Saturday - Feb 27 - Travel to Siem Reap

I wake up at 5:45 AM...I want to see sunrise over Phnom Penh. What a beautiful site ...see the pictures....groups are out doing aerobic dancing...an elephant is being led down "Main Street" in front of the main Wat. After the "Killing Fields", it is great to welcome a new day.

I have a great breakfast the Foreign Correspondence Club... real French toast covered with a coconut, pineapple, bananas ...yuum and real English breakfast tea...I'm in heaven.

Head back to the hotel and we leave for Siem Reap. Although the trip appears long, it passes quickly. 1st stop - we see real spiders and crickets for sale and their fried cousins...Simon tries the crickets...I pass...two tarantulas is enough for me. Thou, our guide, buys us a selection of various fruits to eat including lotus seeds, pineapple, lichee nuts, mango, bananas and other assorted delicious local delicacies. Next we had lunch followed by a stop at a village were Hindu/Buddhist statutes are carved from granite like stone. Purchased a small Hindu statue with a 7 cobra headdress...will go well with my collection. Next we see walk across a 11th century built stone bridge and sample bamboo sticky rice ----take sticky rice and mix with beans, coconut milk and a little sugar and salt.....pack mixture into the hollow of a bamboo segment and plug the open-end with banana leaves....you know a take away lunch that provides you with all of the nutrition you need...used by their military as C-rations or the equivalent.

We arrive in Siem Reap...it is approaching 110 F...hot, hot hot.

Arrive hotel, unpack and head out for dinner. The town of Siem Reap is having an evening parade to raise funds for needy children...bands, floats and costumed marchers.....after dinner, do the Internet and head back to hotel....our visit to Angkor WAT starts tomorrow AM...a full day.

Friday PM - Feb 26 - Killing Fields

We knew it wouldn't be pretty but it was much worst than we thought. The tour involved traveling to a torture center referred as S21 - Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (a former high school that was turned into a torture center) located within the city limits and Cheuong Ek - body disposal area were tens of thousands of skeleton remains were unearth Ned.

The old high school consisted of 4 large building surrounded by electric barb wire..building A contained high value prisoners - Khmer Rouge officer and soldiers who fell out of favor with buildings B, C and D reserved for the common folk ...men, women and children. The pictures are gruesome and speak for themselves. How one human being could be so cruel to another is difficult to comprehend. What is truly disturbing is that most of those administering the torture were young kids and adults 12 - 20 years of age. We spent about 2 hours touring the buildings and viewing the pictures....see for yourself...watch the movie the "Killing Fields"...there is also a best seller titled “They Killed my Daddy" or something similar that one should read...Picture of woman is one showing her picture being taken by the Khmer Rouge...pointer at the back of the head is to keep the head still...skull map was a KR propaganda map--->this will happen to you if you don’t obey.

We left S-21 and drove about 10 miles outside of Phnom Penh and came to the "Killing Fields". Here is where the bodies of prisoners from S-21 were finally disposed of. How they died was brutal force ...no bullets..couldn't waste ammunition...crushed heads...decapitation...smashing infants against trees, etc.....80,000+ skeletonal remains were found with about 1/3 of the body pits are still untouched. The tower like building you see if full of skulls and bones ...a stupa for the victims of the Khmer Rouge. You walk down a path and a section is roped off...bone fragments are exposed by the elements...too many fragments to pick-up... it has been a terrible afternoon...one that is now seared in my memory as Auschwitz was back in 2000.

Remember, this is but one of the killing fields...as best known there are hundreds, maybe thousands, scattered throughout Cambodia.

In the pictures, you see maps which show arrows pointing from large cities to the country-side. These maps show were the urban population was forced during the hottest months of the year (April – June) to walk days...weeks before arriving at a destination and being forced to work as field hands...many, many did not make it. Our guide's parents were forced to walk 100s of miles from the their farm near the Viet Nam border to Siem Reap...people in Siem Reap were forced to relocate to other areas...the entire population was moved. Our guide told us that they were constantly on the move....if you couldn't settle down, you could not form resistance to the regime.

