Temples Day 1

You can't beat a breakfast buffet, which is what we woke up to today. We then sorted out our tuk-tuk driver, explained our ideal itinerary, got water ready, and then we were off. 

Now this is the most temple rich area in the world as successive Khmer dynasties sought to outbuild their devotion to their Buddhist/Hindu reverence (and national security) of the previous god-king. My guidebook suggested starting with the earlier temples to see the progression of Khmer architecture and art. So our first day started with the Grand Tour. Our driver (whom I heard him say his name was Juan, but I'm sure it was more like Won) took us out to first buy our tickets. 

We call these our 'thug shots.' They didn't tell us at all when the picture was being taken, so we just stood there smugly until they told us to move. Great pictoral evidence of zero directions. 

Finally, we were off to our first stop, Preah Khan. This temple had amazing symmetry in a plus shape facing the four cardinal directions. Three were equal (representing Hinduism) and the western entrance was unequal (representing Buddhism). 

(Notice how the passageway perfectly leads out.)

This was our first site at the consistent framing design around widows and doors. 

And also meeting our first aspara, the celestial dancers awaiting Khmerian heroes on the afterlife.  

Meredith found a headless Hindu diety and kindly substituted what was missing. 

This being an older temple of the Khmer Empire, nature too took back its claim on the territory. 

After one of our pictures, we were stopped by a guard to point out a better shot. In fact, he posed us and took the picture for us. He's good!

He then followed the professional shot with a hands together short bow saying, "Thank you, lady, sir. Good luck to you. Please, sir, tip for picture. Safe travels to you. Thank you. Please, sir, just small tip. Enjoy your travel. Please, sir." 

It was a good shot, so I followed with whatever riel I had. 

"Please, sir. This is 2,000 riel. Only 50¢. Please, sir. (Hands still together.) Have good travels. Thank you."

This guy was a pro. 

So I dug out a $1 bill and he was more content. 

We wandered around a bit more of the ruins. 

Then we made our way out to our tuk tuk and onto the next temple. 

Next up was Preah Neak Poan. This was a royal bathing area. 

Some of it had (obviously) dried up which Mer took a little too seriously. 

It was a fast stop, so we were quickly onto Ta Som. It was here we got caught in another round of Cambodian rain. Someone in this group is quite averse to being wet. 

But we would not be deterred. Ta Som had our first bas-relief of a face to greet current visitors and scare ancient Khmerians into submission. 

This temple, too, faced forest reclamation   

Luckily, the rain subsided for our next stop, East Mebon. This site had a steady climb up three levels. Most of the roofs had fallen, but it was spectacularly level at each rise. 

You can also see the spectacular towers behind us (and the newly blue sky). There were some good doorway photos here too. 

It was also about this time our selfie stick started to malfunction. First, it wouldn't work when pressing the button. Then it would take 17 successive shots of the ground, or catch me making an angry, annoyed face as I pulled it in to fix it. 

Arg!

We made it to our next temple that we didn't quite catch the name of. We tried to take a picture of the name to remember, but this one was unmarked and I could understand the name from Won (maybe Ish Won Preadeau). This one had quite the climb of stairs. 

The rain also started once again. We took some more pictures and then headed for the tuk tuk. 

At this point, we were hungry around midday and thought a downpour would be a great time to feed ourselves. So our driver, Won, took us to a restaurant. Unfortunately, restaurants in the temple area has a rather captive audience and their prices reflected it. Regardless, we enjoyed the chicken fried rice and beef and noodles. 

I did take note of a funny menu quirk at this restaurant. All dishes were listed in Khmer, English, and Mandarin, but why was dish #67 lacking an English name? 

Our rain luck did not continue after lunch. So, we got our ponchos on and continued to Banteay Kdei. 

Mer enjoyed the framed doorways. 

I tried shaking my fist at the rain. 

Sometimes the temples responded in kind. 

Our last stop was just across the way, Sras Sarang. This was another royal pool for doing what royalty do in pools. 

