Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We arrived by boat in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 19 October.  The capital of Cambodia, it is a beautiful and thriving city that has made a strong recovery since the horrible years of Khmer Rouge rule from 1975-1979 when the communist government led by Pol Pot systematically murdered over 2 million people (about 1/3 of the population of Cambodia at the time). Even more died of starvation working on collective farms throughout the country. Watch the award winning 1984 movie, "The Killing Fields" to get a good idea of what happened during that period of time that was intertwined with the Vietnam War.  Essentially, Pol Pot and his fellow commie cadre attempted to implement in Cambodia a very pure and extreme form of communism that was centered around manual labor agriculture (rice farming). They sought to eliminate anything associated with modern civilization including machines, business, education, and so on.  Therefore, anyone that was educated or even wore glasses was seen as a threat and therefore had to be killed along with their families. 

The "Tuolsleng Genocide Museum" was called S-21 during the period of Khmer Rouge rule.  It was a high school converted into a torture prison to document and extract confessions out of Cambodian citizens.  Once the prisoners "confessed", they were then killed. 

We listened to an audio tour that documented the horrific events that took place here along with listening to the few survivors tell their story.  20,000 Cambodians were processed at S-21 which was one of many such facilities throughout Cambodia. They ran out of room in the city to dispose of the bodies.  So, they transferred them about 6 miles outside of the city to one of the "Killing Fields" where they killed and buried Cambodians in mass graves.  Over 300 "Killing Fields" were used throughout Cambodia.

One of the many converted class rooms that was turned into a torture room. 

List of rules the prisoners had to abide by. 

Walls and walls full of photos of each prisoner.  These photos were taken when they were brought to the prison. These innocent victims were normal working Cambodian citizens that were rounded up.  Each "confession" was documented as "proof" of their conspiracy against the revolution to somehow legitimize the Khmer Rouge.  There were, in fact, many defectors from the Khmer Rouge that are currently serving in the Cambodian Government today.

We visited the "Killing Field" just outside of Phnom Penh where the remains of over 9,000 people were discovered in 1979.  Pol Pot's paranoia resulted in an ever-increasing number of Khmer Rouge party leaders being killed out of suspicion of them working against "The Revolution".  These party leaders were subject to decapitation. 

 Entire families were killed to prevent the possibility of revenge later on.

 Despite a concerted effort to exhume all of the remains, the heavy rains still bring bones and clothing remnants to the surface as we saw the day we were there. 

Clothing resurfacing.  Once a month the grounds keepers collect these remnants

 

The Cambodians constructed a giant Buddhist Stupa that contains the remains of the 9,000 bodies found at this "killing field".

Very haunting to look at the fear in their eyes. 

It was a very sobering experience seeing all this horrible history that took place here.   One that left us realizing how important it is to remember  that this type of barbarism seems to repeat itself in modern times.  Kassie wanted to hug every Cambodian when we left this place. 

On a brighter note, Phnom Penh is a beautiful city that is peppered with unique giant memorials, palaces, and temples. 

We are always on the hunt for good food.  Ironically,  the best food always seems to be some momma cooking on the sidewalk. Around the corner from our hotel we found this lady cooking up something different.  We had to pull up a stool.

When looking for reliable street food we always go where there's lot of locals eating.  Another trick is to look on the ground for lots of used napkins.  Tells you its a good place!  . 

This momma was cooking up some delicious rice balls.  They were like a creamy fried mash potato ball with herbs inside. 

She also made us crepes that were filled with seasoned chicken and vegetables

So good and so cheap! 

Mekong Delta, Vietnam

After 26 days of touring Vietnam it was time to move on to our next country...Cambodia.  Up until this point we have been traveling on our own as we prefer to not be part of a tour group.  We figure half the fun is figuring out how to get from one point to the next and most importantly having the freedom of being on our own time line.  When it came time to plan how we were going to get from Southern Vietnam into Cambodia, we ran into some strategic road blocks.  It didn't take long for us to decide to take our chance and go the easy route with a 3 day 2 night tour group.  It ended up being a great choice.  We saw so many things that would have been very difficult to arrange on our own.  It was super cheap too!  Of course no stop would be complete without a Buddha statue.  Loved this one with his huge smile.  (Kas)

One of the many stops we made was along small islands on the Mekong Delta to see how the local people live.  This particular area still uses the Pony Express of sorts.   Poor Ponies didn't look too thrilled. 

Crocodiles waiting for lunch.  Kind of looks like me when Its past snack time! 

