Woke up pretty late today at 8AM, the same time that the
girls and I agreed to leave and explore the city yesterday. The “Filipino time”
(a stereotypical reference to being late) in me went down hoping that maybe
they’re still asleep, and I can have my chill break and refreshing shower. But
lo and behold, the Europeans are on time! So I just put on my contact lenses,
brushed my teeth, and left with the same clothes that I have.
We first went to the nearest palace just a couple of blocks
away just to check out what’s happening. Worshiping Buddhists, mini pagodas,
after 10 minutes we’ve seen everything. From there we took a “tuktuk” (a
popular local transport wherein a motorcycle pulls a set of modern carriage
good for 4 passengers) as an arrangement for a whole day tour, meaning they’ll
wait for us. Offers went as high as 45USD, but we were able to haggle with the
kindest driver for a price of 15USD, or 5 dollars each. First destination: the killing fields.
About 45 minutes away from the city, the Killing Fields, I
must say is the SINGLE BEST TOURIST DESTINATION HIGHLIGHT OF MY WHOLE TRIP.
Though I’ve done some reading prior to going here, I still find it hard to
grasp how such humanity crimes could have happened only during the 1970’s. I
believe people then should know better already.
So for my fellowmen who are saying that Marcos’ martial law during the
same time was bad, well they haven’t heard about Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge.
With a 5USD entrance fee which comes with an audio lapel,
the Killing Fields is one of the biggest camp wherein Cambodian prisoners then
are sent to be executed. During its
discovery in 1979, there were over 21,000 remains of people found here. And up
to this date, especially when it rains, teeth or bone fragments are seen to
surface on the floor.
I really felt the historical impact of this place thru the
audio guide, as without it, the killing fields on sight seems just like a
quaint garden park with occasional exhibits of human skulls piled up. But stories of how men are deceived they are
being let go on to be shot, how petty cases of stealing a banana would mean a
woman’s life, or how babies were smashed on a specific tree to prevent future
revenge after it’s parents has been killed are simply a load of emotions to
take.
After almost 2 hours of barely speaking with and just
feeling the place, the girls and I went to next to the Russian market. To our
surprise, we saw the 5 Hong Kong University exchange students there whom we did
the Mekong river cruise together. They
were travelling super fast on a 10-day sem break, that on that afternoon they
are already Siem Reap bound. They are aiming to make it to the Full Moon Party
in Ko Panyang, which happens in 3-days, that for a brief moment I actually
considered joining them, in exchange for Laos. Anyways, they’ll be flying from
Bangkok to Hong Kong on April 10, my birthday, and that’s around the time that
I needed to be there. But that encounter
led to a short chit chat of good regards to their each other’s continued
travel.
We had lunch in my favourite fast food restaurant in the
whole world: KFC. And for approximately 2USD, this is certain a good deal. Look
at the size of that chicken!
Going back to Russian Market, well, there really is nothing Russian about it,
just a skew of interesting figurines being sold. Afterwards we proceeded to S21
prison, a former school that was turned into a prison.
S21 exhibits the worst condition for prisoners, so bad that
their feet is even bolted to the floor, they can’t even hit their heads on the
wall to kill themselves. The facility is
complete with torture beds, smaller prison cubicles, barb wires, and monkey
bars that were used to hang people.
Phnom Penh is a nice city. Knowing more about their history
and looking at the people, whom chances are directly connected to at least one
of the 2 million people that were killed and millions more that were imprisoned
just less than 30 years ago, I can’t help but think how their nation could have
been more than what it is now, maybe as prosperous as their neighbouring
country Thailand, had that part of their history didn’t happen.
We last went to a part in the city with it’s own big pagoda.
Haven’t been to Siem Reap at this point, but for those who have been, this is
underwhelming and a waste of 3USD. Afterwards we bid goodbye to our nice tuktuk
driver who barely speak English, and someone was able to communicate to him
that we’d like him to pick us up again the next morning so we can attend the a
live session of the UN international court as they prosecute the actual old
people then directly reporting to Pol Pot during the reign of Khmer Rouge, for
their crimes.
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| Tuk tuk driver |
On our quest for a cheap dinner, we came across a restaurant
funny and aptly called “Cheap & Best”, and indeed, their 2USD or less
viands that we shared proved to be, cheap and best!
Beer on the go, hours again of lounging in Velkomen hostel, crazy bartender with his crazy antics and sleezy stories… good times. Good night.
omg, the skulls were chilling.
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