From Kings to Killing Fields

Before I get started, please know it's difficult to attach photos to this blog from my phone and trying to position them among the text nearly impossible so if you're here for the photos, they're all at the end of this post. And in reverse order of how I want them to show up (sigh). Now that I got that out of the way... 

It's been a busy two days in Phnom Penh. Starting with a visit to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. Amazing architecture, emerald Buddhas, silver elephants and roaming cats. I'd love to tell you more about the history but I opted not to hire a guide and the map was not so informative. Gives me something to look up later. 

Afterwards, I used an app to order a $1 tuk tuk ride to Wat Phnom, a temple on a hill that houses four Buddhas found by Lady Penh and a colony of flying fox bats! I spent most of my time there watching, and listening to, the bats. They sound like birds and kind of look like them when they fly around. So cool. 

A short visit to the Central Market where I was too overwhelmed to buy any of the items on offer, clothes, jewelry, electronics, souvenirs, haircuts, fish, crabs, fruits and vegetables. The building is art deco style and there are 4 entrances. Much like parking your car, it helps to pay attention to which side you enter if you want to exit the same way. 

Next was a sunset cruise on the Tonle-Sap River. Lovely to get little history while enjoying the view and marveling at the traffic on the river. Tourist boats, fishing boats and car ferrys all vying for a spot on the water. I shared a table with a Finnish couple who plans to move to Phnom Penh in a few years. Then at dinner I met another couple from Australia and China who moved here and haven't looked back. You can rent a house for $100/month and you never have to shovel snow out of your driveway. Most exciting if you're coming from Finland. Time to start rethinking your retirement. 

Today, I went on a tour of the Killing Fields and Toul Sleng Genocide Museum. It was as grim as you imagine, maybe even more so. If you don't want details, skip to the photos. 

The area we went to is one of many killing fields in Cambodia where the Khmer Rouge executed people and left them in mass graves. Flooding in the area is causing the ground to sink and pieces of clothing and bones are surfacing as a result. There is a stupa on the site where the bones of almost 9,000 people are being kept. Our guide shared the story of his parents and their experience during that time. He also shared more gruesome details about the site which I will spare you. It's hard but important to witness. 

Then we went to the museum. A former high school where the Khmer Rouge took people to interrogate, torture and kill. Walking through the buildings there are room after room with hundreds of photos of people that were taken when they arrived. Of the 20,000 people sent there, only 12 survived - 4 of whom were there answering questions and selling books they wrote about the experience.

After all of that, what can you do to lift your spirits? Go to Walk Street - a temporary pedestrian only zone that stretches over a mile along the riverfront. Grilled meat and seafood, matcha soft-serve ice cream, vendors, performers and hundreds of people walking, eating and hanging out. I walked all the way to the night market where I ordered "friend" noodles with pork (that's what the menu said) and got a huge, delicious portion for only $2.50. There are mats all over the ground for people to sit and eat their food. It was a wonderful way to see the resilience of the Cambodian people all while soaking up some culture and getting my steps in.