A Solemn Morning

By 8:30 am we are on our way to the Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh.

From 1975 to 1979, Cambodia was ruled by the highly paranoid and brutal Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot. The party implemented an extreme communist ideology, forcing the residents of the cities to abandon everything and move en mass to the country where a comprehensive farming initiative was carried out. Unfortunately, the plan was ill conceived and millions starved to death. Millions more (intellectuals, assumed spies, their families and others) were tortured, executed and dumped into mass graves in areas known as The Killing Fields.

We begin our morning touring the former high-school-turned-prison (one of hundreds) from the reign of the Khmer Rouge. Left virtually as it was found by liberating Vietnamese soldiers, the site is chillingly eerie. A feeling of brutality lingers throughout the grounds and blood stains are still visible on the walls and ceilings.










Some 20,000 people were imprisoned and tortured here - almost all either dying on the grounds or departing to meet their death in the nearby Choeung Ek Killing Fields. Only seven men escaped from this particular prison, of which, only two are still living. We meet one of the men near the end of our tour. He graciously answers the many questions that visitors and locals still have. He lost his entire family here on the same grounds which he now stands and educates others. His ability to forgive and return, day after day, to the very site of his torture and great personal loss, is unfathomable. Yet, like so many of the Cambodians we have already met, he smiles widely and warmly greets everyone and every question.

We also swallow thickly as our local guide recounts the losses in his family on our way to the Killing Fields we are again confronted with the magnitude of the death that happened. This country lost almost one third of its ENTIRE population during the rule of the Khmer Rouge or 3 million people in 5 years time. Just take a second to let that sink in.




Walking the grounds is tragically difficult. While some 86 mass graves have been exhumed, many (some 43) have been left as they were originally found. Scraps of the victim's clothing poke through the very ground that we walk over, bones are visible in many places as are the shallow graves where hundreds were buried. There are almost no words available to describe the sheer insanity of it all... just an intense feeling of grief, loss and confusion.

"It is important to educate the next generations," says our guide when we ask him how he feels coming to these places of horror on a regular basis. He points to the thousands of unearthed skulls kept in the memorial stupa. "Many of our young people do not believe the stories. We keep this as proof."




On the solemn drive back into town, we climb off the bus and visit the Russian Black Market where we attempt (halfheartedly) to bargain for a few of the traditional Cambodian scarves, or "Krama" as they are known.

The Cambodians are such cheerful people that, despite our heavy feeling from the morning tours, it's difficult to remain down amongst the city's bursting energy. Brett, Jenna, Keir and I take a tuk tuk to Wat Phnom - the oldest temple (and highest point) in the city.
















The heat is prickly hot as we walk along the riverside down to see the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. So hot is it, that we decide we simply MUST take advantage of the half priced drinks at the Foreign Correspondents Club or FCC (where fortunately, they make a killer sangria and a wickedly tasty mojito)!







We opt to dine at Romdeng, the sister restaurant to Laos's Makphet where street youth are trained and employed to work. The meal is outstanding. While Makphet seems to be creating more risky dishes, the food is so superbly executed at Romdeng that we decide that it eeks out for first place.







Phnom Penh is such a vibrant but laid back city that we agree we could use a few more days here!

Ummm...by the way...anyone know if this is organization below is legit or not?!?




...we mean The World Toilet Association that is!

Crossing To Cambodia

The bus trip to Phnom Penh takes longer than expected. We get held up on the Vietnamese side of the border navigating the archaic exit system of the country. Passports are all collected and added to an ever growing pile in front of the border officials as the bus loads of people continue to roll in. Everyone is all smushed together in a holding pen waiting for someone (usually with a very thick Vietnamese accent) to call out your name. Once hearing your name, you try to push your way through to the front to escape - and then promptly wait in another line for another official to again check your passport before actually leaving the building.

After that experience, we are braced for the worst on the Cambodian side. A needless worry it seems as Cambodia is highly organized. There are actual lines that you queue in! Tidy, smily border officials! Fingerprint scanning devices! With a stamp and a smile, we enter into the Kingdom of Cambodia.

No time to stop now though - we have places to go! Back on the bus we are herded to make the 2-3 hour drive on to Phnom Penh - the capital city of Cambodia. The scenery outside the window changes dramatically from Vietnam's lush greenery. Flat yellow farm land is all that greets the eye. Now and then a very ornate temple appears in one's line of vision. Despite the somewhat barren appearance the country first makes, there is something remarkably captivating about the landscape.

On the short ferry ride across the river and into Phnom Penh we get a look at a very different socio-economic population compared to Vietnam.










We arrive in Phnom Penh just after 4 pm and check into our surprisingly deluxe digs. The Cardamom Hotel feels like a super swish non-mould smelling slice of heaven. We make a quick bag drop and then head on out for a cyclo tour of the city.

The city is nestled at the convergence of three rivers: the Mekong, the Bassac, and the Tonle Sap. We first head towards the Independence Monument - a towering tribute to the long fought struggle of the Cambodians. While snapping our photos our group somehow gets flagged to get filmed and photographed for the upcoming edition of the "Kingdom of Cambodia" advertising campaign. Around the Independence roundabout, we circle in our cyclo's, waving and grinning like the whitey tourists we are! It's actually terrific fun!
















