Day 5

Tuesday, we headed out for Siem Riep. We packed up all our stuff at the hotel in Phnom Penh and got on a bus for about 6 hours. Here is a picture of the bus:

Well, halfway through our ride, we stopped for a half hour rest. We went into a nearby restaurant and had a beer and went to the bathroom. I tried an anchor beer:

 

Well, after this we walked around outside and saw some interesting sights. Right outside our bus, there were street vendors selling "scrumptious" snacks for the bus-riders to enjoy on the second half of the trip!

Some street vendors are portable, using their bikes to sell food. However, many of the street vendors are stationary. Just setting up along the street selling food that is usually fried right in front of you.

This European couple bought some fruit.

This native Khmer woman is not buying fruit. Instead, she is buying..........

CRICKETS!!!

GRASSHOPPERS, ROACHES, AND YES, GIANT SPIDERS!!!!

I don't know how people enjoy eating these fried critters, but I couldn't help taking pictures. The spiders definitely creeped me out the most. I had been prepared to see crickets because I had read about it, but when I saw the roaches and spiders, I have to admit, I gagged a little. I just don't know......

Well, after a few more hours, we arrived in Siem Riep (which is the city where the temples are). Here is a picture of the Dara Inn, where we stayed for three nights:

There is my room right on top at the corner of the building!

Once we arrived, we had some time to ourselves in our rooms to unpack and relax a little. So, I unpacked and found a TV station that played American shows and sat on my bed to watch a little TV. Well, as I was watching TV, I heard a shrill chirping sound near my window. At first, I though for sure it was a loud bird outside my window. So, I continued watching TV. A few minutes later, I heard the noise again, but it sounded like it was right behind me. So I looked behind me and noticed my bed was against the curtain of another window, so I thought it was still a bird outside the window. Well, a few minutes later, I heard the noise again, and this time, I knew it was not outside my window. I could tell that the sound was coming from inside and behind the curtain, like some kind of animal was crawling around on the window. Well, I wanted to look, but if you know me, you know I am deathly afraid of spiders, and my imagination sometimes gets out of control, so I couldn't bear to make myself move the curtain out of fear that some huge, jumping spider would jump on me or something. So, I went next door to find Minh and have her sit with me until we heard the noise again, so I could get a second opinion on whether the noise was inside or outside. I was secretly hoping Minh would check behind the curtain, but no luck. So we sat and watched TV and heard the noise again. She said it was coming from inside. We were both afraid to look, so we just went downstairs to wait for the rest of the group to come downstairs so we could get on to our next travel stop.

Well, we all walked to a landmine rehabilitation center. We had a tour of the facilities and learned about the effects that landmines have had on Cambodia. We also learned about the great things that are done for free at this rehabilitation center. At the center, any person who is missing a limb can come to get a prosthetic limb and stay for up to 3 weeks learning how to use the limb. We saw many types of limbs, of which some were made to have attachments to help people function in a work or farming environment. The center also does parent eduction for parents with children who have disabilities. The center is doing great things, all free. Here are some pictures of the rehabilitation center. 

These are some of the attachments for the prosthetic arms.

And here, people can practice walking through a number of obstacles with their new prosthetic legs.

These are what some of the landmines look like.

You can see that most of the landmines had been placed along the Thai border, which is where the Khmer Rouge began and ended their operations. They left all these mines so that people would not be able to escape to Thailand.

Well, after we visited the rehabilitation center, we went to dinner at a local Khmer restaurant. We had an important dinner date that evening with Dr. Lida, who is a cardiologist at the Angkor children's hospital. We wanted to ask him about the identification and treatment of children with heart problems in Cambodia, like the children that Hearts Without Boundaries is helping. We learned about the process for some of the children, like Bun Lak, to get identified as having a severe need for heart surgery that the Angkor children's hospital is just not qualified to perform. Dr. Lida was very gracious dinner guest as he answered many of our questions, and we asked a lot! Well, that was pretty much our day on Tuesday. Not too much happened as we spent so much time on the bus. Stay tuned for more!

Oh, and here is a picture of what I had for dinner, a traditional Khmer dish called Amok fish, very similar to a mild curry, and yes delicious!

