Gonna just say first and foremost, congratulations to the Cubs. This is the first time I have actually been salty to not be in Chicago. But I’m in Vietnam, so it’s not actually THAT horrible…

Anyway, don’t get me wrong by reading the title of this post, I loved Cambodia. It’s by far one of my favorite countries that I have visited so far this semester, and I wish that I had been able to have more than 5 days there. Cambodia is a country of beautiful culture, and eye opening history that most Americans don’t learn about in school.

We traveled from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh by bus. This was my first time crossing over national borders by land, and so customs was a semi-new experience. Mostly, it was just not air conditioned at all, and I felt a lot more like we were a herd of cattle than humans, but it was bearable. Contrasting Vietnam with Cambodia, Cambodia is a much poorer country than Vietnam, and this could be seen just during our initial bus ride from the border to Phnom Penh. One thing that really struck me, driving through the countryside, was how few old people were around on the streets. I found out later that this actually is an issue in Cambodia currently; post genocide.

Let me begin by giving you a brief history of Cambodia’s recent history, in the way that I understand it, from what I learned on this trip.

In 1975, a man named Pol Pot carried gained leadership, and carried out a genocide which was headed up by the Khmer Rouge. The genocide lasted until 1979 during which time, an estimated 3 million people were killed. Pol Pot was trying to create a state which followed an extreme form of communism, developed on Stalinism and Maoism. Cambodia was greatly weakened following the American/Vietnamese War, when they took hits from many bombs dropped in an attempt to cut off Vietnamese supplies, and so the Khmer people were open to new leadership in high hopes that Cambodia would rise again. Pol Pot’s idea was to eliminate the educated working class, and to bring everyone back to the days of manual labor so as to eliminate social class differences brought on by urbanization. The Khmer Rouge forcibly relocated people from urban areas to farm land, where they forced manual labor and executed anybody who had any kind of education, liberal ideas, connection to the former government, soft hands, glasses, or any other trait that might make them think for themselves. He also executed anybody who could speak a second language, especially English. Many who were not executed died from starvation or disease. The Khmer people were more often than not, unable to escape Cambodia because of the land mines, which to this day, are still planted around Cambodia’s borders. The genocide eventually ended in 1979, with the invasion of the Vietnamese, and since then, more than 23,000 mass graves have been discovered throughout Cambodia. This genocide is different than most well known genocides in history because, it was an autogenocide, meaning that rather than the usual “us versus them” mentality that genocides come out of where one group of people is killing another group of people for their racial/religious/etc. differences, the Cambodian genocide consisted of Khmer people killing each other.

Upon our arrival to Phnom Penh, we dropped our stuff off at our hotel, we jumped headfirst into some horrible history by making our way to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The Museum was originally a high school in Phnom Penh, but during the Pol Pot Regime, it was converted into a prison. Like most such political leaders, Pol Pot was terrified that his Khmer Rouge would turn against him. The Tuol Sleng prison was where anyone suspected of plotting against the Khmer Rouge would be taken, and tortured for information before being sent to the killing fields (whether or not they confessed). Since the Khmer Rouge regime, the prison has been turned into a museum, serving as a stark reminder of the horrors that took place there in an attempt to warn future generations against such atrocities.

Pictured: Signes inside the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh.

The museum has been preserved to be the way that it was found when the Vietnamese invaded in 1979, minus the bodies. Graves have been set up on site for those who were found dead within the prison. The first building that we entered, was a series of rooms, all empty, except for a metal cot in the middle, the shackles that held the prisoner to the bed, the metal box where the prisoners were to “use the bathroom”, and a photo of the room’s inhabitant, as they were when the prison was found. The Khmer Rouge were very good at documenting, and every prisoner had their photo taken upon their entry to the museum, and then again when they were killed. These photos are displayed throughout the museum, side by side to one another, giving the dramatic and eerie feeling of seeing the victims in their most vulnerable state. One may or may not begin to speculate on this aspect of the museum, as it is debatable whether or not these photos cause disrespect for the victims. I won’t go deeply into the methods of torture that the museum explains, because they are too gruesome to relive, but if you are interested you are welcome to google them yourself. Our tour guide for the museum personally lived through the genocide, unlike most of her family. This personal touch, and her own stories added a lot of emotion to the experience.

That evening, Loyola did a good job of lightening our heavy hearts with the best buffet dinner I have ever been to. Pretty much any Asian food (and seafood) that you can imagine was available. I went back for fourths, plus dessert, readying myself for the next day, as we planned on visiting the Killing Fields.

