Today was a mixture of Cambodia today and Cambodia yesterday. We started our day with a city tour of Phnom Pehn, Cambodia’s capital, on rickshaws…I think I’ve had my fill of rickshaws but it is interesting the different types. Our rickshaws today had “roofs” and I’m so thankful has it was as the sun was really hot today so it saved us from sunburns. While Phnom Pehn is a busy city, the ride was still not as insane as our first rickshaw in Saigon.
Our destination was the Royal Palace where the king of Cambodia lives and works. It was interesting to compare it to the Golden Palace in Bangkok as the Golden Palace had a lot of buildings and few gardens whereas the Royal Palace has few buildings and a lot of gardens. Our guide, Buntha, was very prideful of his king (he would refer to him as “his” king rather than “the” king) as he told about all the good he has done for Cambodia and how he wants all the money to go the country and it’s people rather than luxury life for himself.
After the Royal Palace, we had the option to go to the National Museum or continue our rickshaw tour. We opted for the rickshaw tour as the museum was mostly pieces taken from Angkor Wat which is where we are going later on the trip. The tour was mostly just looking at the various sights and life happening around you so not much commentary.
We returned to the boat for lunch and a rest before our afternoon excursion. The afternoon was not a feel good tour but one that was important to see. Pol Pot was the Prime Minister of Cambodia and leader of the Cambodian Communist Party (aka Khmer Rouge). I can remember studying about him and the Khmer Rouge in school and it wasn’t until today that I really got what a truly evil man he was. Our guide, Buntha, shared his personal story of the Killing Fields and being sent to the brainwashing camps as a child of 9 years old.
It was very clear that taking us to one of the 400 killing fields and later to the Detention Center brought back memories to the 52 year old as he told of his experiences. To this day, he does not know where his parents are buried or which killing field they were taken to when he last saw them at 9 years old. Buntha was taken to a brainwashing camp in the north near the Vietnam border and told of the evils of Vietnam and the US and their attempt to invade Cambodia. He was sent to train in the very detention center we visited and told us one of the buildings he could not go into as the memories were just too bad. I don’t want to go into all the graphic details he shared here but happy to talk share in person if you are interested.
The day was physically (due to heat) and emotionally exhausted so we called it an early night after dinner which was a Taste of Cambodia and oh so very good.
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