Back to the city…completely drained emotionally….dinner at another charitable restaurant that teaches waiter/waitress skills to the poor teenagers and assists them in finding jobs…good curry and spring rolls…good night One of the fellows ordered tarantulas and I had two since they were not to his liking....quite tasty and crunchy..... …off to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat tomorrow AM …a 8 hour drive with numerous stops…good night.

Friday AM - Feb 25 - Palace. WATS, Museum and Massage

Up at 7:30 AM, breakfast and off to the Palace, arrive at 8:30 AM. The layout is similar but not as large as the Grand Palace in Thailand. Surrounding many of the buildings is a covered wall which contains story titled "Ramayana"... the king of demons takes the wife of the prince...he gives chase with assistance from his brother and general of the monkey army...the chase extends over a period of years with different scenery and battles depicted on marvelous frescos...at the end the prince gets his wife back but must now again regain her love for him....see pictures of frescos which must be 400 ft in length and go from wall to wall and around corners. The key building in the palace area is the Throne room with a large golden throne overhung by a 7-tiered umbrella like ornament that significies the status of the king. Unfortunately no pictures are allowed inside the building...what you see are exterior shots of the Palace Complex and adjacent buildings.

Adjacent to the Palace is the famous Silver Pagoda which contains a large, large Buddha statute enhanced with over 9,000 gems of various sizes (largest is 25 carats) and an emerald Buddha that came from Sri Lanka...all very beautiful. Why the name "Silver Pagoda"...the floor is covered with solid silver floor tiles, each of which weights 2 pounds each. No pictures please so all we have is the outside buildings which are quite impressive. Complete visit at 10 AM.

Wat Ounalom is the headquarters for Buddhist education in Cambodia. The Wat is discussed in an excellent book about Cambodia and Buddhism titled "The Gods Drink Whiskey". The most senior monk, age 83 years, was executed by the Khmer Rouge in 1976 and a statue of him thrown into the river. After being driven from power, the new government recovered the statute and it sits prominently in the Wat. Little else to see...so off to the National museum.

The museum is a large red building, similar to a Smithsonian brick museum, with a grand garden in the middle. It consists of 4 large displays rooms which are interconnected. Artifacts go back to the 600 AD period and move forward in time from room to room. What caught my attention is that Brahmanism --->Hinduism---->Buddhism religions moved from to the other but are still today woven together. Cambodia was Theravada Buddhist, back to Hinduism, next Mahayana Buddhism and finally reverted back to Theravada Buddhist..... all in a period of 2 centuries. Silver icons, stone sculptors and maps provide an informative historical view of how Cambodia culture and religion advanced...no pictures except of the buildings exterior. It's 11:15 AM and still much to do.

Take a tuk-tuk to Wat Phnom which sits at top a man made hill of about 125 ft. The story goes that a wealthy Cambodian woman named Madame Pehn was walking along the river when she came across a large downed tree floating in the river. She has workers remove the tree and inside were 4 Buddha statues. Being wealthy and religious, she had a hill built with a Wat on top which housed the Buddha statues. Phnom = Hill and Penh is the name of the woman...and so you now know the origin of the name Phnom Penh. Not be disrespectful, we have seen so many Wats that this one is significant due to its history...see the pictures...the Wat is at the top of the hill with Naga..large snake like objects guarding the stairs leading to the top.

It is now 11:45 AM...I go for a massage...not just a massage but a massage at the "Seeing Hands Massage"...massages done my blind masseuse...she did a great job...not as good as Thai but after a busy morning, it felt great. See picture of my masseuse and me.

Take a tuk-tuk back to the hotel, grab a quick sandwich and ready for the "Killing Fields" tour.

Thursday - Feb 25 - Phnom Pehn - First Impression

We arrived at the bus station which is a hub of activity and get transported to the hotel. Like all of our accommodations, the hotel is clean, comfortable, has a safe for storage of valuables but a walk-up to our room...room #404...wheew. It feels like late July in Northern Virginia...hot and sticky. We will be here for 2 nights and 1 day---too short a period of time.

I love Phnom Penh already....little traffic noise, all attractions are nearby, costs are reasonable and people appear friendly. An interesting fact...the ATMs dispense US$ and not Cambodian Riels. All prices are quoted in US$...if the price is $6.25...and you use a $10 bill...your change is $3US and the remainder in riel. 4,000+riel = $1US.

