Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We jetted off to Cambodia for 5 days to complete our mainland tour of Southeast Asia and as a visa run since otherwise, Thailand would have fined us for overstaying our 30-day welcome.

Phnom Penh is an accurate glimpse of Cambodia’s past, present, and future all in one. Street side stalls sell fuel in 1-liter glass Pepsi bottles while the affluent drive by in Lexus SUVs. Monks is red and orange cloaks carry matching umbrellas to shade them from the sun. Other locals use kramas, their traditional checkered scarves, for this same purpose. Scrappy street kids—some half dressed or naked—energetically peddle books or beg. Tuk tuks are packed sometimes 8 deep while motorbikes continue to carry families of four, sometimes a crate of pigs, or even hundreds of inflated balloons. Trucks have crammed as many people in as possible with some riding on the roof or in others’ laps (we’d guess about 30 in a minivan). One pushes a cart full of small, dried river mollusks while another cooks up....

One of the most interesting things about Cambodia is their use of the US Dollar in conjunction with their local currency, the riel. ATMs spit out US Dollars, but change is often given in riel if it’s not an even $1. One thousand riel is equal in value to a quarter. The only explanation we have for this practice is that tourism picked up in Cambodia much later than in other countries so they implemented the use of the dollar because its value is easier to understand. Nonetheless, this has created what we call the “only $1 phenomenon.” Everything sold on the streets is “only $1” whether or not it’s worth that much or more. For example, a kid selling a tiny plastic Buddha will also sell a book for only a dollar. Furthermore, beggars only ask for $1, which is quite a good deal of money them. Consequently, the dollar in Cambodia is a sneaky thing. For those on a tight end-of-trip budget, buying or giving only $1 turns into a second trip to the ATM.

Phnom Penh is a town full of charitable options. Because of the country’s troubled past, there are many disabled land mine victims, impoverished people surviving off the streets, and orphaned children. Friends is a non-for-profit restaurant that provides children living on the street the opportunity to be educated, work in the restaurant, and gradually provide for themselves with a career in a similar field. The food here was delicious so we had no problem giving to this cause more than once. The tapas-style menu included some of the following: sweet potato fries, curried pumpkin soup with coriander, sun dried tomato hummus, mozzarella melt over grilled vegetables and polenta, blueberry pie, and an apple lime freeze. Afterwards, we went to Seeing Hands where massages are given by the blind. Brady’s masseuse opened up to her by admitting the cruel treatment received during the Pol Pot regime was partial cause to her blindness. Additional, no Cambodians can have Seeing Eye dogs because they would be stolen and eaten. The organization here allows them to be self sufficient and provides a friendly working community, which they thrive on. We continued to help the less fortunate by shopping at NCDP, a handicraft outlet selling products made my landmine victims. Our last stop was at Veiyo Tonle Restaurant and Café, which was another non-profit eatery supporting orphaned children by giving them food, clothes, medical care, and a proper education. Most of the orphans help staff and operate the restaurant while the younger ones put on traditional Khmer performances on Monday and Saturday evenings.

In 1975 the Khmer Rouge seized Phnom Penh and implemented a radical communist government that would attempt to eradicate imperialism. The revolution relocated all Cambodians to the countryside where they were expected to produce an unattainable amount of rice. As a result, many died from starvation and disease. If their fates were not determined in the fields then they were probably sent to a security prison on suspicions of counterrevolutionary crimes. Unfortunately, most suspects were innocent and severely tortured and manipulated into admitting treason. These inaccurate confessions gave leader Pol Pot and his followers reason to kill on the basis of protecting their government. In the eyes of the “upper brothers”, Cambodia was to start at Year Zero with the purging of several thousands citizens who might prevent the success of the revolution. Most of these brutal murders took place in S-21 or at the Choeng Ek Killing Fields outside of Phnom Penh. S-21, which is now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, was an old high school before it was converted into the regime’s largest prison. Its pale yellow walls, checkered floors, and remaining blackboards give a very eerie feeling juxtaposed to the instruments of torture, barbed wire, and shackles that remain relatively untouched from when the Vietnamese overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979. While it is very real that the museum is located at the actual location, the pure evil and ruthlessness of these events are incomprehensible. A walk through the museum leaves everyone silent and numb. Hundreds of mug shots reveal the horror and confusion on the prisoners faces. Archived documents and confessions attempt to tell the story of S-21, but with few survivors, the truth is unknown. The Choeng Ek Killing Fields fifteen kilometers outside of Phnom Penh reveal even more tragedy confined within the regime. One hundred twenty-nine mass graves were found in what used to be an orchard before 1976. Of the 86 graves that were excavated, almost 9,000 skeletons were found. Most of these skulls are displayed in a 10-shelve stupa that memorializes the victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide. While an estimated 17,000 were murdered here, 1.7 million Cambodians died across the country as a direct result of the Khmer Rouge’s radical beliefs. Fortunately, paranoia and distrust weakened and dissolved one of the world’s most extreme and corrupt governments.

We also made a brief stop at the king’s Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, which apparently is on the list of 1,000 places to see before you die. The Silver Pagoda’s floor is composed of pure silver tiles and houses a 90kg gold Buddha that is adorned with 2,086 diamonds, the largest weighing in at 25 karats.

We caught CNN cameras capturing footage of Tuol Sleng while we wandered its unsettling hallways. The following day news broke that Duch, the head of S-21, and fellow surviving leaders would be put on trial for the crimes he committed over 30 years ago. Cambodians are struggling to come out of this conflict, which set them back socially, economically, and culturally. However, they do not want this to deter travelers from visiting. Cambodians are proud of their spot on the map and want people to know their story—good or bad. Therefore, they are warm and hospitable to those who give this healing country a chance.