At this point, our Grand Circuit ended just as we were running out of steam. Won took us back in the tuk-tuk to Siem Reap and our Boutique Hotel. 

We showered. I napped. And then we got ready for our show. We had earlier noticed a dinner and Aspara dance show advertised in our hotel lobby, so we signed up and got another tuk-tuk there. 

Dinner was a buffet of many Khmer dishes (appetizers, salad, mains, and desserts) with some Western plates available too. 

Mer got her dragonfruit. 

We sat next to a Welsh girl and her grandmother who kindly took our photo. 

Mer tried to convince them to try the Asian desserts. You put shaved ice at the bottom of a bowl and then put this on top. 

Maybe it was sweet. Maybe it was coconut milk. Maybe the floaters were small animals' former eyes. Who could say?

Then the show started. We were quite far back, but we got the idea. They danced much like depicted in the temples bas-reliefs. 

And then a dance with many aspara concluded the hour long show. 

The conclusion featured a chance to go on stage for a photo with them, but we were too busy talking to our Welsh table neighbors. 

We made our way back to the street and hailed another tuk-tuk. They brought us back to our hotel and we promptly headed to bed. We wanted an early start to the Small Circuit, but heavy hitters. Although we eventually decided against the 4:30 am sunrise start, we wanted to beat the crowds in the early morning to Angkor Wat. 

The Road to Siem Reap

Today we're off to Siem Reap. It's the base city for visiting the Angkor temples, one of the 7th Wonders of the Ancient World. These temples peaked my interest in Southeast Asia which evolved into this trip. 

I'm also excited for the boutique hotel we'll be staying at the next 3 nights!! After the past few hostel experiences, I'm craving what I call are "clean corners." That's where our room has clean corners and the floor is dirt free. Our place in Phnom Penh had ants crawling in the bathroom, one towel, and a hair ball on the floor that was not ours. I'm not in my 20's backpacking and I'm sometimes my desire for comfort overpowers my frugal nature. And when I say splurge, this is a three star hotel & we'll be paying $70-for all 3 nights, including breakfast. As you can tell, we're breaking the bank $$$$$!!

The bus to Siem Reap...oh boy. Not as bad as our Bolivia experience from summer 2014, but by far our worst thus far. We could purchase $6/$7/$9 tickets from our hostel to Siem Reap. They said the $9 was VIP & thus "more direct" and with bigger seats. For $2, I figured we'd be OK-buses haven't been circuitous this far. The ride is supposed to be 6-8 hours, most buses have arrived early, so I thought leave at 8:30am, we'd be in Siem Reap by 3pm which would give us time to explore the city & get a game plan for the temples by sitting poolside (I told you I splurged).

The bus was 45 minutes late picking us up this morning. When we got on the bus, it was certainly a second world bus-seats were broken, floor was dirty. This was no tourist bus. And there is a group of gap year students aboard. They are English speakers so their constant chatter has kept me awake on the journey. There is a TV playing Cambodian music videos-on repeat. My goal was to catch up on sleep as I'm not feeling well-that didn't happen.

The chatty gap year kids were the least of our problems. This bus has stopped every hour for the first 4 hours. We picked up one guy who loaded 7 boxes to the back of the bus. We stopped for the bathroom and then took lunch at 11am. We stopped to fill up a tire with air. Chris was able to track us and by 1pm we wern't even 1/2 way there. 😧

Then there was the tire that blew. We're cruising down the road, there was a pop and we were riding on metal-back right. Guess that's why our driver stopped earlier to put air in it. We pulled off the side of the road & every male filled off the bus-foreign & domestic. Chris took photos while I stayed on the bus & took advantage of the non-moving bus to blog and read. Twenty minutes later we were back in the road. 

Our journey to Siem Reap was a full 8 hours. We were dropped off far outside of town, again. Thankfully the boutique hotel has free transfers and we had a tuktuk waiting. For the second time someone was waiting with a sign with Chris' name on it. He's going to think he is hot stuff after this trip. 

