S-21
Monks at ceremony
The next day in Siem Reap we went to Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. Hired a tuk-tuk for the day for a whopping $15. Good thing we had the driver because there's no way we could walk to each temple sight. There's the option of a 1 day, 3 day or 7 day pass. At first, I thought why would you need a 7 day pass? It became clear as the day ended and we hadn't even seen every temple. Angkor wat is the largest and most recognizable. Ta Prohm is the one that was in Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider. We stumbled upon a buddist ceremony and watched as they chanted together and carried a flag to the top of the temple. Later we had a few cold Anchors (local beer) and walked to the top of a temple for the sunset. Exhausting but amazing day.
The next day I was once again awaken by 5 roosters crowing at 4am. Not a stellar start when it's a travel day. Took a minivan for $10 to Phenom Phen, a 5 hour journey, and met up with Matt- the 'littlest' brother who is 6'10''. He's an instant celebrity with the average height of a Cambodian man being 5'0''. Amazing hotel- Eureka Villas- definitely recommend it. We walked around the city and toured the Royal Palace for a shocking $6.25 entry fee. Later we had dinner on the Riverfront whilst being harrassed by the local kids to buy things from them. The kids are so street-smart with a quick wit and smartass comebacks. I ended up buying 2 lonely planet books and a memoir of the Khemer Rouge for a total of $14. There isn't a lot of bartering, but with prices as low as they are, can you blame them? Most meals have cost between $2 and $5 with pitchers of beer going for $2.75.
Day 4- History Lesson
We went to the S21 museum and the Killing Fields. Pretty intense stuff. For those of you unfamiliar with modern Cambodian history- there was a genocide that occured during the late 70s. The Khemer Rouge took over, got rid of the king, and then started killing every intellectual, foriegner, upperclass person they could find. The S-21 was a school that was made into a torture prison. They have left everything as it was- still blood on the walls. The Killing Fields is where they would take them to execute them and bury them. You know it's really effed up when there is a tree known as the 'baby-smashing' tree. Really intense and hard to comprehend. I bought the book, "First, they killed my father" which will shed light on what it was like growing up in that time period. What is crazy is that every person who we see on the streets who is older than 30 saw that regime firsthand. It's tempting to go ask someone about it, but at the same time you don't want to draw back terrible memories.
The next day I was once again awaken by 5 roosters crowing at 4am. Not a stellar start when it's a travel day. Took a minivan for $10 to Phenom Phen, a 5 hour journey, and met up with Matt- the 'littlest' brother who is 6'10''. He's an instant celebrity with the average height of a Cambodian man being 5'0''. Amazing hotel- Eureka Villas- definitely recommend it. We walked around the city and toured the Royal Palace for a shocking $6.25 entry fee. Later we had dinner on the Riverfront whilst being harrassed by the local kids to buy things from them. The kids are so street-smart with a quick wit and smartass comebacks. I ended up buying 2 lonely planet books and a memoir of the Khemer Rouge for a total of $14. There isn't a lot of bartering, but with prices as low as they are, can you blame them? Most meals have cost between $2 and $5 with pitchers of beer going for $2.75.
Day 4- History Lesson
We went to the S21 museum and the Killing Fields. Pretty intense stuff. For those of you unfamiliar with modern Cambodian history- there was a genocide that occured during the late 70s. The Khemer Rouge took over, got rid of the king, and then started killing every intellectual, foriegner, upperclass person they could find. The S-21 was a school that was made into a torture prison. They have left everything as it was- still blood on the walls. The Killing Fields is where they would take them to execute them and bury them. You know it's really effed up when there is a tree known as the 'baby-smashing' tree. Really intense and hard to comprehend. I bought the book, "First, they killed my father" which will shed light on what it was like growing up in that time period. What is crazy is that every person who we see on the streets who is older than 30 saw that regime firsthand. It's tempting to go ask someone about it, but at the same time you don't want to draw back terrible memories.
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