We take a motor-cycle tuk-tuk ride to become familiar with the area. I have dinner with Charlie and Frances and head off to the Foreign Correspondence Club which has $1 mugs of draft beer and overlooks Toulo Sap River. What a nice way to spend an hour and cool down. As I am heading back to the hotel, I come across a group of people line dancing and having a great time....see picture...temp down to 75F but sticky.

Go to bed early since tomorrow is a big day since it is the only time we have to see the sites. I want to see the King's Palace, Silver Pagoda, Wat Ounalow, National Museum, Wat Phnom and have a massage...all by 1 PM. At 1:30 PM we are scheduled to visit S21 - Tual Sheng Genocide Museum (a converted high school which became Khmer Rouge torture center) and Cheuong Ek killing fields where 10,000s of thousands of skeletonal remains were unearthed.

Thursday - Feb 25 - Leaving Viet Nam - Hello Cambodia

We board a public bus which is carrying about 40 pasengers from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The trip is expected to take 6 hours so we should arrive about 3 PM. The bus is very comfortable, has A/C and a clean toilet, a subtitled movie to watch and we are provided with a small bottle of water and box breakfast/lunch....the cost if you were to book this yourself would be $12US. One big advantage of taking this trip with Intrepid is the experience of using various forms of transportation ...boat, train, bus, private van and plane...we see more of the country side, meet local people and learn how to travel independently in the future.

It takes about 2 hours to reach the Viet Nam/Cambodia border. We unload our baggage and it is scanned, Viet Nam customs check our passports and stamp our passports as having exited Viet Nam. Bags go back onto the bus and we enter Cambodia. Cambodia customs issues visas for $25...I acquired my visa at the Cambodian embassy in Washington, DC so I pass right through and have visa stamped. Reload bags onto the bus as we head for Phnom Penh. The trip takes an additional 4 hours partially due to having to take a ferry to cross the South Mekong river. We arrive right on time...it is hot, hot hot...about 90 F. Pictures of some of what I saw during the bus trip.

Thursday - Feb 25 - Adjusting to Reality

We will be leaving Viet Nam shortly. We have spent 12 days/nights and have enjoyed ourselves. An incident happened 2 days ago brings home a reality that all of us are going to have to face when we come home. That challenge will be what we pay for our food, our beer, our everything when we come home.

In Lao, we had 8,000+ kip / US$ while in Viet Nam it was 18,500 dong/US$. In Cambodia, the exchange rate is 4,000+ riel/US$. Now pretend that you have a beer in Hanoi and the bill is 10,000 dong...wooow...10,000 of anything is a big number. After putting on your thinking hat, you realize that bottle of good beer cost you about $0.60. You go to a more expensive restaurant and the same bottle of beer is 25,000 dong...what a rip off...$1.40 for that same bottle. Everything is inexpensive from beers to meals to tours to tipping to......

A couple in our group went to the top of the Rex hotel to see this beautiful hotel and experience its ambiance. They paid 155,000 dong for 2 beers and were enraged....what a rip off. But think about it....is paying under $10 US for 2 beers at a ritzy 5* hotel really a rip-off, I don't think so. Another couple went to a nice restaurant and paid over 1,00,000 dong for their sumptuous meal and were quite pleased with the whole experience. They especially liked for their evening's meal.

I know all of you are concerned about my ability to adjust to this dilemma when I get home. It is going to be hard but I look forward to the challenge...traveling is great but sometimes it is difficult. Reality is always a challenge.... :>}...Tom

Wednesday - Feb 24 - Lunch at the Rex Hotel

The Rex hotel gained fame during the American Vietnam War as a planning center and watering hole for the US and ally personnel ...diplomats, military and news organizations. It is often featured in novels written about this era.

Today, the Rex is a 5* hotel. Four of us went to the roof garden for lunch - 1 beer and a Rex Burger cost a total of $18 US...quite a treat. Photos show the outside and roof garden restaurant.


Tomorrow at 8 AM we board a public bus that will take us to the the Cambodian capital of Phom Phen. Next time we meet, I'll be in Cambodia with only six days left in our trip...cheerio...Tom