We took a flight from Vientiane to Phnom Penh. There is a definite heat increase when you get to Cambodia…probably the most humid place I have ever visited. And I went in February. We had a guide explain some of the history of the country, especially about the Khmer Rouge regime, since our first stop was to the Killing Fields. It is estimated that over a million of the population was killed from 1975 to 1979 when the Khmer Rouge ran the country. The killing only stopped when Vietnam invaded in 1979. Pol Pot’s regime targeted foreigners, people that worked with the previous government, monks, Christians, intellectuals, and professionals. At one of the sites there is a stupa filled with the skulls of victims.
The graves are roped off and you can see bones protruding from the ground. It is a horrific place, but necessary to preserve the memory of what happened. It is one of the saddest places I have visited; I still can’t wrap my mind about what happened.
We also went to the Tuol Sleng Museum, which was a high school that served as a prison (Security Prison 21). There are pictures of the victims and the rooms where they were inprisoned are preserved.
In some of the rooms, the pictures of the victims surround you, creating a haunting experience. Only a few survived the prison. I met one of the last remaining survivors, Chum Mey, at the site. He was selling his book, recounting his experience there. This is an important site to the Cambodian people. I am really glad that Contiki took us there.
I knew about the Khmer Rouge genocide since a woman from my church recounted her story, which had the group in tears. It was quite a different experience to see the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Museum firsthand. These places preserve a very horrible time in the Khmer people’s history.
On a more uplifting note, we had dinner at a restaurant called Friends that employs street youth. The children are trained in hospitality, and the organization helps them find work, getting them off the streets. The food was great, as well as the service. Our guide special ordered a Cambodian delicacy, fried tarantulas. I tried it and to me, it tasted like bacon. It’s not like I ate them raw.
I also recommend the mango margarita with chili peppers.
There is a great fair trade store next to the restaurant that you can get really nice gifts/souvenirs from. I know many people want to buy from stores like this and Phnom Penh has some good ones, like Daughters, (which helps women get out of the sex trade). I definitely recommend having dinner at Friends…there are other locations in different cities, and there are various ways you can support the organization if you like what it is doing. For example, you can sponsor a former sex trade worker to help her establish a new life. Daughters sells handmade items created by the women. This trip helped me get involved with some great organizations that I would not have been exposed to.