froginmythroat (FIMT)

On 20 November 2002 7:30am I left Siem Reap. The road to the capital Phnomn Penh was approx 300km, a distance we covered in 12hrs, or 25km/hr.

I travelled by mini-bus and was seated down the back with all the other tourists. Hmm, segregated seating. Along the way the only interesting occurence was being offered marinated spider by a vendor, yuck.

When we got to the outskirts of the city around 7:30pm we encountered a horrible traffic jam. It was the last day of the 3-day water festival, in which the fact that the mekong reverses its flow is celebrated. Crowd control was absent and everyone was trying to go everywhere all at the same time. It didn’t work. So I got of the bus and walked with a American Cambodian couple. Walking was quicker, but there was just as much human traffic as vehicular traffic. I have never encountered such a throng of people all trying to move but being unable to go anywhere. I had my huge backpack on and local people where laughing and yabbering at me in a seemingly friendly way. My companions translated what was being said, “if the foreigner is walking, the traffic must be bad!” Hehe. 2hrs later, after walking a stretch of maybe 1.5km we emerged from the thick of the crowd. Jeesh!

Phnom Penh is different from the countryside. The people, though friendly, are busy and less likely to hold your stare or spontaneously say Hu-llo! like in the countryside. But hey, at least the internet is cheaper (2000riels/$1 per hr).

The military runs a nice side business here, the shooting range (or at they say they are the military but they seem pretty dodgey none the less). Its called Happy Club Shooting Range, but the prices are nothing to get happy about. A B-40 rocket launcher can be shot at a mountain for $200US. A hand grenade can be thrown in a lake for $20US. AK-47s and various other American and Russian sub-machine guns can be fined for around $10-$20 for 20-30bullets. The urban legend was that you could purchase certian farm animals for targets, but they say the government stopped them doing that 3 years ago. Now its a cardboard cutout or a coke can.

A visit to the Genocide Museum (Toul Sleung/S-21) is a neccessity, though very sobering, sad, and disturbing. The video is a must see, and I came away with utter uncomprehension at how anyone could perpetrate the crimes against humanity that occured during the Pol Pot regime in the 1970s. It was unbelievable stuff. During the 1970s Pol Pot and his party were in power, and they attempted to turn Cambodia into a communist Agrarian state. Money, markets and private property were abolished. People were forced into farm collectives. Uprooted from their homes and villages their traditional family ties were broken. Strict monitoring and control of people, their movements and actions were instigated. Communication was kept to a minimum. Anyone who disobeyed or disagreed with policy was executed. It is estimated 1 million of a then population of 8-9 million people died during this time. People, most certainly innocent, were held in S21 before being taken to the killing field and executed.

On a lighter note, Phonm Penh has a water park! Yay! It has water slides, a wave machine, a “river”, a pools. The slides are kinda small, but it was nice. For a brief few hours I felt like I was back in a developed country. One weekend I went to Udong mountain, which is a popular picnic spot for the locals next to a, umm, mountain. It was nice, even with the friendly kids who would go around collecting food scraps from peoples’ finished meals to eat. Its worrying but seemed commonplace and socially accepted. I dutifully handed over the remnants of my fish and rice.

I was sick for some days in Phnom Penh. I wished I wasn’t in an undeveloped country in case I needed treatment but the medical kit supplied by my doctor was sufficient to get me through the heavage. Props Doc.