Reality

Life for many in Cambodia is no easy task.

I know I haven't updated in a while, I've been busy. I promise I'll try to get up one of my regular, proper posts soon. If you don't know, I've made it to Cambodia. I've visited Siem Reap and Angkor and now I'm in Phnom Penh, the capital.

Meanwhile, there's things I want (reluctantly) to address.

Today consisted of a visit to Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng. These are known in English as The Killing Fields and S-21 prison. These 2 sites exhibit the horrific crimes of the Khmer Rouge.

Before I go any further I want you to know this is graphic...

I'm sure you've heard of the Khmer Rouge. It was the hard-line communist regime in Cambodia, led by Pol Pot, that terrorized the country from 1975-1979. The genocide committed killed around 1.5 million people, close to 1/4 of the population. The people targeted were anybody considered to be of "The New People", those who were educated, wealthy, supported the opposition government, or fit any other idea of what the Khmer Rouge considered to be undesirable. Children, even babies, were killed too.

The Killing Fields are located outside Phnom Penh. There's lots of other similar sites around Cambodia, this was the largest. The first thing I saw there was the tower full of shelves with skulls, over 8,000 skulls. Mass graves, sinking into the ground, were all around. We were led by Sam, who spent part of his childhood in forced labor out in the fields during the Khmer Rouge era.

As one walks around, bits of the surfaces of bones, exposed by the heavy rains (monsoon season), appear in the paths. Scraps of clothing are exposed as well.

There's a tree with a group of nails sticking out of the trunk (now overgrown). This was used to bash the heads of infants.

The murders were not done quickly, such as by gunshot, rather it was a gruesome, drawn out experience. Microphones with loudspeakers were rigged so the screams of those being killed were amplified.

S-21, located in Phnom Penh, is horrific too. This prison, converted from a high school, detained many prisoners. Many means of torture were used here. People were shackled to "beds" and tortured 3 times a day. Others were held in tiny cells. The water provided was disease-ridden. In the front grounds of the prison stood the gallows. Here, the Khmer Rouge drowned students in filthy water.

Simply touring these two places is one of the hardest things I've done in a long, long time.

It's hard to want to do anything more today, I could barely drag myself out of the hotel just now.

Poverty.

Cambodia is desperately poor. People are begging everywhere. Landmine victims are everywhere. "Street Children" (orphaned children eeking out a living by begging or selling trinkets) are all over the place. The most uncomfortable feeling is that of a tiny hand tugging on your arm.

It's best not to give them money, this encourages them. Rather, it's best to give to orphanages and other charities. I went to tour one of these orphanages in Siem Reap. It gives a bit of relief to see some of these children with a place to sleep and food to eat (though both very basic) and school to go to.

People seek out a living by any means. This morning, as I walked around in the city, I saw one of those means. I came near the end, but what was going on became apparent. A dumpster had been emptied onto the street. People had been picking through the garbage, salvaging whatever they could. The smell was choking. A few people remained, walking and scanning over it, while others pitchforked the remains back into the dumpster. Of course not everything makes it back into the dumpster, leaving garbage on the sidewalks. There's rubbish all over the streets.

It's hard not to feel guilty. I know it's not wrong of me to have the very comfortable life I have. Nonetheless, it's frustrating. I have a home, or a hotel room, to go back to when I can't stand it anymore. The people who live these lives I've described above have nothing more than another day of the same to be prepared for.

Well, I think that does it for now. I promise the next post I put up will be more upbeat. There's a lot of good in Cambodia, too.

Thanks for reading,
Mike