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Blog 10 - Phnom Penh
We left Siem Reap to head for the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. It is manic. I had forgotten what it was like to be in a SE Asia city and was a little bit of a shock. It is also very expensive in comparison to Siem Reap. We decide to stay in a nice hotel - The Silver River hotel which was very similar to a Holiday Inn and actually had a hair dryer! It made my night.
The first thing I noticed here was that there are many poor people begging for money and small children selling books and bracelets. It absolutely breaks your heart to see 6 year old children on the streets at 11pm, dirty and hungry. I started giving $1 bills out and buying many things but quickly realized that you cannot help everyone and as soon as one has gone, there is another waiting to ask the same of you. We knew that Laos and Cambodia were poor areas but it really hits home here.
The Tuk Tuk driver Mr P who dropped us at the hotel has offered to be our driver for the whole day the following day for $10 so that we can go to the killing fields and the S21 museum etc... We arranged to meet at 10am.
10am and the driver was on time. Scott was sick so I was just me and Simon today which was quite nice. We started at the S21 museum which was a former detention centre during Pol Pots regime. Basically a really bad guy whos aim was to kill all of the intellectuals in Cambodia and their families including the children. They would take them to the centre to torture them. The S21 was disturbing. Very Small cells for many people or single cells where people were shackled to metal beds and tortured or left to starve to death. The entrance fee was $2 and you could hire a guide for pretty much the same amount.
We left the S21 to go to a place called a killing field. The entrance fee here is also $2 and we paid $2 each for a guide. There are many killing fields in Cambodia however this was one of the largest and has been turned into a preservation centre. There was over 100 graves here, to call them a grave is a bit much. They are actually pits with hundreds of bodies thrown in. People were taken from the S21 in lorries of 40 or more and killed with blunt objects and pushed into the graves. The most horrifying thing here was the killing tree where children we grabbed by their legs and their heads smashed against the tree to kill them as bullets were too expensive. Not all of the graves have been exhumed and over 2 million people were killed in a period of 4 years.
Although it is a good history lesson, it is a very sad one and also very recent. The war here continued until 1997 around the Cambodia/Thai boarders. The people responsible for this massacre are only now on trial. One person, the chief of the prison who pleaded guilty has just been sentenced to 35 years and has appealed.
We got back into the Tuk Tuk very depressed. One man came up to us in the street to ask for money with only half a face and one leg. How can you not give money to him after hearing what has happened to him. I couldn't even look at him it as his injuries were so bad, I made Simon give him some money.
Mr P was waiting. He asked what we wanted to do next but we couldn't take anymore of the sad stories so Mr P took us to a shooting range. We turned into some back alley near to the airport and an armed guard opened a gate to find 2 fully operational tanks in the car park. We went inside to be given a catalogue of most guns used in the war including a rocket launcher. All guns were priced based on the ammunition. Simon and I chose an AK47 and an M16. The rocket launcher was $350 which included a cow but we guessed that most people wouldn't hit the cow with just one shot. Instead we opted for coconuts. We were taken into a shooting range and shown how to use the guns. Simon went first with the AK47, He had 5 single shots and hit the coconut with the 3rd shot which impressed the guys at the range. He then switched the gun to fully automatic and shot about 20 bullets in 10 seconds. I cannot explain how loud it was, even through ear defenders the noise was terrifying. I am not sure how the soldiers do this on a daily basis.
It was then my turn with the M16. I picked a newer American gun as the guy told me it had less recoil and would not hurt my shoulder. I shot 1 bullet and hated it so Simon finished off my rounds. Although a good experience that you cannot do in most countries, it was expensive at $80 for what felt like a few seconds. You could easily get carried away in there.
Mr P then took us to the bus station to book the bus ticket to Sihanoukville (the beach) to leave the following day. The bus ticket including pick up was $6.
Mr P then dropped us at the central market where we bought a few things and took a nice long walk to the river.
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