Visiting Phnom Penh is a CAPITAL idea!
And now for something tragically different...
Cambodia's capital city, Phnom Penh, took me on an unexpectedly powerful emotional journey. I spent just over two full days there which were in complete contrast to one another - Day One had me weeping like an inconsolable baby who has lost its pacifier whereas Day Two had me giggling like someone who had inhaled too much nitrous oxide (aka "laughing gas" which IS available for bargain basement prices in Southeast Asia). Forgettable it was decidedly NOT.
I stayed, once again, in a mixed gender dorm room at the (highly recommended and socially advantageous) Mad Monkey Hostel, located within walking distance of a number of the city's tourist attractions and a short tuk-tuk ride away from everything else.
I was fortunate, on that first evening (full of non-stop laughs listening to tales of getting drunk and then ending up naked...IN PUBLIC) to befriend a couple of my dorm mates who then joined me the following morning in hiring a tuk-tuk driver (15,000 kat) to take us on a tour of the city's most notorious "attractions" - the Tuol Sleng Museum (aka Security Prison 21) and the nearby "Killing Fields" of Choeung Ek.
Our first stop was the former Tuol Svay Prey High School, which was taken over in 1975 by Pol Pot's security forces and turned into a detention/interrogation centre and renamed Security Prison 21. For the next 4 years under the Khmer Rouge regime, some 20,000 prisoners were detained and sadistically tortured there and, like the Nazis, the Khmer kept meticulous records of the gruesome goings on. When the Vietnamese army arrived in 1979 to liberate Phnom Penh, only 7 surviving prisoners were found there; the rest had lost their lives either in one of the "torture chambers"/cells on the premises or were driven under cover of night to the nearby killing fields.
Touring this facility took an incredible toll on my heart. There are hundreds of photographs displayed of the men, women and (even) children who were detained there and as I walked along staring deeply into their haunting eyes, I was overcome by the knowledge that each and every one of them had been murdered. In some of the photos, the people are smiling innocently, whereas in others the faces look entirely blank, i.e. void of emotion. But the absolute worst ones are the photos where it is clear from their eyes that they know their fate, i.e. they realize they are doomed. I couldn't help but quietly weep as I shuffled along past these depressing display cases. Like most people, I find it incredibly difficult to fathom how such evil can be perpetuated and for what?!!? Power, politics, religion, ignorance...ugh. How many times must history repeat itself?!
As I mentioned earlier, the majority of those detained at Security Prison 21 were then executed at the killing fields of Choeung Ek, some 14km southwest of Phnom Penh, which was our second destination that day. Mass graves containing hundreds of corpses were discovered there in the years immediately following the downfall of the Khmer Rouge and a memorial stupa was later built on the premises which houses the skulls of 8000 victims and huge piles of tattered clothing and bone fragments. I was informed (via the audiotape one can rent there) that to mask the sound of people crying out as they were executed, the Khmer would play patriotic speeches over loudspeakers and continuously run the engines of heavy duty machinery. All in order to keep those waiting in the trucks from realizing what was about to transpire.
Apparently, during the rainy season, bones and other scraps of clothing continue to surface in the mud surrounding the grisly death pits. As a result, it is nearly impossible to avoid walking around these graves without accidentally trodding upon a stray bone or shredded item of clothing. I am NOT exaggerating, folks. Yuck. But the most despicable sight at Choeung Ek has to be the "killing tree", i.e. a tree where babies were killed by smashing them against it with brute force before being dumped unceremoniously into the pits. I also learned that whole families were killed by the Khmer specifically so that the children would not seek revenge later on.