Day 4

Day 4 was a Monday and was the day before we would be leaving Phnom Penh (pronounced pnum pen) for Siem Riep, the ancient and majestic province and city of temples. We were all very tired from our many experiences we had already had, so we did not have a lot planned for Monday - and what we did have planned was enough of an experience, truly, to last for days. The reason I say this is because on Monday we visited Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, otherwise known as The Killing Fields, which carried a lot of emotional weight for all of us. Before I go into our visit of the genocidal center, I would like to write a few paragraphs describing the history of Cambodia and what led to the Cambodian genocide.

A brief history of Cambodia

There is not a very detailed account of the ancient history of the Khmer empire. In fact, archeologists and historians are still piecing together the ancient history of what is now Cambodia and its surrounding countries (Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos). However, it is known that at one time, what is now Cambodia was a vast empire encompassing large parts of what are now Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. Between the 9th and 13th centuries, the Khmer empire was at its height, and unlike its European counterparts whose large cities were known to have populations in the low hundred thousands, the Siem Riep region of Cambodia (the capital of the Khmer empire) is known to have had a population of millions of people. During this time, the kings being either Brahminist or Buddhist built cities of temples for their gods. Well, over time, Thailand (then Siam) and Vietnam began to make their way into Cambodia and want their rich, fertile land. Since the end of the 13h century, there has been constant feuding, fighting, and cessation of and over Cambodian land. In the 19th century, Cambodia sought the aid of France to keep Thailand away, and wound themselves up into becoming a protectorate, a colony, of France.

Jump ahead to the mid 20th century and France had put their trust in a man named Sihanouk who they believed would further their interests in Cambodia. However, Sihanouk had his own plans in mind and helped his country gain independence from France in 1953. His praise was short-lived, though, as he would begin a precedent for bad leadership, selfish control, and desire for power that would manifest through time into today. It seems that all the leaders of Cambodia start out with a vision to help their country, but fall in love with the idea of power and end up doing absolutely anything, whether it cruel or inhumane, to keep that power. In the case of Sihanouk, he was able to keep Cambodia out of major trouble until 1970, always working to keep Cambodia as neutral as possible, and ultimately siding with the North Vietnamese during their war with the United States in order to keep them from taking over Cambodia. Well, in 1970, while taking vacation in France, Sihanouk was overthrown by a faction that named Lon Nol as their new leader. This faction wanted a government that could stand up against Vietnam and side with the United States, however Lon Nol had no idea how to be a leader, not in the least.

Lon Nol ruled Cambodia for 5 years, from 1970 to 1975, and was so completely incompetent as a leader that he was known to sit around in the Royal Palace listening to the French radio stations to find out about the state of political affairs in his own country. Ultimately this utter lack of leadership for 5 years allowed for Cambodia's, and one of the world's cruelest leaders, Saloth Sar, to gain a following and build an army. Saloth Sar was a communist who built his ideas of a utopian Cambodia by watching and observing Mao in China, as well as working with the North Vietnamese. Upon returning from China, he spent a lot of time out in the jungles recruiting peasants with his ideologies. He also spent time as a teacher and slowly began to preach his ideologies to children as young as ten and eleven years old. Once  Sihanouk was overthrown by Lon Nol, Saloth Sar changed his name to Pol Pot, built an organization around his ideas and started taking over villages along the borders of Cambodia. He forced children into his army and was able to build an army strong enough to take over Cambodia. Well, in April 1975, the United States pulled out of Cambodia, and Pol Pot and his organization know as Angka or Angkar took over Cambodia.

Pol Pot's regime was based on eliminating any semblance of Westernization. Within 3 days of taking over Phnom Penh, he had forced the entire population of the capital city out into the countryside, leaving Phnom Penh a virtual ghost town. He had his peasant and child soldiers kill any person with an education, a corporate background, a connection to the Lon Nol establishment, or any action or background deemed traitorous to Angkar. He forced families apart. He forced every person to work the fields, with two scheduled meals per day. Pol Pot's regime ultimately became so brutal that people were viciously killed by the Khmer Rouge soldiers for any reason or no reason. Any person suspected of thinking of themselves instead of the community could be lined up and beaten, shot, stabbed,  or whatever form of murder was convenient or entertaining for the soldiers at the time. By the end of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, it is know that up to 3.5 million (25% of the entire population) had died of murder, malnutrition, starvation, or disease. I will write more about this as I describe our visit to the Killing Fields.


