivors. Two of those survivors are still alive today and we met them. They work at the site of their torture in S21, selling books that tell their stories, explaining to tourists in broken English the horrors that they went through. It made the experience very, very real and helped you realise how recently these atrocities took place.
After the visit to S-21, we took a short drive to an area called Choeung Ek just outside town where the prisoners were taken on their final journey. At this site, there are over 100 mass graves. Around 80 have been excavated, but the rest are being left - the survivors do not need any more reminders. There is no mawkish sentimentality at the site - everything is just presented as matters-of-fact. The focal point is a giant stupa, where the skulls and bones of the excavated graves have been collected. The bones are stored in an enormous cabinet, perhaps ten meters square, with over 15 shelves, each shelf about 2 meters deep and stacked with skulls. The skulls have been separated into various categories: 15-20 year old females; 20-40 year old males etc. It is not a sight for the faint of heart.
The most disturbing aspect of the tour is that, as you walk around the site, you are walking over teeth and bones of the dead. Quite literally. As the rains wash away top soil, bone fragments and teeth rise to the surface on the paths around the site, and they are everywhere. There are also partially buried rags - the clothing that the murdered were wearing when they were sent to their death. And this is just one of the killing fields - there are over 300 throughout the country, with 20,000 mass graves in total.
And of all the horrific aspects, the most shocking is still taking place today. The killers have had an amnesty and are free to walk the sites, selling their stories to journalists. Others have positions high up in the current government. Only four of the highest command from the Khmer Rouge regime are facing trial for crimes against humanity (and this only after having an initial amnesty, where for 10 years they lived a life of luxury in the city where they were responsible for the deaths of so many) and Pol Pot himself died without being captured. The tour guide was not able to talk freely about politics when we were outside the coach, because there is still a fear of those in power. The scars on this country will take some time to heal.
As we left, the group was understandably very quiet, driving back to the city each with their own thoughts.
Rest of Phnom Penh
It was a day of contrasts, straight from the Killing Fields, we went to the Russian Market where the girls tried their best to buy one of everything. After that, we went to the national museum (which to be fair was not that great, lots of statutes of Buddha and Hindu deities and some artefacts, but compared to Siem Reap it wasn't too interesting). After a late lunch overlooking the river, we went to a local tv station to watch some kick boxing. As the only foreigners in town, the cameras were trained on us half the time! It was strange to mingle with the boxers as they came out of the ring, with one of the victors posing for photos with Sabine and Camilla. It sums up the openness and welcoming nature of the country.
Tuk-tuks have been the mode of transport here for all journeys up to about 45 minutes. It's funny how the local cheap transport varies from country to country. Same same, but different. They are a great way to see a new city and the several rides we had give a real insight to how the locals live their lives.
Sihanoukville
As we headed south to the coast of the Gulf of Thailand at Sihanoukville, the landscape changed. Endless flat plains were replaced by rolling hills, paddy fields disappeared and in their place were rows of palm trees and other fruit trees.
Our first day in Sihanoukville was spent playing pool, walking down the beach and drinking in the bars; because, to be honest, there is not much else to do there. It is a bit if a tourist place, bar after bar after bar lined the beach (which is not the most pretty I've seen) and kids and traders wander along trying to sell various souvenirs and snacks. The beach was very busy by the bars and restaurants and, perhaps surprisingly, the customers were mainly locals. The water festival was still going on, so lots of families were out celebrating.
On our second day, we took a boat to visit three of the islands in the bay. The snorkelling was the worst I have ever seen: next to no visibility, next to no fish and the water was full of all kinds of rubbish. After the snorkelling, we had lunch on another island and spent a few hours chilling on the beach or playing games in the sea. After the hectic and non-stop start to the tour, it was a nice break.
After two nights in Sihanoukville, it was time to head over to Vietnam at the border crossing at Phnom Den. The border is just a bridge with a few wooden shacks for immigration, customs etc. I hadn't previously crossed an international boundary on foot before this trip and now have done it twice in a week. It is remarkably straightforward, even in the more restrictive countries, despite a hiccup with the visa for one of the group.
That's it for now. The next blog will be full of stories from Vietnam.
Bye!
No comments:
Post a Comment