So its 5pm in the afternoon and i'm sitting by the pool in my hotel as i type this. I just wanted you all to know that.
Its been a full on few days. Yesterday i woke up and feeling much more refreshed headed out to the killing fields. This whole area along with S21 prison is probably one of the most horrific things i have seen in my life. There are heaps of photos that i have uploaded, but it got to the point that i had to leave as it was to overwhelming for me.

I went to the killing fields first and the trip out there was my first real look (when i was properly awake) at Phnom penh. Its the most crazy place. there are areas where you can still see how the wars here have caused devistation (shells of buildings, whole areas that just have piles of rubble inside the remains of a fenced compund area etc) and there are in amoungst that some amazing sights. There seems to be a whole lot of the cambodian versions of McMansions popping up, that are usually built by people driving black lexus 4wd with big silver striping screaming LEXUS down the sides in case you had any doubt about their car its size or the cost....but they are built on land that is right next to farms that still live what appears to be in a very traditional Khmer house or they have taken over and reno'd spaces in the city that are surrounded by more rundown buildings. Outside of the obvious tourist areas its amazing, and once you understand what has happened to this country over the last 30-50 years you understand how such total differences in living and poverty can exist. you can also see really clearly the french colonial influence in the buildings .

The killing fields are just out of town and have a very spritual feeling to them, which considering they are essentially a cemetary is not surprising. They are set out in such a way that you can see exactly how the area was used, and it was horrific. One of the guides that was there was saying how he had lost his whole family and now there was just him left, which seems to be all to common when talking to people about this. They have identified 86 mass graves, and they know that there are approx 46 still not touched. This was all done in 4 years.....there are 3 things that struck me most about this site. 1, finding out that they used to pour neat ddt(agent orange) on the people in the graves as soon as they were killed - for 2 reasons to make sure that the area did not smell or attract flies etc. and so that if anyone was alive they could not crawl out of the grave during the night before it was covered and escape. this is why there are no survivors of the killing fields. 2. walking around the area you realise that it is not rubbish on the ground, it is the fabric from the clothes in the graves that has started to work its way to the surface, 3. that the graves are quite extensive and shallow and that if you think its a bone your walking over - it probably is. (see photos)
From there went to s21 prison where people were taken and tortured or killed before they went to the killing fields. This is the most horrific place. It was a school (no. 21) that Pol Pot turned into his place of torture. The thing is pretty much everyone i know would have ended up there - they picked out artists, intellectuals, homosexuals, people with opposing political points of view, and then it got to the point that they had everybody talking about everyone else to save themselves. I went to one area where they had built small brick and wooden cells, and had to leave. I was so overwhelmed by the whole experience. They have an excellent exhibition there detailing what happened. I had no idea that in spite of the fact that they lost power, the UN would still only recognize the Khemer rouge as the government for years afterwards. Also even knowing all of this the leaders of the Khmer Rouge have lived freely for years in Cambodia (no south american exile for them) and only since 2006 have plans been put in place for their trial and arrest. Which they are horrified about because none of them knew - even the person in charge of s21 what was going on.

These 2 places are a great testament on Mans inhumanity to man. the guide that i got for s21 asks you to embrace the rage so it can never happen again in this country, as one regime wiped out a whole culture and system of government and living and attempted to wipe out centuries of culture. This is so appropriate, cause going to these places does make you angry that it ever happened.

Any way enough with the heavy stuff. Went to the royal palace and saw the silver pagoda in the afternoon. it was pretty cool, but i liked the wrought iron house that Napoleon 3rd sent to the king of Cambodia as a gift. Its a cute little french colonial house tucked in amoungst some amazing khmer palaces and temples.

Went back to the markets today....i'm so going to struggle with the cost of stuff when i get home.....but some would say thats a good thing.

Going out for dinner on the riverfront tonight....could be fun.

see ya.