We spent two nights in Phnom Pehn, and that was enough for me. Siem Reap, although touristy, was less impoverished and desparate. Although I was at Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek for a few hours, I have been slowly digesting what I saw and learned that day. Had a “discussion” with a couple of my travel compatriots over the guilt/innocence of the soldiers who implemented Pol Pot’s orders. As I mentioned before, people were sent to the fields to work long hours to grow rice and other crops, which were sent to the Chinese. The workers typically were allowed a few grains of rice a day in a watery gruel. If you wanted to eat better, you snuck in some grasshoppers and other insects (which could not be cooked, or it would garner unwanted attention from the guards). If you took a piece of fruit or vegetable, you could be killed. If you wanted to eat well, you joined the KR. Many kids were also separated from their parents. Combine the abolishment of Buddhism and Christianity (the only religion allowed was “Angkar” the name of Pol Pot’s government) with the loss of family structure and upbringing, hormones, and desire to impress their peers and those higher up on the food chain, and the killing machines were in place. And yet, I’m not convinced that those who did terrible things to people that went above and beyond orders should just be labelled as victims and let off the hook. Religion or not, there are universal codes of conduct. Tell someone whose mother was “raped for fun” by one of these soldiers that he was a victim, and see how they react. My compatriots and I do agree that the bulk of the blame goes to Pol Pot and his gang.
As for Cambodia itself, the people were very warm and friendly and many had a good sense of humor, in spite of what they had been through (almost half the population of Cambodia died of execution, torture, disease, and/or starvation). There isn’t one Cambodian alive who didn’t lose a relative to the genocide. The presence of many NGOs and such has helped improve the lives of many Cambodians, but overpopulation, disease, and rampant poverty aren’t going away any time soon. Vietnam helped “liberate” Cambodia from the KR regime, but they are profitting from Cambodia’s tourism (they run it) and run a lot of operations behind the scenes. Despite the depressing aspects of Cambodia, I was glad I came here.
Now to Vietnam: we took a speedboat down the Tonle Sap River to the Mekong, all of which was flooded due to heavy rainfall. The border crossing was a bit of a trip–they had a tough time mooring the boat and I thought some of the baggage was going to end up in the water! The checkpoint is in a rural area, so there are dogs and chickens, and a few water buffalo nearby. We then went to Chau Doc, and took a motorcycle ride to Mount Sam, where we saw awesome views of Vietnm and Cambodia. Had a tasty Chicken in lemongrass dinner at the riverfront, where a family of black cats lived.
Yesterday we took a bus to Saigon–took us about 6.5 hours, due to congestion from a traffic accident. Most people in Saigon use motorbikes to get around–they are small, fuel efficient, and manuever well around the traffic. That said, when you cross the street you are playing chicken. Saw Notre Dame Cathedral and the Reunification Palace. Today we took cyclos to the Jade Pagoda and another temple in Chinatown. Vietnamese practice a different form of Buddhism than the Cambodians and Thais do. The temples wre beautiful and atmospheric. The cyclo tour was fine, but like taxi drivers everywhere we were screwed way over in the price, which cast a damper on the rest of the morning. It is hotter than hell outside, so I’m taking a break in an internet cafe, since the hotel employees were busy with the one at the hotel. Tomorrow am off to see the War Remnants museum, but first some lunch and a bit of shopping.
All for now–Aimee
Category: Uncategorized
We got to Phnom Pehn on Wednesday afternoon after a six hour bus trip from Siem Reap. Originally, we were to take a plane, but the tour group decided–without telling us directly before the tour started–that it changed the transport to public bus. At least the bus was air considitioned, no one sat on my lap, and no kids or farm animals roamed the aisles. The seats were a step up in comfort from those on a plane. To boot, the bus ahd a DVD player, which played pop tunes in Khmer (which are just as shitty as their western counterparts). Hotel overlooks the Tonle Sap River, which moves quickly due to the heavy rains in the region.
Phnom Pehn is a bit like India lite–chaotic traffic (lots of motorbikes, because gas is so expensive), beggars, and tuk tuk(motorcycles that tote 2-4 people in a canopied cab) drivers everywhere. You barely step out of a tuk tuk when someone approahces, “Tuk tuk?” You have to have a sense of humor about it because the poverty and desperation is awful. China has a lot of sweatshops here. And the exploitation of children for selling items, including sex, is all over. One of the first signs you see at the border entering Cambodia is one warning visitors that it is a crime to have sex with children.