Through rush hour traffic we weave towards another of the city's notable landmarks - Wat Phnom - the oldest of Phnom Penh's temples. Just past here, we are dropped off to wander along the riverside boardwalks. We watch the locals on their evening routine - the men fishing along the river, the children hawking fresh raw peanuts, and the woman participating in one of the several large outdoor exercise classes.











The setting suns rims the few lingering clouds in pinks, purples and oranges making for a perfect backdrop to the spires of the temples.





We dine on the street at the "Nice Nice restaurant" (seriously, that is what it is called!). It is indeed "Nice, Nice". For $3.50 we have heaps of BBQ, fresh veg, rice and two beer towers. And before you say "Don't get crazy", we have to say that we didn't polish those beer towers off all by ourselves!

HCM II

We are pleasantly surprised by our hotel's breakfast offerings - not so much the food, but the views! Located on the 9th floor there is a fantastic panoramic view of the surrounding city.

Our first order of the day is to find some Vietnamese street coffee, which we manage to do. Nestled up alongside some corrugated sheeting, we settle into plastic chairs to sip ferociously strong coffee with the locals and watch the traffic nonsense in the roundabout.







We're off for a second look at the War Remnants Museum which documents all the horrors of the French and American wars in Vietnam. It is distressing to say the least, but we both feel compelled to go slowly and absorb it all in order to fully understand this country's recent tragic history. Everyone involved — the Vietnamese people, the North Vietnamese soldiers, the American soldiers and their allies - were victims of an overconfident, misguided and cold hearted American government solely concerned with keeping communist countries from controlling the resources of Indochina. It was a tragic mess. If the fighting wasn't enough, there was Agent Orange, the dioxin laced exfoliant used to kill the jungle foliage amongst which the Viet Cong would hide. Not only did it poison the ground for decades to come, but the water and the people exposed to it as well— inncocent Vietnamese citizens and American soldiers. The repercussions of this choice are still being felt today and the images of people and families affected by the chemicals, which range from birth defects to cancers, is almost unbearable to take in.

It all makes for a sobering, but essential morning. One can't help but tour this museum and think about the US involvement in Iraq and the blinding similarities to the Vietnam war — the very words and reasons used by the US government to explain why, the barbaric treatment of the enemy soldiers and the deaths of thousands of innocent people by air strikes. "So it goes", Kurt Vonnegut once wrote. History is doomed to repeat itself and no doubt there will be a similar museum in Iraq years from now, documenting the very same tragedies of war.




A more pleasant visit is to the Japanese Emerald Pagoda. It's a bit of a walk from the war museum and it is hot. A thick blanket of humidity hangs in the air. Keir is sweating by the time he exits the museum and by the time we get to the pagoda, it's coming off of him in buckets. Good thing he stole a towel from the hotel to mop up with!

Just your local hardware store!



Scooter puncture? No problem at this sidewalk repair stand.




Constructed around 1900 by the city's Cantonese community, the Jade Emperor Pagoda offers an ornate warren of rooms in which to worship. We tour about the various rooms taking in the detailed carvings. Many people have come to pray and pay their respects to Buddha, lighting incense and pouring the hot oil over the candles as an offering. It's a privilege to witness the whole ceremonial process.













We then decide to walk back to the hotel along the Saigon river. The walk is longer than we anticipate, noisy, stinking hot and very exhausting. We both get cranky trying to find a place to stop for a drink -- everything around is too touristy. Eventually, we get back to out hotel area and stop at Zen Garden again for a drink and veggie snack. The food here is good vegetarian and way more affordable than the tourist traps.

This guy has the right idea for a sweltering afternoon.



The Saigon tower with helicopter pad.




Street snacks. Yum! (we think... Maybe? )




After a quick walk around the packed, barely squeeze-through-able aisles in the Cho Benh Thanh market, it's back to the hotel for a shower up (the third of the day if you count the sweat-a-thon on the street) and to get ready for our back of the scooter night tour of Saigon.

What a highlight! Two accomplished drivers from the highly professional XO tour group pick us up at our hotel. We are kitted out with helmets before we set out for our 2.5 hour (nearly 3 hours all told) night time tour of the streets of Saigon. We whizz through the avenues and lanes, dodging traffic and stopping in districts 1,4,5,7 and 10. We zip along the highway and cross numerous bridges. We even get to stop at the non-touristy Thai Binh market.














Given our limited time in the city, we are thrilled to get to see way more of the area than we initially thought possible. We sample some street food and chug back some infinitely delicious fesh pressed sugarcane and kumquat juice.










We return back to our hotel around 9 pm -- just in time to head out for some karaoke Vietnam style with our Canadian pals, Brett and Jenna.







None of us have ever karaoked before, but that didn't stop us from tearing up the studio room. What a blast! With hoarse voices, we stumble out into the humid HMC night at 11 pm... perfect time to grab a stool at a street side bar for a few thirst quenching pints. At 50 cents a beer, who can complain?!?

Massage and a beer anyone??? Just $2 for 15 minutes!