Again, we were thankful for the tuktuk as our ride was 10 minutes into town and it was raining. I scouted our places to get our laundry done & took in the sights.  I gazed in awe as to how this non-organized traffic works. I think the key is the lower speeds at which vehicles travel. We arrived at Tanei Botique Villa-the driver took in my bag and we were served juice on arrival. The place felt like an oasis in the midst of rain & a busy city. 

I must admit, I had alterior motives with our nice hotel. I wanted a place where we could find an English speaking tuktuk driver for visiting the temples. I read a blog which talked about how good their tuktuk driver was and how much insight he provided. I wanted a good tuktuk driver for our time in Siem Reap & I thought this botique hotel could provide us with one. I'd read about paying $18 for a driver for the day. Our hotel had no such offers-we read their tour information sheet & headed to our room. My alterior motives dashed. 

Check out this swank. Real flowers, folks. This is what $21 in Cambodia can buy. I still have to take the toilet paper out of the bathroom each time I shower, but I feel like I'm in luxury and the blanket is in a duvet cover. I'm pleased as punch with the location and it's certainly an oasis. 

Dinner was EXCELLENT. I had fish amok and Chris had sweet potato with chicken oven something or other at Khmer Kitchen Restaurant. The staff was friendly. Great English, and meals were just $5 (including rice). I'd like to take home the recepie for fish amok-it's like fish curry over rice. I couldn't finish my meal & was stuffed. 

Our restaurant opened to the Angkor night market. I was in search of a frog. This market has a lot of t-shirts and elephant pants, lots of massages and oil paintings. Since it was our first night (and we still have to carry on our backs whatever we buy), we just browsed. Once again, I enjoyed being in a tourist town.

Chris was cracking me up. He is genuinely interested in things-be it a painting, sayings on a shirt, a figurine. He'll wonder about it & touch it-to look at some aspect. That's all a shopkeeper needs to tell you the price. Chris isn't interested, shopkeeper starts to bargain. He walks away, they keep taking about said item-or offers another item. He had one woman on his heals, about 18" away from him, following him throughout the store trying to sell him the hammock he touched. This happened 3 times and we had the "don't touch" conversation. I was cracking up-because this is just so classic Chris. He wonders about things, oblivious to the implication. I'm still chuckling about him as I write this-because I've seen him do it again & again. And he'll probably do it 3 more times before this trip is over. These are the quirky traits that are endearing in a marriage. 

His "touchy" hands did find a frog. A little metal one-but only $1, we bought it. There is a toad that we keep seeing, but it is so ugly I cannot add him to my collection (besides, it's a toad, not a frog). We saw a silver frog for $8 and she offered $5 as we walked away. I'm still thinking about it, so something tells me we'll be going back. I'm going to start at $3 and hope to pay $4.  

Tomorrow we'll head to the temples-which is a bucket list item for me. Let's hope this botique villa lives up to expectations & I can get a good night sleep. 

The Cambodian Genocide

WARNING- THIS POST CONTAINS TRAGIC DETAILS OF HUMAN SUFFERING

We saw two museums today and simply reading the details proved overwhelming to go along with the audio guide and stunning visuals of photos and actual remnants of carnage. After the first museum, I wanted to weep. By the end of the second, I just plodded through with sad desensitivity. I knew I needed to write to process out what I saw here. 

Which leads to the second warning: This post may be a bit on the long side. 

Now I only had ever heard about Pol Pot from an Eddie Izzard stand up routine in the early 2000's. I had never heard about the massacres that occurred here nor gone much beyond that since. I was eager to be more informed of this tragic and horrible time. 