Well, in 1979, Vietnam was able to take over and occupy Cambodia, overthrowing Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge, leaving them to escape for the jungles near the border of Thailand, but not without leaving landmines all along the way. Between 1979 and 1993, Cambodia suffered through constant civil upheaval due to the treacherous rule of the Vietnamese who did not rule with much less brutality than the    Khmer Rouge.


In 1993, Cambodia held their first democratic elections, and are now a Constitutional Monarchy, but that is putting it very simply as this country is still very corrupt, especially those first few elections in the 90s. Vietnam still holds a strong political influence over the ruling Cambodian parties today. However, despite the corruption of the government, Cambodia is on a slow incline, and it is a safe country for foreigners to visit, as tourists are treated very well for the economic boost they bring to the country.

Ok, I know I wrote more than a couple paragraphs, but I find that the Cambodian history pulls you in and makes you want to know more and more. As I prepared for coming on this trip, I found myself reading book after book about this history, as sadly, I never learned a thing about this in my K-12 education and university studies. By the way, most of the information I just provided came from the books  Cambodia  by Henry Kamm and On the Wings of a White Horse by Oni Vitandham, as well as details I learned about as I visited museums and historical sites in Cambodia.

So, we visited the "main" Killing Fields site in Cambodia, about 15 miles outside of Phnom Penh on Monday. When I say the main site, I mean that it is the largest memorial site and museum in the country, but there are known to be Killing Field sites numbering into the 70's throughout the country. 

The Killing Fields existed for similar reasons as the concentration camps of the Jewish holocaust. Cambodian people who were decided to be traitorous to their country by being educated, being discovered to be a "self-believer", or any other nonsense reason were sent by truck to this site to be killed. They were brutally killed and dumped into mass graves. When bullets became too much of a cost for the Khmer Rouge, people were killed by being beaten to death or having their bodies dismembered. At this site alone, thousands of skeletons were found in mass graves. A memorial has been set up so that people can remember what happened, and so that the people who died here can finally have some honor and respect shown to their bodies. Women and children were no exception, as some graves were found with naked women's bodies. What's worse (and I have trouble even typing these words) is that babies whose parents had been killed were beaten against trees until they died in order to not have to deal with them or the idea of how vengeful they would grow up. I am going to post the pictures I took while visiting this site and leave my post at that. You will be able to see the memorial where the bones are housed. You will be able to see where some graves were found without heads. You will be able to see the tree that was used to kill babies. You will see the numerous depressions in the earth where mass graves had been filled with dead bodies. Please take the time to look at each picture and understand the depth of what happened. Being at these killing fields was one of the saddest experiences I have ever lived through, and I had never felt the kind of emotions and sickness that I felt as I walked along the earth knowing how many bodies had been there - but not just bodies. I thought about the people that had lived in those bodies and the children that had lined up for their deaths, and I cried for them and prayed for their souls. At the very least, they deserve a few moments to reflect silently.

Day 3

On Sunday, we were going to head out to our first visit to a village outside the city. The village we visited was about 1.5 hours outside of Phnom Penh by van. The purpose of our visit was to meet Bun Lak, the next baby who will receive heart surgery through Hearts Without Boundaries. While we were out there, we also visited a neighboring village (very poor neighboring village) to deliver hundreds of pounds of rice and noodles, plus hygiene products (like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and soap), as well as school supplies (books and pencils).

On our way out to the village, I videotaped a little bit from inside the van, to capture some brief moments of what the streets were like and what our surroundings were like. Here is the video clip:

After driving for about 1.5 hours, we arrived at Bun Lak's village. Here are some photos of Bun Lak and his mother. His mother is not his biological mother, but rather a generous woman who took him in at the request of his biological mother who was not able to care for him properly. Disclaimer: Many boys under the age of 4 in Cambodia are naked or bottomless. You will notice that Bun Lak is not wearing any pants. This is definitely due to poverty as many families in Cambodia save their money for food and allow their children to go naked if it saves some money. I also believe it may be a cultural effect, as I also noticed many small children and babies do not wear diapers. Many mothers and children know or can signal when they need to go to the bathroom and life is much easier, cheaper,  and cleaner for babies to just not wear any bottoms than to wear diapers.

