Speed Tour of Cambodia! (revised)

Exhausted, I arrived at the Bangkok airport at 4:30 am for my quick flight to Phnom Penh (less than an hour). I knew my friend Aileen would be flying through the night from Calcutta and would therefore be at least as tired as me, if not more so, so wasn't too worried. The airport was FREEZING so I changed from my t-shirt and shorts into my long pants and fleece and was still none too warm. Why do warm weather cultures always do this? It is such a pain to have to carry warm clothes when it's 90 degrees outside. When boarding for our flight was finally announced, everyone dashed to get on, as it was unassigned seating ala Southwest. I didn't care that much for such a short flight and from the lobby area it looked like the flight would probably not be full, so I wandered up after everyone else was in line. I had to laugh when I realized we were in line for the bus that was going to take us to the plane, therefore defeating the purpose of being the first in line - and in fact probably making it worse since I ended up being the closest person to the door when we pulled up to the plane. Which was ages. At one point, I wondered if we were driving to Phnom Penh.

I ended up a few minutes delayed and so only arrived in Phnom Penh 15 minutes before Aileen. Just enough time to get my visa and bags, which was more difficult than strictly necessary, only for the lack of signage. I waited in the short line for the visa desk and was pointed in the direction of a small table that held the forms I needed to fill out. Back to retrieve the form, enter the information and then in line again. Then I was asked for a passport photo, which I had - in my checked luggage on the other side of passport control. No problem - for another $1 we'll make a color copy of your passport and use that. Then in line to pay the $20 for my visa (in US dollars). Then to passport control, where I was directed to another table with more forms to be filled out. Returned to passport control, retreived my bag and met Aileen, who already had a visa and could go through the super speedy diplomatic line. Then to customs, where I didn't have the right form (which I was supposed to get on the plane) so we had to track one down to get out of the airport. Whew!

After that everything was a cinch. Aileen's friend Nathan picked us up and within 30 minutes we were at the house to meet up with his wife and two kids. They have about 6 months left on their 3 year stint in Phnom Penh where Jennifer works at the US Embassy. And after this trip and this blog, I think I've finally sorted out how to spell the Cambodian capital!

Saturday (the day we arrived) and Sunday were speed tours of the city. Saturday we started with shopping, of course, at the Russian Market where we stocked up on jewelry, fun odds and ends and clothes that are manufactured in the city, such as Adidas, Gap and Nike. We all left feeling a little offended, as both Aileen and I had to ask for larger sizes when the Extra Large didn't fit us. For the rest of the trip it came up when we were tempted by a dessert. Clearly we couldn't have that if we're Extra Extra Large!

Then off to more cultural venues, with a trip to the Silver Pagoda, one of the few buildings of the Palace open to the public. It earned its name by the floor made entirely out of solid silver tiles. Back to the house for a leisurely evening and playing with the kids, getting ready for our much heavier Sunday.

Sunday morning was spent at the genocide museum, which was originally the prison where the Khmer Rouge interrogated and tortured individuals they felt were a threat to Pol Pot's regime. In Phnom Penh, this mostly meant intellectuals, who Pot feared would rebel and tell the outside world what was happening. He wanted everyone in the country to be a farmer, as he felt they were easier to control. What was shocking to us was this all happened within our lifetimes, from 1975 to 1979. Many of the perpetrators are only in their 50s. It was especially shocking to us, as we had spent so much time learning about the Holocaust, which was so far before our time. It's amazing this was allowed to happen again. At the end of the tour our guide showed us on the map the various cities she was forced to march to, including where her daughter died of starvation and husband, brother and other family members were killed by the Khmer Rouge. What do you say to that?

After a quick respite at a lovely cafe, we took our tuk tuk back to the house and met our car & driver for the trip to the Killing Fields about 30 minutes outside Phnom Penh. Chong Ek (I believe that's the right spelling) is only one of 77 killing fields throughout the country. The Khmer Rouge differed from their German equivalent in that they imprisoned citizens in the city but then took them outside it to a separate spot to be executed. The killing fields are essentially mass graves. In this one they found around 10,000 bodies, but they know there are about that amout again under a lake. When it rains, more bones come to the surface and we could see them scattered around. Very creepy. Apparently it's often said that the entire country is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and could sincerely use therapy. It does make our "troubles" seem so minor.

After a very heavy day we ended by buying a few more items at the Russian market before dinner at our hosts' house. It is so nice visiting people who have household help, especially when you don't know them well, as you don't feel like you're imposing. The extra food and laundry just increased the workload a bit of their maid...

Monday morning we slept in before heading back to the airport for our flight to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat. This post has gotten far too long, so I'll continue that next...