First, a brief history (or, this story teller's best attempt at brevity). In the 1970's, communism was spreading throughout SE Asia. The US (and international attention) was preoccupied with Vietnam to the east (but dropping bombs in Cambodia along the Ho Chi Minh trail driving rural dwellers to the major cities). Meanwhile, the former king and current prime minister was ejected by a military coup and the populace grew weary of elistist regimes. A communist movement developed among the rural areas that ethnic Khmers started taking up arms in a civil war. The movement was dubbed the Khmer Rouge (Red for communism). They finally entered Phnom Penh victoriously, with Pol Pot leading, in April of 1975 to the cheers of many for the end of civil strife. Little did everyone know that this new wave immediately set out to reorganize society as an agrarian peasantry of equals banishing all forms of religion, money, education, and ancient Khmer tradition. Devotion was only to Angkar, meaning the "organization," or the regime. The urban areas were immediately emptied for people to work meagerly in fields in attempts to triple rice production. Families were split to separate areas. The educated, doctors, lawyers, and teachers were all rounded up under suspicion and jailed. Enemies of the state were everywhere. And the largely teenage army of uneducated soldiers of the Khmer Rouge were trained on methods to maintain order through fear and intimidation. They really knew no better. The regime held this terror for 3 years and 8 months until Vietnamese and defected Cambodian troops retook Phnom Penh. That's when the horrors of our visit were discovered. 

Now, we technically did the tours out of order. The Khmer Rouge first brought enemies of the state to Tuol Sleng, Security Prison 21, or S21. There, prisoners were subjected to deplorable conditions and then regularly tortured to pry confessions of guilt and wrongdoing. After the prisoners signed their confessions they were trucked out at night to our first stop, the Choeung Ek Genocidal Museum. 

Originally, there were Chinese farmers that had lived in this area about 45 minutes south of Phnom Penh. The site was natural since it was already being used as a cemetery for the local Chinese. 

But the Khmer Rouge transformed this area by putting up a fence and buildings so people in the area thought it was a training facility or meeting space. 

We started by paying the price of admission, collecting our audio guide and pamphlet, and then getting started. 

The memorial stupa was immediately at the entrance. But we decided to save it for last. 

The first few stops acknowledged buildings that were no longer there (after the regime fled, desperate locals tore apart the buildings to construct their own new dwellings.) First was the truck stop where prisoners were unloaded. Typically shackled together, blindfolded, and wearing little more than shorts they were unloaded after being told back at S21 they were being transferred to a nicer house. At the beginning in 1975, they were executed that same night. But by later years, there were so many prisoners that many had to be stored in the "Dark and Gloomy Detention" until the next night. More buildings were talked about, but were no longer there like the office, the chemical storage building, and the killing tools shed. Then we arrived at the first mass grave. 

WARNING - GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION

Prisoners were then dragged out naked to the top of the ridge of a grave previously dug. There they were bludgeoned with poles, hammers, axes, hooks, bayonets, or knives. You see, bullets were too expensive and loud. These tools were used to keep it simple. But what about the screams and sounds of violence, you ask? That was taken care of by blasting regime music and messages over speakers to drive the executioners on and muffle the terror of the murdered. 

This tree was called the Magic Tree because of its similarities to one the first Buddha might have sat and meditated under and achieved nirvana. But this magic tree was used to hang the speakers that projected the Khmer Rouge's propaganda pieces and silence the horror happening nearby. 

After all the killing was done for the night, DDT was then spread over the pile of bodies to a) finish off anyone not done in by blunt force trauma and b) cover up the smell. The workers then filled in the remaining grave with dirt and then moved onto digging the next gravesite. In later years of 78-79, less time was taken as the number of prisoners increased exponentially. They were killed still clothed and no chemicals were added. 

The mass grave sites were difficult beyond sheer atrocity. The first one had unearthed 450 victims. Another had 166 victims, all headless. It was thought that these were former Khmer Rouge members who were traitors or even just accused of treason. Toward 1978, Pol Pot grew very paranoid and even ordered senior members to be executed. 

The hardest mass grave was that of the women and children. The women were found naked. And the children were smashed up against a tree. 

When the Vietnamese liberators came here, this tree still bore the signs of innocent murder having blood, hair, and even brains stuck to the bark. Why kill innocent children? A Khmer Rouge saying I heard more than a few times on the audio tours was, "to eliminate a weed, you must pull out even the roots." If the children were allowed to live, they may come back for revenge when they are older. Another regime saying, "Better to kill an innocent by mistake, than to spare an enemy by mistake."