Well, after visiting with Bun Lak and his mother, his mother wanted to prepare lunch for us. We knew how rude it would be to decline, even though we also knew that it would be very costly for her to prepare an entire meal for 8 people. Thus, we accepted her food gladly and went across from her hut to an empty school courtyard to eat the food she made for us. She made us fresh fish and rice with a number of side dishes including fresh papaya salad. She also gave us bananas. Since we were at the school's courtyard, I decided to take some pictures to show what the schools in Cambodia are like. Almost every public school in Cambodia is set up similar to this school, with the blue trim and either yellow or white paint. They all have a large courtyard like this, with small statues of students and animals at the front. As I walked toward the back of school, I noticed a small stream to the left of school with piles of trash just collecting along the banks of the stream. I also noticed that right behind the school's playground, there were farmers with their water buffalo working the rice paddies. Here are the pictures of the school's courtyard and surrounding areas:

 Above is the lunch area.

 Above is the stream along the side of the school.

 Above is the pile of trash along the stream next to the school.

Above is the farmers out in the rice paddies. This is right behind the school.

Next, I am attaching a 360 video clip from the same point I was standing at next to the river and behind the school. You will see the farmers working, the school's playground, the back of the school, the stream, trees, and cloud-filled sky. You will also hear chanting in the background, which was coming from the Buddhist temple you can see in the background, through the trees, at the beginning and end of the video.

While we were waiting to go to the next village, we had some time to take a walk through Bun Lak's village. We walked by the Buddhist temple that we had heard the chanting from earlier. We were with Pheany, who has a vast knowledge of the Buddhist religion, and is also VERY talkative and outgoing. We asked her if she could talk to the monks and see if we could get permission to go inside their temple to see how it looks. The monk was pleased to let us in (for a small offering and prayer). I had never been inside a Buddhist temple before, and was so excited to be on their grounds. I was able to see the building where the monks were studying, and I was able to see the huts where the nuns lived. I had never even thought that Buddhists have nuns, but I guess it makes sense! The nuns wear white robes and also shave their heads like their orange-robed counterparts. Here is a picture of the building where the monks were studying and a picture of a nun outside her hut as well as a number of other huts where the nuns live:

It was very interesting for me to spend so much time learning about such very different religions than I normally encounter in the United States, where the majority of people are Christian. It is the opposite in Cambodia, as only a small number of people in Cambodia are Christian. As I learned about Buddhism, I found many of the traditions oddly familiar and similar to some Catholic traditions. Just like there is a neighborhood Catholic church, in Cambodia, they have neighborhood temples. Just the beautiful Catholic churches I know of, the Buddhist temples are beautifully adorned with altars, meaningful statues, and images that tell the story of their faith. The Buddhists believe that a statue is not just a statue, but that the god is a  living part of the statue. Also, in Buddhist culture, the head is the highest and most respectable part of the body, thus it is rude to pat an adult on the head. Likewise, the feet are the lowest part of the body, thus it is rude to point your foot toward an altar or toward a person. So as we sat on the mats and looked around at our surroundings, out of respect, we were not wearing shoes and our feet were pointing away from the altar. The story of Buddha, as you can follow by the detailed paintings that completely covered every wall and ceiling are oddly familiar to some of the events in the life of Jesus Christ. The Buddha was prophesized before birth, he gained a following throughout his life, was betrayed by someone close to him, and rose into the heavens (putting it very simply and based on my minimal knowledge gained by Pheany's guidance). Here are some pictures of the outside and inside of the village temple we visited:

Every temple is marked by a Naga, which is the snake body with multiple heads. The Naga needs to have 3, 5, or 7 heads. It is there to protect the temple. Its body wraps up toward the top and its tail intertwines with the tail of the other Naga. Also, many temples have a statue of an elephant which is a symbol of good luck.

Inside the temple, at the front is the altar. The nuns are burning incense for the Buddha. 

Unlike Catholic churches, there are no pews at the Buddhist temples. Instead the monks,  nuns, and other people sit on mats as they pray.

The entire building is adorned with detailed paintings that tell the story of the life of the Buddha. Here you can see how the wall blends right into the ceiling as both are filled with artwork.

Each panel of the story is separated with gold and red borders that protrude from the walls and ceilings.