I am sorry to say that I experienced a moment of extreme distaste (disgust?) during the few minutes in which I spent silently walking around the interior of the memorial stupa and staring at all...those...skulls...for a ginormous group of Cambodian university students had arrived only moments before I entered. The thing which made me feel perilously close to vomiting was the fact that these LOCALS did not seem to grasp what they were looking at, so rather than paying respect to those thousands who had been cruely snuffed out by remaining silent, instead they stopped and posed for photographs with themselves smiling in front of the skulls as if it were the Grand Canyon, Big Ben, or some other friggin' major tourist attraction! And I suppose it wouldn't have bothered me nearly so much if I hadn't learned that they were from Cambodia. I.just.didn't.get.it. And I still don't, as I am writing this weeks later. Was it just that their brains could not compute the somber significance of the place? Or was it simply that they did not feel any emotional connection to the genocide? I wish I had had the chance to discuss this with a Cambodian who might have been able to explain how the younger generation, born in the subsequent decades, have come to grips with their country's recent horrid past. As for me? I don't get it and it bothers me...
Enough of the morbid though and allow me to share what I saw/experienced on my second day in Phnom Penh!
My first stop of the day was the Royal Palace, home to the "Silver Pagoda." I would like to say that I was thoroughly blown away by the splendour and opulence of the palace, but unfortunately a number of the buildings were temporarily closed for some reason that was never explained. However, I still enjoyed what I did see, particularly the silver pagoda whose floor, in one section, is covered with 5000 gorgeous silver tiles, each weighing apparently 1 kilogram. There is also an emerald Buddha housed in the temple which is almost as impressive as the one located at Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok. Almost, but not quite, hee hee.
Once I had had my fill of the palace grounds, I decided to have a sit down at the Empress Cafe, located just across the road from the palace. It might have had something to do with the fact that their sign advertised "Free WiFi", but then again, maybe not... Once comfortably ensconced in my seat and sipping contentedly on a cappuccino, I whipped out my iPhone to check my email and listen to some tunes. It was then that I noticed a young girl seated at the table next to mine who appeared to be transfixed with my iPhone so I decided to share my headphones with her, allowing her to listen in with me to some of my music. I discovered, much to my delight, that she was a huge fan of "Glee" and even knew the majority of the words to the song, "(I've Had the) Time of my Life." Naturally, I encouraged her to sing with me so for the next few minutes we enthusiastically performed a Glee medley together and by the end of it, I was ready to adopt her and start our very own Karoake Club devoted to all things Glee. Alas, kidnapping or an illegally-brokered adoption were out of the question, so I had to settle for a couple of photos of myself with my duet partner. Note to self: must work on suppressing maternalist urges whilst traveling through Southeast Asia where the children are so exceptionally cute & cuddly...
In the afternoon, I took a leisurely stroll along the riverfront, occasionally stopping to photograph whatever sights and citizens took my fancy, ultimately ending up at the Night Market (but during the day-Doh!) where I paid the exorbitant amount of $2.00 to get a manicure/pedicure. My pampered feet then led me to Wat Phrom, an incense-infused temple which sits atop a 27m hill (apparently this is Phnom Penh's highest point). The weather during my afternoon stroll was divine and it felt as if the sun was gently kissing me all over my face, leaving a rosy imprint upon my skin. A delectable Indian meal followed at a restaurant owned by a family from Pokhara, Nepal (Been there, done that!), and I capped off the day by returning to my hostel, once again, along the waterfront. However, as it was rapidly approaching 5 PM, the sunlight along the riverfront had turned an absolutely exquisite golden and it seemed as if all of the city had turned up in order to enjoy the waning minutes of daylight. I spotted people doing numerous physical pursuits as well such as jogging, power walking, skate boarding, dancing, and playing hacky sack. The Phnom Penh general populace most definitely seem to have gotten the Arnold Schwarzenegger memo on the importance of maintaining one's physical fitness.
That last evening I spent a few delightful hours chatting at the Mad Monkey Hostel with two Portugese men from Porto-childhood friends who knew each other so well that they would sometimes finish each other's sentences. I particularly enjoyed the playful ribbing that they engaged in and it made me wish (for something like the gazillionth time) that I had a brother.
Adios, Phnom Penh, and muchas gracias for the emotional smorgasbord you served me on a silver (Budda) platter during my sojourn within your city limits. I, most definitely, will not shake the imprint you left upon my heart anytime soon..
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