By this time, I held back tears. How could there be so many people in the world trying to do good, yet this was allowed to go on for nearly 4 years? How could a disaffected youth be so corrupted to murder his own people in such a horrific way? How could power so poison the minds of so many that they could surrender their humanity in such a short time?

But it wasn't over yet. First, these mass graves were only the ones they had exhumed. Many had already burst open naturally from stored up gases while rains and erosion brought other bones to the surface in the 80's. Yet there was an entire lake that emptied and filled depending upon the rainy season. 

Here, it was decided, the dead needed to remain at peace. No excavations would be done. Nearly 8,000 skulls had already been collected. No more were needed to be disturbed. 

The chilling horror got to me. There were rather matter-of-fact signs all around. 

These signs accompanied actual bone and clothing remnants that I will not show here. Additionally, people had left money and bracelets near the mass graves and the killing tree. 

Finally, I exited to the memorial stupa. It was built in 1988 to honor all those who perished here. Initially, all the skulls, jawbones, long bones, and teeth were collected in a tent. They were then placed inside the memorial stupa once it was built. I could have purchased flowers to lay or incense to burn. I had to remove my shoes in order to enter. 

If you look closely, you can see the skulls in the windows. Inside, they're all organized by ages, gender, and evidence of type of death. I won't show those pictures here, but can make them available upon request. While traumatic, I felt it was important to see exactly what happened here. 

Also, our audio guide did an excellent job of explaining the significance of the architecture. First were the Garuda. 

These ancient steeds of Hindu gods were part bird, part lion, and part human. They held up the four corners. On the top at each corner were the Nagas. 

These were dragon-like serpents that were the ancient ancestors of the Khmer people. Normally, the Garuda and Nagas are natural enemies. But their presence here together signifies eternal peace. This stupa was designed to bring peace in death to those that did not have it on life. 

I hope this writing conveys the same weight I felt upon leaving. We heavily walked back to our tuk tuk driver and took the bumpy road back toward town. The next stop was Tuol Sleng Security Prison 21. 

Meredith and I had barely begun to decompress during the twenty minute ride when we arrived. 

Once again we paid our admission and then were handed our audio guides and pamphlet. Then the tour began. 

Again, a historical primer. Before the Khmer Rouge this building was Tuol Svay Prey High School (Tuol Sleng was actually the name of a nearby Primary School.) Once the Khmer Rouge came, they ejected all the city dwellers of Phnom Penh and abolished all traditional education. This school, consisting of four buildings of classrooms around a courtyard, was then converted into a security prison. 

First, as we entered, were 14 graves of the last victims here. As the Khmer Rouge fled amid the sounds of the invading Vietnamese forces, the last prisoners being interrogated were hastily executed. They were given a burial in the courtyard once S21 was liberated. 

The first building then used classrooms as individual interrogation and torture rooms. There was a a metal bed in the middle that prisoners were chained to along with a box for excrement. When the Vietnamese came, this is where the last 14 victims were found. There were pictures on the wall that showed them as they were found. (Besides not allowing photography here, the photos were too graphic to display on this blog)

We then followed around to a large wooden frame that was about 15 feet high. Previously, it was used as a climbing course for the attending high school students. At the prison, it was used to string up prisoners upside down that were tied at the junction of where their wrists and ankles were bound until they passed out. Then their heads were dunked in an urn of human excrement (from the boxes) and water to shock them back to contiousness. Then the process was repeated again. 

The next building was a mass detention center. Hooks on the floor showed where foot shackles attached and up to 60 or so naked or nearly naked prisoners could be locked up at once. Every night, several were taken out and never returned (Choeung Ek Killing Fields). 

The 3rd and 4th buildings were the individual cells themselves. Each classroom held about 8 cells on each side made of either haphazard brick and mortar or actual wooden cells. Each had a hook for the foot shackle and the box and a bottle for human waste. (If they were not used, guards made prisoners lick the floor until it was clean) Many of the later exhibits had these walls removed, but their mortar bases were still present. 