Here is a scene from the beginning of the story of Buddha. The Buddha is born a man from his human mother, however he walks on the lotus flower with a halo, both signifying his godliness.

Here it shows the Buddha as a young man, again atop the lotus flower, with the animals paying him respect. He not only gained followers from mankind but also from the world of animals.

The green man (I can't remember his name now) becomes jealous of the Buddha and although he is supposed to be a trusting friend of the Buddha, he poisons the Buddha.

Here, after the Buddha dies, he rises into the heavens atop the lotus flower. The lotus flower is also in many temples as a place to hold memorials and pray for those who have passed.

Here Pheany is talking with the monk, and soon the monk will ask us to sit with him as he says a prayer. After the prayer, we each gave a small offering out respect for their faith and gratitude for having shared their temple with us and allowing us to take pictures.

Here is a video showing my view from bottom to top:

Well, after taking our time in the village temple, we were behind schedule. We still needed to drive out a little further to the village where we were taking supplies. On the way, I tried a fried banana, which was delicious! 

Well, we went to the village and delivered the supplies. It was an intense and eye-opening experience. The people were very grateful, especially the elders of the village who were trying to dust off chairs for us to sit on, anything to thank us for donating food to their village. It was very sad to see thin and toothless people all around me, yet every person whose gaze I met greeted me with a smile and a look of sincere hope in their eyes. As we drove home, and as I reflected later that evening and still today, I am in awe over the hope of the Cambodian people. I can't help constantly wondering if I would be strong enough to be hopeful if I lived in their shoes (of which sadly many do not have). Here are some of the pictures from the village:

After visiting this village, we headed back toward Phnom Penh on a 2 hour drive. As we were already starting to get used to, a sudden rainstorm hit on our way back home. We felt so lucky that it hit after we had the shelter of the car, but couldn't help but think about the villagers we left behind in the rain. We knew that they are used to the rainstorms, especially since they don't last very long and they set up their villages to fit their climate, but we still felt the tinge of the poverty of the people we left behind staining the memories we were building. 

Well, of course I got some footage of the rain as we were driving in the car. Check out the video of the sudden rainstorm:

Well, after we got back to Phnom Penh, we still had a few hours until dinner, so Minh, Cynthia, and I decided to walk along the river front and stop at one of the cafes for a small treat. The riverfront is always full of people walking, playing, exercising, running, etc. It's always nice to walk along a water front, but it is definitely a different experience to walk along this river that is at a major crossway for the delta of two other rivers. Because of this, as well as the abundance of pollution, the river is not clear or blue, but brown. So it's hard to say that walking along the river is a beautiful experience when one is faced with the reality of the brown river, but in its own way, it was quite beautiful, especially as the clouds gathered and we sensed another rain shower coming. It did start to rain again, so we headed to a cafe along the riverfront where I had a banana and honey crepe with some hot tea.

Here are some pictures of the river and some small boats floating along.

This is the walkway along the river.

As I was eating my delicious crepe, I decided to take some video of the city around me, and as I started to take video, a child came up to me to sell me books. Here is the video:

I did end up buying a book from her, but I would soon learn that there is never just one child walking around selling things. As soon as I bought a book from her, a multitude of children were surrounding me asking to buy their products. I felt bad for them, but there was no way I could buy something from all of them so I had to politely and many-times say no to them, as they would not easily back down.

Well later that evening, our fellow traveling companion, Patty treated us to a delicious gourmet Korean dinner with BBQ meat and side dishes to fill our table and more! It was very good, in fact, the best Korean food I have ever had. If you are wondering why we were eating Korean food in Cambodia, well here are two reasons: Patty has been to Cambodia before and eaten at this restaurant, and as she is Korean American, wanted to treat us to authentic Korean food. Also, everything in Phnom Penh is so inexpensive that we found ourselves eating gourmet international food very often just because we knew if we went out for Korean or Spanish or Indian back at home, we would have to pay so much more, so we definitely indulged in food from all over the world in addition to the delicious Cambodian food! Well, that was Sunday, and what a day it was! I tell you, by the time Sunday was over, I felt like I had been in Cambodia for weeks, not just days. And yet, we still had so much more to experience! Stay tuned to find out more about my Cambodian Adventures!

Oh yeah! Here is a photo of our Korean dinner: