History Lesson in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I can only compare the onslaught of touts at the bus station in Phnom Penh to how a rock star must feel when besieged by fans. And there's no escape, they follow you everywhere. A fellow traveller is going to have T-shirts made up that say, "Don't Need: a guesthouse, a motorbike, a tuk tuk, food, etc." Most people on the backpacker circuit say you only need one week in Cambodia, and that there's nothing special in Phnom Penh. I don't know what they're thinking, I really like the city. It's more manageable than Bangkok with a lively ex-pat scene, great food, and a lot of history. If you need to go anywhere someone is always ready to zip you off on the back of a motorbike for cheap. The first day, as I usually do, I rented a bike, which from the looks I got is clearly not a typical barang thing to do. In fact it turned out to be downright suicidal! There are absolutely no road rules. People drive on all sides of the street, pull into oncoming traffic and honk as if the other person is in the wrong. It's almost comedy, except that they don't even watch where they're going. I don't understand how there are not more accidents. And when they almost hit you they radiate a wide smile. I couldn't help but snarl back. I actually thought biking in these conditions was fun though, like playing a video game, at least if I could forget that getting hurt is a very real possibility.

Phnom Penh is home to the Killing Fields and S-21, the Genocide Museum. You can't, and you shouldn't, come to Cambodia and avoid the country's recent history. Since I never studied Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in the US, I was shocked and really angered at the senselessness of the regime. Of course I knew a genocide occurred here, but this reordering of society was worse, nobody was safe. To save ammunition they killed people with hammers. Anyone could be killed for as little as wearing glasses (a sign of education), taking a shit that showed you ate something other than rice, or doing anything that upset the extremely young, gun-wielding cadres. Pol Pot often killed other people in his own movement, longtime "friends", because he was so paranoid. And everyone starved because the diet often consisted of only three spoonfuls of rice a day. After reading The Killing Fields, and First They Killed My Father, I read a biography of Pol Pot to try and understand what he was thinking. He was clearly influenced by other communist movements at the time in China, Russia, and Vietnam, but committing those atrocities on the people and peasants you are tyring to "help" makes no sense. His philosophy was so out of touch with reality, he was power hungry, saw the killings as an irrelevant sacrifice, and somehow genuinely thought he was helping the country. My favorite quote is when a cadre asked him about the killings and he responded, "I was responsible for everthing so I accept responsibility and blame but show me, comrade, one document proving that I was personally responsible for the deaths." Ummm . . . hello??? Truly, after visiting the Killing Fields and S-21 you don't even know what emotions to feel. At S-21 they have photos of all the people who came through here (14,000 and only 7 survived). Staring into the eyes of these people who know they are screwed is downright bone-chilling. It's hard to believe this all took place here just 30 years ago (75' - 79') and the Khmer Rouge movement only really dropped off when Pol Pot died in 98'. Looking around at the people, I really start wondering about the experiences of anyone who is older than 30. Most people my age, will tell you their parents are dead. And there are so many people with amputated limbs from all the mines, which are still a problem. The Cambodian people generally don't like to talk about this history, and in fact it is not taught in school at all. They really just want to forget and be happy and this is understandable since it's completely incomprehensible. In the Killing Fields, Dith Pran says that for Cambodians grief leaves the face quickly, but it goes inside for a long time. It's really amazing how kind and gentle the people here are, given what they've been through.

Because I was not depressed enough after visiting the two Khmer Rouge sites, I spent the evening listening to a presentation and slide show on the Iraq war by two unembedded journalists who were vacationing. Not to get all political here, but you can't help but see a correlation between Iraq and Cambodia. In the sense that the US government gets involved with these countries, having their own agenda, which certainly isn't a Good Samaritan tour. (The US dropped more bombs on Cambodia than on Vietnam.) The people at first are hopeful that the Americans have come to help. The US never really has control of anything while they are in the country or giving military aid and then they plan their retreat. Meanwhile the country goes to complete shit. This is definitely what happened in Cambodia in the 60s and early 70s. (If it weren't for the US, Pol Pot likely wouldn't have come to power.) And it's definitely happening now in Iraq. Shiites and Sunnis didn't previously fight each other. There's a mini 9-11 in Iraq everyday, and according to the journalists the Iraqi people are nostalgic for the relative calm of the Sadaam days. If that even makes sense. I know this discussion is a bit off-topic for my travel adventure blog, but you can't travel around SE Asia blind to America's involvement here, and I haven't even been to Vietnam yet!

To see photos of Phnom Penh click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39463330@N00/sets/72057594101036258/