Phnom PenhNov 10, 2007
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Me on the boat trip
Its amazing what you can transport by boat!
The children from the orphanage performing
| The day was taken up by a boat ride on the Mekong River from Chau Doc over the border to Cambodia - Phnom Penh. This was a local service rather than a tourist ferry and took over 5 1/2 hours. Not feeling very well i wasnt really looking forward to it but the sights of the floating houses, houses on stilts and local people waving from the river banks really made up for it. At the border they didnt accept my e-visa so i had to buy another one...I didnt have a passport photo so luckily they accepted the pic on my e-visa. I was really impressed by Phnom Penh - the facilities and the friendliness of the people is fab! In the evening we went for dinner in a local restaurant which is run by the local orphanage and is non profit making. The children are taken off the streets and given an education, english lessons and dancing lessons. They performed a dance for the restaurant and did some speeches. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Day 2 We were taken by a local tourguide (Mr Ram) to the genocide museum. We were told the history of the Khmer Rouge regime set up a prison for those who were accused of opposing them. The prisoners wore foot locks in tiny little rooms and were allowed to empty their toilet (metal box)every two weeks. They were tortured by rape, acid, starvation, hung upside down and drowned and beating. This happened in the 70's and thousands of people were killed. We then went on to the killing fields - between 1975 - 79 about 20, 000 people were killed which reflected in the store of thousands of skulls at this place. They estimate over 3 million people were killed....we were told how they were killed - often different ways for amusement value...live burials, hanging from trees and holding children by their feet and throwing them at a tree were just some of them. we all came out a bit drained by these experiences. The guide was fantastic - he has also lost a number of his family because of these killings. That night we were invited to Mr Rams house for a traditional meal made by his family. The house on stilts was home to 5 families which all had a room each! This is typical for the lifestyle of Cambodia. The food was fantastic! |
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