After our complimentary breakfast at the hotel, muesli, yogurt and fruit for me and noodle soup with chicken for Eric, we decided to hit the local monuments and the royal palace for some sightseeing. After walking for about a quarter mile, we realized it was a bit further than we thought. Luckily, a Tuk Tuk driver approached us as we were walking to the Royal Palace. He offered to give us a ride, talked about taking us to the Killing Fields which was another place on our list.
We decided to hire him for the day for $20. He dropped us off at the Royal Palace and waited for us nearby. As we approached the entrance, we encountered some girls trying to sell bottles of water. Their english was pretty good and actually kind of aggressive - "You buy water from me OK? When you come back, remember me and you buy water from me OK?" At the ticket booth, an American couple had just paid and were asked if they wanted a tour. We were not planning on hiring a guide, but decided to ask this couple if they wanted to share a guide. It ended up being cheaper for all of us. The tour guide was very informative, telling us the history of Khmer architecture (influenced from China and India), background on Cambodian's belief in Theravada Buddhism and Cambodia cultural beliefs. According to the tourguide, Buddha prophesied that his teachings would remain known in some form for a period of 5,000 years, after which they would be completely forgotten and replaced by a new prophet. We are currently at the halfway point. He also explained to us why Cambodians grow their pinky nail long. Apparently, if you look at your hands, palms up, if your pinky reaches above the top crease on your ring finger, you have a very blessed and lucky life. Only one of my pinkies barely touches the line and the other does not. Eric's do though. Tourguide told me to grow out my pinky nail so that it reaches above the line - or else, rely on Eric for my luck. I always knew I had bad luck....
We were told the Royal Palace was built initially in Oudong, and that this was the second Royal Palace, built in 1866, and remains the resident of the current King. Apparently, Napolean III also resided there from time to time. It follows the Chinese tenets of feng shui - facing the river with the mountains behind it. We then went to see the Silver Pagoda - named as such because the floor is covered by over 15,000 silver tiles weighing over 6 tons. Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures, but there was a lot to be seen. 24 karat gold buddhas covered in diamonds (the largest of which was 25 carats) and other precious gems like sapphires and emeralds. There was this beatiful buddha made out of one piece of emerald, weighing over 5 lbs!
After our royal palace/silver pagoda tour, our Tuk Tuk driver then took us to the Central market, where they sell clothes and food. The dome is supposed to be a great piece of architecture. Unfortunately it was under construction and was not open to the public. Typically that is where they have the market, but because of the construction, they had the market in makeshift tents around the dome. We probably spent 15 minutes looking and then went back to our driver. We were hungry and wanted to try this restaurant called Friends. The food is cooked and served by former street kids under the supervision of their teachers. The kids are trained in restaurant hospitality and most of the kids end up working at local hotels after they graduate. It was a great idea and a good cause. We decided to treat our driver to lunch and asked him to join us. It was a little more expensive than we expected, but the food was pretty good and our driver was good company. We had the pomelo salad with shrimp, beef and pork meatballs over rice and crispy shrimp wontons.
After lunch, we headed to the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, which is also known as one of many "Killing Fields" that were put in place during the Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot. From 1975-1979 under the Khmer Rouge regime, over 20,000 Cambodians and foreigners, men, women, children and even babies, were brutally murdered at Choeung Ek after being interrogated and tortured at S-21 in Phnom Penh. This Killing Field is located 15 km southwest of Phnom Penh in the countryside, in what used to be a longan orchard. It is both eerie and beautiful. Presently, it's serene and green with a children's school right next door. We took a walk around what used to be mass graves (they have excavated 80+ of over 129 mass graves here and have uncovered over 8,000 skulls and other bones). When we went it was slightly raining, and all you could hear was the singing of the children in the school. However, the tour guide pointed down at our feet, and you can see that even on the pathways that we were walking on, there were fragments of human bone still strewn all over the grounds. They built a Stupa in memory of the dead which houses the bones of the over 8,000 victims that have been exhumed to-date. Out of respect for the deceased, we did not take any pictures of the bones. In less than 4 years, between 1.4 - 2 million Cambodians died at the hands of their own people - the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot, as a result of torture, starvation, execution and from over exhaustion from the work they were forced to do. It is a sad reminder of how horrific human nature can actually be. It is crazy to imagine such brutality only occurred 30 years ago. After seeing the Killing Fields, we did not think it was necessary to visit S-21, where the prisoners were tortured prior to their execution at the Killing Fields. There are 100s of Killing Fields throughout Cambodia. This was the largest.
In speaking to our tourguide at the Royal Palace and our Tuk Tuk driver, you realize just how much the Khmer Rouge regime affected the lives of present day Cambodians. Our tourguide at the Royal Palace told us that his father was killed, and that he has no pictures of his father because his mother had to bury their photo album. The Khmer Rouge had a saying "pull up the grass, dig up the roots” - meaning that if you kill the head of the family, you have to kill the entire family to avoid any revenge in the future. This is why children and babies were not spared. They had to bury the photo album so the Khmer Rouge regime would not be able to go after the rest of the family. Our Tuk Tuk driver told us that his family was wealthy, his mother was a doctor, and that he had 6 brothers and sisters. They all perished at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime, he is the remaining survivor. It is hard to imagine this happening to anyone, and makes us realize how truly blessed we are to have the lives we have today. The loss of a job or other things we worry about just don't compare and seem so insignificant when hearing about the tragedies of those who have truly suffered.
To lighten our mood afterwards, we decided to do a little shopping at
the Russian Market, named as such because it used to be frequented primarily by Russians. It is a market for everyone, selling clothes (BR, Gap, Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger polos for $5!), silk scarves ($2), DVDs, accessories, and home appliances and hardware. It's a narrow maze of stalls filled with goods. Eric got a nice watch and I bought a silk scarf. After a long day, we finally went back to the hotel to wash up. Sitting in a tuk tuk all day, you definitely collect a lot of grime. Surgical masks are a must in riding those!
To pamper ourselves after a busy day, we went to dinner at Malis, considered a high-end
restaurant in Phnom Penh. Probably the "Gary Danko" of Phnom Penh. The meal was very good! We had scallops with hot basil leaves, mak mee, korko pumpkin soup garoupa fish in pandean leaves, and ice cream for dessert. It was a great finish to a productive day. For the pictures of the day, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5390453885458100625&authkey=Gv1sRgCLrE5M3v0e6CmAE&feat=email
No comments:
Post a Comment