Yesterday am we toured Tuol Sleng prison, one of many in the country where enemies of the Khmer Rouge were tortured and executed. Our tour guide, a man a year younger than I am, has the perpetual look of sorrowful resignation. He was one of 8 kids, who lost a few siblings and a father to malaria and starvation. His mother is remarried and has a new family. When the KR took over, they separated kids from their parents. He and his sibs were told to tell KR soldiers that his parents were dead.
Some history: Within hours of takeover, the KR evacuated the citizens of Phnom Pehn, who were subsequently sent into the fields to work or were killed.They lured educated people by initially offering jobs, then sending them for execution. They executed anyone who would challenge Pol Pot’s ideas. Pol Pot, who had been a monk for 2 years before he rose to lead the KR, abolished Buddhism, convenently killing another group that would speak out about his atrocities. 1.7 million died from executions, and it included Americans, Thais, Australians, Laos, Vietnamese–they weren’t allowed to leave because they knew too much. In Pol Pot’s vision of returning to Year Zero, he abolished religion and the family unit. Anyone who spoke out or crossed him was killed, along with their families. People were sent into the fields to work, and the food was sent to China in exchange for arms. Starvation was rampant. Only soldiers received decent rations, so many young men joined up in order to eat.
When the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979, after KR killed some Vietnamese, the KR executed 14 remaining prisoners–7 others survived, including a painter named Vann Nath, who later returned to paint images of what he remembered as a prisoner (he is also featured in a documentatry called S-21, where he confronts his captors). Tuol Sleng features some of these gruesome works.
We then went to Choeng Ek, one of thousands of killing fields across Cambodia, which is 20-30 minute drive from PP. Choeng Ek used to be a Chinese cemetary. It features a stupa with over 8000 skulls that were retrieved in the many mass graves in this area. The rains washed up more pieces of clothing and bones on the paths, which I saw, including a piece of jawbone and human teeth. Our guide didn’t blink an eye.
Pol Pot and his goons went unpunished for their crimes, with many former high ranking KR defecting to the government that overthrew KR. Pol Pot kept a seat on the UN for years afterwards, and was supported by multiple Western nations (including US) because its enemies were Vietnam, Soviet Union, and China at the time.
After that morning, we went to eat lunch at Friends, a restaurant that supports street youth and trains them for the hospitality industry. I ahd the best curried pumpkin soup ever. Then went to the National Museum, located on beautiful grounds, and the Royal Palace. The wealthof the palace was otherwordly when there is so much poverty outside. Gold everwhere, silver tiles in one part, and a couple diamond encrusted Buddhas–not exactly the “Middle Path”.
Today we are taking a cruise on teh Tonle Sap River, which will turn into the Mekong–will end up in Chau Doc, Vietnam, tonight.
Peace Out–Aimee
Hi All,
These last two days we’ve been exploring the Angkor Wat complex in NW Cambodia near Siem Reap (BTW, Dith Pran of The Killing Fields was born here); I think there are over 40 temples, but we saw about 4-5. This am saw the sun rise over the main temple, which was pretty awesome. Other temples included Ta Prohm (the “Tomb Raider temple”, which was gorgeous), Bantey Srei (sandstone has carvings from diamonds), and Preah Khan (“sacred Sword”). The temples were started under King Jayanarama; The initial religion here in Cambodia was Hinduism, but temples had ëvolved” to reflect Buddhist influence. Got some great shots.
Have enjoyed trying Khmer food, which is influenced by Indian and Thai, but not nearly as spicy or flavorful. However, I did try a dish that featured Cambodian ants (yes, ants)(crunchy, but tasty). Have enjoyed drinking juice right from a young coconut, as well as a fish curry. Last night we had dinner at a Cambodian family’s home, and enjoyed the home cooked feast of potato curry, chicken with lemongrass, tom yum soup, stir fried veggies, and pork with noodles. We were entertained by the kids, who are the same everywhere. 25% of Cambodia’s population is under 10.
