Ankor What? and the Killing Fields

Just a little behind with the updates! From Thailand we headed to Si em Riep which is home of the famous: Angkor Wat (one of the seven man made wonders of the world). We were determined not to get caught in the scam we had heard about where the bus there takes the longest, bumpiest road and arrives to Siem Riep really late only to drop you at a guesthouse they are receiving commission at. WELL, at midnight, 16 hours after leaving Koh Chang we arrived to Siem Riep battered and bruised from the worst road I have ever been on, only to arrive to a guest house of the bus driver choice! You cant win them all and we were so tired to care! The road to Siem Riep is a busy dirt road with millions of pot holes which has been under construction for OVER 10 years. Apparently an undisclosed airline is bribing the government to slow construction on the road to boast airline sales to Siem Riep.

Immediately crossing the border you cant help but gasp at the blatant poverty. It really took me back to my time in Ghana. No one has shoes to wear, their clothes are falling apart, everything is thick with red dirt, there are barn animals running everywhere, malnourished kids and vehicles on the road that look like they came out of a wrecking yard. To drive past listening to your IPOD really makes you appreciate where you live and the luxuries that we are afforded. It really isn't fair that these people are horribly poor most simply because they were born in Cambodia.

Once there we indulged in the splender of the ruins. Although Angkor Wat is the most famous we were more impressed with the jungle laden ruins of Ta Pholm where Tom Raider was filmed and Baphon which has over 400 smiling Buddha faces peering at you. The ruins were breath taking with such intricate detail it made your head spin. The heat also made your head spin as it was +35-45 our entire stay in Cambodia (NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING! :)). The people here are absolutely the most sweet and sincere I have ever met. Aaron and I were on guard at first contemplating what scam they were running. Finally we realized they were just really curious about us and why we were in Cambodia.

Off to the capital of Phnom Penn. Again a poverty stricken city but a truly a gem. We stayed on a lake in the middle of the city with floating hotels and bars on it. A backpacker haven with a chilled out atmosphere. The people continued to amaze us and as we learned more and more of the history we were baffled at the fact that everyone wasn't in a loony bin. I highly recommend that everyone read up on the Khmer Rouge or at least watch the movie the Killing Fields. We went to the killing fields as well as to the S21 prison where they tortured, mutilated, raped and killed thousands of men, women and children. If you have read the novel 1984 it was eerie how close the Khmer Rouge was to that. The children did a lot of the killing (including of their parents) and were trained to love only Angka (Paul Pot and the Khmer Rouge). They targeted the educated at first (even going so far as to kill anyone with glasses; because they needed them to read so they were literate, soft hands; because they had never worked the field only in an office, or with light skin; again hadn't work outside) and valued the uneducated farmers as they could easily be brainwashed to love Angka and communism. Their torture techniques were out of a horror movie and it blew my mind that something this horrid can occur over and over and over again! Nazi Germany, Rwanda, Sudan, Cambodia..when will we learn?! The Khmer Rouge regime was in power from 1975-1978. Those children who were murdering thousands and watching their entire families annihilated are now in their 40-50s. We have met many and although their scars are deeply hidden, I haven't ever seen a more joyous and laughter filled culture. I absolutely loved Cambodia and would have loved to stay longer.