The past few days have brought this magical city of Phenom Penh to life for me. I decided that instead of paying for tuk tuks everywhere or to ride on the back of a motorcycle with no helmet I would rent a bicycle and explore the city myself. I truly believe it is the best way to get a grasp of what a city truly is and you can see everywhere...just have to be willing to deal with the 40 Celsius temperatures.
Day one I woke up a little late and had breakfast. I ended up running into 3 British guys (Alex, Catriona, and Bell) that it seems like I have been following. I met them my last night in Koh Chang, saw them on a night out in Siem Reap, at Angkor Wat, and now they are at the same guest house as me. It is a small backpacker network and I think everyone treats the Lonely Planet as the word of God so we all stay in the same places.
After eating and chatting them up a bit I went to S 21...or Tuol Sleng prison. It was a high school the the Khmer rouge used to torture and kill thousands of people. It was really a freaky place to walk through because they left everything the same. All the cells have beds in them and photos on the walls with people being tortured on the exact same bed...pretty horrific stuff. The most touching was this one section where they had mug shot of all the people right when they got there. It is people all all different ages and genders. Small children and women who I cannot imagine what they could have done to get tortured and killed. It was really difficult to understand at times, I mean this guy Pol Pot was educated in Europe for college and then he comes back and abolishes education and currency. It is just nuts. The most interesting thing I found about the mug shots is that there were several Buddhist monks taken there. Unlike everyone else who looks somber and knows they are about to die, there are a few monks with smiles on their face. It must have taken a lot out of them because although they were in a real life hell their outward appear is one of love and understanding...truly amazing.
So the story behind the Khmer Rouge...little history lesson... is that on April 17, 1975 they went around Phenom Penh with loud speakers saying that the Americans were going to bomb the city and everyone must flee to the countryside. You could only take what you could carry and people believed them but those they didn't were taken away. Then over time they began rounding up any non ethic Cambodian...even if you spoke Thai of Vietnamese was enough to get you killed. The terror last almost 3 and a half years where they killed 1/5 of the Cambodia population estimates range from 800,000 to 2 million. The crazy part about all this is that it happened only 35 years ago. Another interesting fact, when the Vietnamese backed the revolutionary forced that ousted the Khmer Rouge they were not recognized by the UN. So the Khmer Rouge held the seat for Cambodia at the United Nations until 1991 operating out of Thailand or where ever else they were exiled too...pretty amazing how such a thing could happen.
So after S 21 I went and picked up my visa to Vietnam. That went relatively smoothly and biked home. Went by the Silver Pagoda and Royal Palace, beautiful from the outside but it was too late and didn't get to go inside. Almost got taken out a few times on the way home but I think after the first day I figured out how to navigate traffic where everyone kind of goes for it and hopes for the best.
That night I went out with the three Brits and 4 Finnish people who have been doing to same loop and I have become friends with. We had a good time dancing the night away on a floating boat on the Mekong River. Needless to say we didn't do much the next day just sat around and watched movies. Partly cause were hung over and partly because it was 38 Celsius in the shade...ridiculously hot.
Yesterday I had another wild adventure. The killing fields are only 15 km away from the city, or so they say so I decided I would bike there. I knew it would be hot but if I left early it would not be so bad. Well, it was still bloody hot but it was a really fun adventure. I got lost for about an hour cause I didn't turn at the right place. Once I was about 500 meter away from the killing fields the chain on my bike broke. Found some guy who helped me out and we spent the next hour trying to fix the chain. He ended up adding 2 rusty links from another chain and it worked like new...kind of. Went and saw the killing fields...not going to lie but was a little disappointed. I mean half the structures were burnt down in 1979 so it really was a few pits and a monument. I mean it was moving to see but I would highly recommend going to the prison first because you get all the information you can handle and the killing fields is just there for you to see...no real information. On my long bike ride home got kind of lost and realized that I don't have Cambodian skin and was getting torched. Stopped several places to get sun cream and finally when I did it was too late...what's new Andrew Bean beaten by the sun again. I guess I could be worrying about how cold it was going to be in February but now I have to worry about getting to sun burnt.
Last night just took it easy and ran into another British guy I met in Siem Reap on my last night...James. He left today for the coast and we will probably meet up down there so I will probably have a travel buddy for the next few days down there. It was been good but can't wait to get out of a city for a little bit. Might hit up the central market today but could easily just relax out of the sun too. Decisions decisions. Til next time.