Tonight we are going to have dinner and watch traditional Apsara dancing, then are oof to Phnom Pehn in the am. I’m going to shower, swim, and do laundry first.
Things I’m glad I brought: Ultrathon 12 hour sweat-proof insect cream, (no insect has even tried a nibble!), respiratory masks (for polluted/dusty streets), DEET spray (yes, it’s nasty but a great precaution against creepy crawlies),TP roll.
Things I wish I had brought: a functional hand held fan, a journal, a toothbrush (fortunately the hotel had one).
Take care and more later–Aimee
As some blog readers know, Aimee is embarking on a five-week journey throughout Southeast Asia. I’ll post her travel dispatches on the blog as they are available.
This trip involves tours from two travel companies. She’s touring with Intrepid Travel and Myths & Mountains. Intrepid will take Aimee through Cambodia and Vietnam while Myths will take her through Nepal.
Photos and any audio/video will have to wait until Aimee’s return. Maybe I’ll convince her to travel with a computer on the next adventure.
Leave a CommentThe Associated Press ran a story talking about a librarian in Utah trying to catalog many of the animal sounds found in the western U.S. At first browse, The Western Soundscape Archive seems quite intriguing and as a nice touch, the Flash used on the site seems to be of the accessible variety.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Rattlesnakes aren’t to be trifled with, but if you’re trying to collect the sound of every creature in the West that slithers, hops, flies or flops, distance isn’t a luxury you can afford.
Leave a Comment”You get yourself in some strange situations,” said Jeff Rice, a soft-spoken University of Utah research librarian who’s trying to create the first comprehensive — and free to the public — archive of natural sounds in the West.
Obviously this is not, in the grand scheme of things, a huge deal. That said, for the curious try the following:
- Navigate to http://www.house.gov.
- Enter the zip 98052 in the box for locating a representative by zip.
- Note the resulting page which indicates that 98052 is not enough info.
The 5 digit ZIP code 98052 was not enough information to determine your Representative. There are muiltiple Representatives who share this 5 digit ZIP code.
With the billions we all pay in taxes, you’d think our government could correctly spell the word multiple. I left feedback today to ask that this be corrected so we’ll see how long any correction takes.
Leave a CommentToday’s Seattle times has an article talking about how Amazon has created a map illustrating the political leaning of a state based on book book purchases from this state. I mention this heare because after trying the page, it could serve as a model of how to make an inaccessible web page. It seems like every rule about basic web accessibility was ignored.
Unable to see pictures, well you are out of luck. Need info conveyed with something other than color. To bad, so sad.
On Tuesday, the Seattle-based retailer introduced an interactive map of the U.S. showing which states are “red” or “blue” based on their online book purchases.
For now, 36 states are pink or red. Six are blue. And eight, including Washington and Oregon, are purple, meaning residents are virtually split in their political book purchases between Republican and Democratic viewpoints.
The map, available at http://www.amazon.com/election2008, and updated daily, is based on sales of books with a political perspective, as identified in promotional material and customer classifications.
Take a browse and try and determine anything meaningful from this page if you are using a screen reader. Even the book titles from the most popular categories seem to be missing meaningful text. You can read fun links named things like I/518RvzD1MOL._AA110_.
I’ve sent feedback to Amazon but if anyone has real contacts beyond feedback links on web pages it would be good to let Amazon know.
Leave a CommentAnyone who’s a football fan knows all to well the saga that’s played out over these past many months with Brett Favre and his retirement/unretirement. With the 2008 NFL season now underway, it definitely feels strange to see Favre playing for the Jets and tossing his 443rd touchdown for a team other than the Packers. Only time will tell how it all works out for everyone involved and I guess it keeps things interesting.
Leave a CommentAccording to multiple news sources and the Google blog, Google is going to be releasing a web browser called Chrome on 9/2. Here’s the full Google blog posting.
Leave a CommentAaron Leventhal, someone for whom I have immense respect and who has been instrumental in Firefox and ARIA accessibility among other things, has an interesting blog post talking about how to improve Firefox access on the Macintosh. The article is worth a read, even if you have no interest in Mac accessibility for some of the experiences and insights Aaron shares on how accessibility happens. You can read the article at http://accessgarage.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/firefox-and-os-xs-voiceover-reading-the-magic-8-ball.