After clearing the border, we sailed to Phnom Penh (pronounced pnom as the h is silent). The next morning we all got into cyclos for a tour. Yup - these tiny Cambodian men peddled us not so tiny tourists around the French Quarter!
First it was off to the Royal Palace - Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy, like the United Kingdom. Within the Palace grounds is the extravagant Silver Pagoda, with a floor made entirely of silver tiles, each weighing more than one kilogram, with more than 5,000 tiles on the floor for a total of more than 5 tonnes of silver. Much of the silver came from the coins that were formerly used in the Kingdom. There are also many statues and other religious items inside. Unfortunately, we cannot show you any pictures, as they prohibit taking any pictures!
After lunch, we had a free afternoon, so we jumped on a tuk-tuk to have a 3 hour city tour. The tuk-tuks here are a little different than others we have seen in other parts of the world, as they are detachable from the motorbike so the bikes can be used for other purposes.
Our driver stopped for a minute for what I thought was to add gasoline, but it was actually to add water. They use a crude water cooling system for the engine, because the trailer part (and its heavy caucasian occupants) put a lot of stress on the engine! He then stopped to show us the gas station for the scooters and motor bikes. Yes - this is the scooter gas station!
Depending on how much money you have and how much gas you need, you can buy gasoline in 500 ml, 1 litre and 2 litre bottles! There are gasoline stations around, but we never saw any motor bikes at them. Now you can see why!
We had a great tour of the city, both the old parts and the new developing areas. Phnom Penh may not be as developed as Saigon, but it is developing very rapidly. I am sure that if we were to come back in 5 years, the changes would be huge!
The next morning we went to the Choeung Ek killing fields about 40 minutes outside of Phnom Penh. There were more than 500 killing fields within Cambodia during the Paul Pot regime, and almost 1/4 of the population (almost 2,000,000 people) were killed by this regime. The place we visited was where more than 17,000 lost their lives. People avoided this area because it was thought to be a major administrative/training centre of the regime due to the regimental marching songs played on loudspeakers in order to hide the death cries.
The horror is almost unfathomable, but like the story of the second world war, it must be told to be sure that it is never repeated. After this, we returned to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former high school turned into a prison where enemies of the regime were tortured before being sent to the killing fields.
This was a very tough morning, but at the end of the museum tour we were fortunate to meet two survivors of the Paul Pot regime. They come most every day to the museum to tell their story so that others can know what happened. These two men, Bou Meng and Chum Mey, now in their 80s, have a very calm gentle energy that was amazing to experience. Each of these men has the same gentle spirit of our Dr. Aung! I think they could be related!!
They each have a book decribing their experience, and they feel it important that there be "Justice for the Future, Not Just for the Victims." The proceeds of the book go to an association to support other survivors. These gentlemen have been to the war crimes trails many (77) times to testify. We honour their courage by posting their pictures here.
On the return bus ride our guide, Phany (pronounced Panny) gave us an account of how much things are improving for Cambodia, by describing how his home village of 250 families had gone from having only 2 televisions when he left the village in early 2000, to now where 70-80% of the households have a TV, but most still run the TV off a battery. Thanks to him, his mother now has a scooter (a Honda Dream, no less) to get around and do her shopping and errands. It was a great to end with hearing his uplifiting story.
In the afternoon we went to a village known for their silk weaving. Here there are a couple of enterprising families that go from start to final product, including raising the silk worms, harvesting the silk cocoons,
spinning the silk thread (below is Grandma who owns one of the operations),
and making the silk garments including, of course, silk scarves.
Needless to say, we did not get out of there without Sonya buying (yet another!) silk scarf. As a matter of fact, if anyone can email me with the correct guess as to the number of scarves Sonya has purchased, (keeping in mind that we have been on the road for 7 weeks), I willl award the first person with the correct guess one of the scarves she purchased! Clue - it is more than 7!
On Tuesday we visited Wat Hanchey, a temple dating back to the 8th Century. Like Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia is largely a Buddhist country, following what is known as Theravada Buddhism. This temple was high on a hill, with spectacular views of the surrounding area.
Of course, at a temple there are monks. Here a group of monks was just returning from collecting their alms, both in the form of food and other gifts from the local people.
They walk through the village and, I surmise, use the truck as transport back so that they can get back in time to eat before their 12 noon deadline. They are not allowed any solid food after this time, so if they miss that meal, that's it until the next morning!
This stop reminded us very much of our time in Myanmar. This and a few other interactions with others led Sonya and I to conclude that the people of Cambodia have a gentle spirit very similar to the people of Myanmar.
After lunch and a short sail on the river, we stopped at Angkor Ban to visit a traditional village to see how life is lived in a more rural setting. We stopped at this home and were invited in by Grandma (below),
to see how they lived. The houses here are all on stilts, as they are subject to severe flooding from the river. You can see the bamboo slat floor here. This is done mainly to allow airflow into the house during the day, as it gets very warm. The other benefit of the house being on stilts is that when not flooded the open area underneath is used to carry out daily activities like cooking, weaving and raising animals.
As you can see from below, in this village, as with most other places we have seen, those that do not have or do not wish to use a scooter or motorbike, get around on bicycle. This applies to young and old alike!
As with the larger centres, food is bought and sold at the local market. In this village, the market occurs twice a day. In the morning from about 6 to 8 am, and in the late afternoon. The ladies below are just leaving the market with some produce, presumably for their dinner. While many now have a fridge, most would not dream of stockiing up and shopping once a week. Local markets and daily shopping continues to be the norm. As well, even in cities shopping centers are slow to catch on.
After that it was back on board our RV (that's River Vessel, not Recreational Vehicle) to motor up river to our next destination and to get ready for dance night!
We had a blast interacting with the other passengers and the crew of the boat. I taught a couple of very shy young ladies how to jive and Sonya taught one of the young gentlemen how to waltz!
The Macarena dance is apparently very popular here, and the young ladies were (trying) to lead our group by example. Here are some of our group having fun trying to keep up!
On Wednesday morning we arrived in Kampong Tralach. The crew decided that they should have hand rails for the ramp (why start now?), but they were having some challenges using their new tie-down strap. Nosy me had to see what the problem was, and I actually did help them rectify the issue. At least I was wearing the right colour shirt to fit in!
After that little handy man project we got off and visited another local house before getting on an ox cart ride - two per cart. This of course brought back memories for Sonya and me of our Myanmar experience. These carts were a little smaller than those in Myanmar, so it was a bit of a tight squeeze for some of us larger caucasians! It was the first time for most of our fellow travellers, so much fun was had by all.
After a back and bottom massage, we boarded a coach to head off to the next village (Konpong Louang) to visit a Silversmith operation. This village has a long history of making silverware for royalty, dating back to the 11th century. The work is quite intricate and time consuming.
In order to ensure that their skill is well-honed and continues through their lineage, they start them out at a very young age!
After this, it was back on board for our trip back down the river to Phnom Penh so that we can board an airplane Thursday morning for Siem Reap / Angkor Wat.
As I leave you with this picture of me writing this blog installment,
I want to let you know that a new record was set by Sonya today. She shot more than 500 pictures in less than 24 hours. She claims that she has to do so in order to get the picture she wants! I have determined that a newer faster camera may cut down on the number of required shots, so we are going shopping for a new camera when we get back. My biggest fear is that a faster camera will allow her to take even more pictures in less time! YIKES!!
Be sure to come along to amazing Angkor Wat!
Paul & Sonya