You can see each cell was about 5' by 3' and prisoners were not allowed to stand up. In fact, if they moved and their chains made noise, they were beaten for the noise. Often, these prisoners were taken out for beating and torture 2 and 3 times a day. They were fed about four spoonfuls of porridge twice a day where some later admitted that one could count the individual rice in each bowl. These were prisoners who were already brought here after meager rations served in the countryside after 12 or more hours of back-breaking work. They were malnourished before their arrival and only made more so once imprisoned. 

The purpose of this prison was to get the people to confess their crimes (real or imagined) against Angkar, write them down and sign them, and then ship them off to the Killing Field for extermination. Almost 17,000 people were processed this way. 

Shocking too was the detail the regime took to document everyone who passed through S21. Pictures were taken of each person upon arrival and given a number. This was attached to their file along with the signed confession. Later, lists were made of prisoners trucked off for execution and then those lists were cross-checked prior to leading them out to be hacked to their death. 

Also at play within the prison and the killing field was how another Khmer Rouge saying played out: "To keep you is no gain. To lose you, no loss." Many times, guards would torture prisoners to the point of 'premature' death. All executions had to be signed off on after their confessions. If a jailer accidentally killed a prisoner before his time, his death was photographed (again, on display) and then that jailer would often become the jailed. As paranoia grew within the ranks, suspected traitors became the victims of their own crimes. One senior member of Khmer Rouge had in his confession, "If Angkar suspects even Angkar, who will be left to run it?"

Halfway through our visit to S21, storm clouds rolled in. The rush of winds prior to the rain rocked the palm trees in the courtyard sending brown branches crashing to the ground. Then the darkness and heavy rainfall set in for the afternoon. It made our wanderings through the cells and imprisonments particularly ominous. 

There were additional exhibits as well that showed the forced marriages under the Khmer Rouge that diverted so grandly from Khmer traditions that the women and many men felt it so unorthodox, notwithstanding the many abuses and rapes that occurred, that many fell apart during or just after the regime fled. Although, there was a touching display of a couple that chose to marry again under traditional ceremonies years after being forced together. 

Another exhibit showed the leaders of the Khmer Rouge. A few were betrayed during their reign. Many escaped to the jungles and continued guerilla conflict through the 80's and onto the 90's. Some died in the struggle, including the leader Pol Pot, who died under house arrest. However, there were 4 members still alive. One, the leader of S21 who signed off on each execution, was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Upon his appeal it was extended to life. Three other members have yet to face their trial. 

Upon exiting, I took a picture of the memorial in the courtyard. 

Surrounding this memorial were the names of all the people that had been here, thanks to the Khmer Rouge's meticulous records. 

This was just one of many. 

After the onset of rain, we were happy to see our tuk-tuk driver ready. He was in a poncho and the rest of the cart had pull down plastic sides that zip at the entrance. Our ride back to town was mostly dry despite the downpour. 

Now, I can't end this post here. It was a heavy, hard day. Our hosts at the hostel asked us how our day was upon our return. How were we to respond? I only said it was a hard day where we learned a lot. 

Our tale of our initial tuk-tuk ride was a bit better. Our hostel found a driver for us that morning for $15 for the whole day. As we rode out, we found the usefulness of the many face masks people use for the dust and pollution. We improvised. 

As we neared the Killing Fields, the road was under construction. Not closed, mind you, just wholly under a resurfacing of the dirt. While the large resurfacer was

at work, bikes kept zipping past from every side. Our tuk-tuk waited patiently for it to clear 

I really came to admire the one worker on the ground. He tried to limit the bikes passing while the machine did its work. He was racing around trying to guide the paver and stop the traffic. 

It felt like my job as a teacher. Everyone is zipping by at different ability levels and speeds as I help them with systems built for all and to make a level place for all to use and prosper. It's really hard to build something while so many whip through with their own rules and different expectations. 

Eventually, we were allowed to pass until our carriage got stuck in loose dirt. I hopped and began to push while others came to help out. Mer had to get out too, but neither of us got a photo. It would have been a great shot. 

On a related note, as we left the Killing Fields, the street was perfectly level as if no problem had existed earlier that morning.