Snacks on the dash.....that's what I was thinking, but it's actually a offering.  Our driver placed it on the dashboard in hopes for being blessed.  We were indeed blessed as he was the best driver to date.  Perhaps our driver in Cambodia should have done the same.  Maybe it would of prevented the horrible accident he caused.  That's for another blog tho! 

We stopped at a fish farm.  These floating homes on the river have cages underneath them that house thousands and thousands of fish. The family lives on the floating home. This is basically their deck.   You would have never have guessed  what was underneath  until they lifted the plank floor.   Some of these floating decks have cat fish that are huge.  Kind of creepy!

We visited the Cham people in their community.  They are Muslim and produce some beautiful hand made scarves and skirts. 

Cham man in his traditional skirt.   That's a lot of thread to keep straight!

Of course no visit to South East Asia would be complete without stumbling across a "sweat shop"

One of my favorite things to do in these small little towns is to walk around watching the locals.  Many people are usually sitting on their front porches cooking or running their businesses  that they have in front of their home.  I wish I would of brought our good camera to capture some of these moments better.  That's the downside of backpack traveling.  No room for big and bulky items. 

Our super sweet tour guide.  She is convinced she's going to be an "old maid" since she's 26 and not married. Apparently that is very unusual in her culture to  not be married by now.  She wanted to know all about Ty and Jake and was VERY interested  ha ha 

Both Paul and I were really excited to explore the Mekong Delta region.    We spent 3 days off and on this beautiful river.  It's the 11th longest river in the world and spans from  the Tibetan Plateau passing thru several countries and ending in Vietnam.  It was amazing to watch the locals carry on their daily routines as we floated along.  They use it as transportation, trading their goods at floating markets, washing, laundry, fishing  and everything in between.   

I was fascinated by the scenery.  Following are some snipets of what we saw.  Everywhere we looked was a photo worthy moment. 

when it came time for our long journey up the Mekong from Vietnam into Cambodia we took 2 very different boats.  This first one was all wood and really cool.  There were only 7 of us on it so lots of room to spread out.  

Once we reached the Cambodian boarder we had to switch to this funky vessel.  We had ridden on one of these in Northern Vietnam and I wasn't a fan due to being "sealed up".  Fortunately they never closed the doors and even better yet we were able to climb and ride on the roof.  Something that would never be allowed in the States. It was super fun!   

When your claustrophobic  and need to be by the door.

Quickly into the trip we all had climbed up top.  

It turned into a 5 star cruise when they delivered cold beer to the roof of the boat.  We hadn't seen one of these pull tabs in decades!  

It was fascinating visiting with this young guy. He works on the boat.  Once we were all settled in he climbed up on top of the boat  with us and told us what is't like to be a young Cambodian guy. He had to leave his family that lives in a village far from the city to find work.  He also puts himself through night classes to learn English, although his English was excellent.  He's the age of our kids and I couldn't help to be reminded that the only thing different from him and our kids is that our kids had the advantage being born in the US (or any developing country). We have been reminded of this time and again traveling.  Many locals will ask where we are from.  We stopped staying US, USA, the states etc. because they don't understand.  Most only understand, "Merica.  They always drop the A.  It's often followed up with "you from land of opportunity"....... they always smile when they find out where we are from.  Everyone is so friendly!  

One of the stops was a small business that makes rice noodles.  These flat pancake rice dough is dried in the sun then put through the noodle maker. 

At the floating market this lady carved me a fresh pineapple.  Our boat pulled up to hers.  Unique "drive up" service.  

These little boats selling stuff would pull up to our boat like concession stands on water.  I think there's some business potential in the states people!   Coffee, beer, lunch, you name it pulls up to your boat.  I love it!  .  

Some weird fruit.  I forgot the name.  We've seen and tasted some fruit we never knew existed.  

Vietnam Cambodia boarder from Vietnam side.  

Cambodia Immigration.  Also on the river

One of the best things about traveling abroad is the amazing people you meet along the way.  Lithuania, Russia, Germany, Australia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Israel represented here.  This was our tour group that we spent 3 days with. Amazing people.  And they all want to know what the hell is up with our election this year.  LOL  

We were told we were going to a "forest" but it was actually a beautiful swamp in Southern Vietnam.

There always seems to be friendly women who want to row us around. Although, I've yet to see a man at the helm rowing. 

the swamp water was full of this vegetation. 

Typical scenery with the water buffalo in Vietnam.  Apparently they are used to work in the rice fields

Another menu we laugh at.  Of course we find out what the word Rat is in Vietnamese on our last day in the country.  Would of been nice to know this a month of meals ago! 

These bamboo bridges are common.  We both walked across.  I was praying none of the crocs were in there!

We loved our time in Vietnam!