Part 6: Cambodia

I forgot to post this email.

This is the final leg of my trip. From Pakse, Laos by plane to Siem Reap, Cambodia and down to Phnom Pehn, Cambodia.

SIEM REAP
In Siem Reap, I was met by a motorbike driver at the airport. It was $2, I think, for him to take me to a guest house. The guest house was great, and I kept the same motorbike driver for the day and the next day to take me around Angkor.

I was shocked at how westernized Siem Reap is. Everywhere accepts US dollars and when you retrieve money from any ATM, you receive US dollars. Everyone is trying to sell you something and foreigners everywhere. It was a long way from the laid back lifestyle in Laos.

The first night, I watched the sunset over a temple of Angkor. It was gorgeous. I slowly realized that I was again traveling alone. It was was a few and far between experience to see people traveling around Angkor on their own. That night, I went to see a traditional dance show at a hotel.

The following day, I was no longer on my own. With my motorbike driver, we traveled from temple to temple within the grounds of Angkor. At my favorite temple, Ta Prohm, I ran into an incredibly kind British couple in their late 40's/early 50's who let me tag along with them and their guide. I was lucky enough to run into them again at Angkor Wat! later on in the day. Despite the incredibly exhausting day of being in the sun, I knew where I wanted to go that night. I had found a flyer advertising a traditional dance show at an orphanage. I asked my motorbike driver to take me there. What an incredible experience! And, I guarantee, the dance show was just as good...scratch that...better than at the hotel. ^_~

I said goodbye to my driver because I was to head out to Phnom Pehn the next day; the last leg of my trip.

PHNOM PEHN
I met 3 British guys, 2 Canadian girls, and a Dutch guy on the bus ride to Phnom Pehn. We stuck together for the next two days.

The first night, after a game of charades at a restaurant to explain what we wanted to eat (amazingly we successfully explained one with no meat and 6 with meat...haha), we headed to a really awkward night club. Awkward in regards to the number of old foreign men hitting on younger Cambodian women.

The next day, I was relieved to have company as the two Canadian girls (MJ and Amy), the Dutch guy (Casper), and I headed to S21, the school turned torture camp/prison during the Pol Pot/Khmer Rouge regime. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but it turned out to be one of the most impacting experiences of my 2 months traveling. The things I learned...the things I hadn't known before made me angry at myself and ashamed.

Quick explanation for those that may not know what I'm talking about: During the years of 1971-1975, the communist party Khmer Rouge regime was in control of Cambodia headed by Pol Pot, a ruthless killer of 1/4 of the population of Cambodia in the span of a few years. Pol Pot believed that if you weren't from the country, you were "tainted." Anyone with education was killed first: teachers, former government officials, doctors, etc. Everyone who was living in the cities was forced to move to the countryside where they were forced to work producing rice; rice that was mostly sent outside of the country, despite Pol Pot's stance that the country was self sustainable, allowing "his" people to starve. Currency was banned, jewelry was banned, everyone was to wear identical black pajama-like clothing, individualism was banned. Besides S21 being used as a torture prison, the Killing Fields (much more "famous") was a place where those serving under the regime would take people, mostly those who has lived in the cities, and conduct mass murders.

After reading loads of information about the Khmer Rouge at S21, Casper and I continued on alone to the Killing Fields. Amy and MJ chose not to come along. I wasn't prepared for what I saw. A giant monument constructed in memory of those who had been murdered, filled to the top with skulls of the victims found. Remaining bones and clothes scattered about the ground. Emptied mass graves. A tree marked "Killing tree against which executioners beat children." Casper and I hardly spoke as we walked around, barely able to catch our breath under the weight of what we were seeing...all the while hearing the laughter of children at a school nearby.

That night, after a very heavy day, the four of us relaxed in our room and watched Slumdog Millionaire on MJ's computer.

The next day as the others headed out one way, I headed back to Bangkok for my flight "home," back to Korea.

It was a very sombering way to end my two months of travel, but it ended with new friends by my side. Not everything worked out perfectly or even the way I thought it would, but I wouldn't change any of it for the world.

Thanks for hangin' in there while it took me forever to get these emails out!!^^

Peace and Love,
Stacey