Cambodia

We arrived in Cambodia by crossing the border from Vietnam. I had heard horror stories of previous border crossings, however our crossing went very smooth. Our main purpose in going to Cambodia was to visit Angkor Wat, however we made a pit stop in Phom Phen. As soon as we arrived in the city I realized that almost every Cambodian that I was going to meet was going to refer to me as lady. "Lady, Do you need a taxi?" "Lady, Lady, buy from me." It was cute actually, annoyed me at first, but people here used this expression instead of Madam, or hey you. In Phom Phen we stayed on a lake (or a swamp) but still very nice and our hostel had a very peaceful restaurant looking over the lake. Cambodia, like many parts of Southeast Asia, has a very recent tragic history. In 1975 the Khmer Rouge took power and tried to turn Cambodia into an agrarian state. During that time there were no schools, no post, no freedom to practice religion, and it is estimated that 1.5 to 2 million people were killed at the hands of the regime. We visited a school that was turned into a prison where people were kept before they were sent to the killing fields. If a person was suspected of a political crime, their entire family would be imprisoned and later murdered at the fields. There is a stupa at the fileds holding 8000 skulls of those who were killed. We visited both the prison and the fields. It is almost impossible to describe how I felt. Tears came to the surface at the thought of what people are capable of doing to one another. I believe that is is sometimes necessary to visit places such as the killing fields to bring a sense of reality of these tragedies and to pay homage to those who suffered. I know some may disagree with me, some may see it as inundation. I see it as acknowledging what took place, and for me, it reminds me of everything I have to be thankful for and to have compassion towards others. I am amazed at how joyful and happy Cambodians are despite their awful past. Truly inspiring.
It has been a few weeks since our visit to Cambodia and I had to go to Kayo's page to be reminded of what we did there. I remember liking Phom Phen, our hostel was very nice and we relaxed in the evenings by the lake reading, chatting, and eating. We spent a day and half there and then headed to Siem Reap, which is where Angkor Wat is located. It was extremely hot, I think it was the hottest place we have been on this trip and I washed my clothes every night because they were soaked in sweat. We spent three days exploring the temples, it was nice to have the extra time to discover the temples at a slower pace. Angkor Wat is the main attraction, and is the largest single religious monument in the world. (I stole that fact from Kayo's page). Many of the ruined temples were surrounded by jungle and forest. Think Tomb Raider. We used dollars, went to a classical dance performance (so great), and I made Kayo get up at 5 in the morning to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. We visited the Land Mine Museum. Land mines are still a huge problem in Cambodia, I don't know the statistics, but there has been a lot of deaths, even more amputees, and it continues to harm people every day. Maybe the United States should support the banning of the use and production of land mines, but instead, the U.S has chosen not sign a treaty most other democratic countries have singed. We blamed it on North and South Korea not signing and setting an example to them. Blah, Blah, can you say, bullshit. Cambodia was nice, not my favorite place so far, maybe it was because I spent less time there as Vietnam and India, or maybe because I did not get to mingle with the locals as much. Cambodia was sort of a weird place, hard to pinpoint it or describe its weirdness.