Phnom Penh

The excitement I feel when throwing a backpack on my back is tangible. Whether it's to lead a flower hike, climb to a summit, or fish at a lake, there is always the anticipation of an adventure. But today I am hoisting my backpack for a new destination. Cambodia.

Traveling halfway around the world is so easy. The connections were perfect, the food was wonderful (always order vegetarian for a special meal), and suddenly I was there in Phnom Penh airport. In 5 minutes I was out in the sultry air, flagging down a tuk tuk to the hotel, the only part of this trip that had been arranged. My mind was still in Colorado, but my body was bumping along the road, smiling at how all the different forms of transportation could thread their way between each other with no stop lights or stop signs, and rules that were difficult to comprehend.

Erin and Evan were waiting at the hotel, enjoying the mom-sponsored luxury of a pool. After a dip to try to forestall the jet lag, we walked out into the fray. Street food, a walk through the royal palace, and wandering through the city. Absorbing the sites such as spider webs of electric cables wrapped around poles at each street corner, motorbikes parked by the hundreds along every street, tuk tuks to transport you wherever you might not want to walk, ladies sitting sidesaddle on the back of a motorbike, families of four all riding on a motorcycle, hello kitty bike helmets.

The Royal Palace was beautiful and ornate, across from a large parade ground and just off the Tonle river and it's junction with the Mekong.

 

Day 2

 

The second day we visited two of the sites that are dedicated to remembering the time of the Khmer Rouge. The first was S21, a school in the center of town where people were imprisoned and tortured. Of the 14,000 people known to have been imprisoned there, only 7 survived. The rest were sent to one of the killing fields. It seems incongruous to find this in the middle of a city until you realize that the Khmer Rouge emptied the city of all inhabitants the first week they were in power.

We then went out to the Killing Fields, where they executed most of the inmates of S21 and other enemies of the people. Close to 9000 corpses were discovered in the mass graves. There are over 300 killing fields in Cambodia. In less than 4 years, the Khmer Rouge killed over 1 million, about a quarter of the population.

Over 500 skulls are enshrined in the Buddhist stupa, to honor and preserve their memory, and to never forget what happened.

 

That evening, we cruised down the Tonle and Mekong rivers for a tour of the water. It does not appear that the rivers are a source of much commercial traffic, but they do bring the water to saturate this fertile land.

Many small communities were living along the waters edge. One was Vietnamese, the other was Cambodia Muslim.