There are a number of killing fields throughout Cambodia, but the most famous one is Choeung Ek Genocidal Center and Memorial. Located just 11 miles south of Phnom Penh, it now is a very peaceful and beautiful place, though one can still feel the reverberations of what happened there crawling through their skin. We used the audio tour to tour Choeung Ek, and I thought that it did a very good job of portraying the horrors that occurred. It included historical information and also personal stories from survivors. Pretty much all of the structures that were used to house prisoners before they were executed have been torn down, but the audio guide lead us to each spot where the buildings used to be, and described what they were for. It also lead us to a couple specific mass graves, including the grave that held the women and children who were murdered, right next to the “killing tree” where babies were smashed and then thrown into the grave. In the dirt, after a rainfall, you can still see bones protruding from the dirt, reminding us that not all of the bodies have been discovered yet. In the center of the Center, there is a large Buddhist Stupa built in commemoration of the victims. Inside of the stupa, 9000 skulls are housed, each labeled in careful scientific notation how the victim was killed, it’s age, and gender. There is much debate over whether or not the display of the skulls is morally ethical due to the nature of Buddhist tradition of cremation, though I think that this is a debate that arises in all such situations. Overall, parts of the Killing Fields brought tears to my eyes, but at the same time, I thought it was really wonderful how such a horrible place could become such a peaceful and beautiful one of remembrance.

Pictured: The first mass grave on the Killing Fields tour, The Killing Tree, and some beauty in a horrible place.

After our tour of the Killing Fields, we had a free afternoon and evening to explore Phnom Penh. We had lunch at Friends Restaurant, which is a restaurant founded by an organization which takes kids off the street, and teaches them how to cook. All of the food was cooked by said kids, and it was delicious. I strongly recommend the pineapple chili margaritas.

Picured: Hummus and chips, and calamari salad from Friends Restaurant, Phnom Penh.

After lunch, we just decided to walk around Phnom Penh. We walked around the King’s Palace, and down “embassy lane” which is a street lined with huge houses. We even saw the North Korean Embassy. That evening, we went out for pizza. It was storming and so we just stopped into the nearest restaurant that had cheap beer. I am sad to say that this was the last pizza that I will be eating for a while. We all got SO sick. I honestly have never been so sick in my entire life. I will spare you the gory details of the night that followed, I will just say, beware of the pizza in Cambodia.

Pictured: Views of Phnom Penh.

The following day, we were set to fly to Siem Reap. This was easily the worst day of the program for me. Traveling on a plane while constantly feeling as if you are going to throw up, while you are also severely dehydrated and weakened through lack of food is horrible. I will say though, that being sick really made me appreciate all of the people in my program. No matter my relationship to each person, every single person stepped in to offer a helping hand in carrying luggage, medications, water, or just to ask how I was doing. Friendship is a really beautiful thing. Finally, after a short flight, and a couple of bus rides, we arrived in Siem Reap. Those of us who were sick, went straight to bed, and by the evening, I was feeling a little bit better. Samantha and I ordered French Onion Soup from room service, and ate about half of it before going back to bed again.

The next day we were all up bright and early. Actually, I am going to say dark and early because it was still dark when we woke up, as we were scheduled to get to Angkor Wat by sunrise. I was still feeling pretty weak, which definitely dampened my experience at Angkor Wat, but otherwise, it was one of the coolest places that I have ever been. Angkor Wat is actually just one temple (the biggest one) of a series of temples located ing Angkor, Cambodia. Altogether, the temples make up the largest religious site in the world. One could easily spend three days on the premises, and still not see everything. Each temple was built at a different time in history, but they all were built around the 12th century. Take any visions that you have from Indiana Jones, or Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, or Temple Run, and imagine them in real life, and you have Angkor Wat. It was absolutely amazing. It blows my mind that religious structures, similar to Angkor Wat, were built in different areas of the world, all around the same time, and yet these cultures had not had a chance to intermix yet. I think I blame aliens, or maybe some strange spiritual awakening. We will probably never know. Pictures can’t do this place justice, but I will let them try at least. After visiting Angkor Wat, we also visited Ta Phrom Temple, an older temple that has been overrun by nature, and so it’s coolest features are the giant Banyon and  Mahogany trees growing out of the structure. The Ta Phrom Temple was also the temple that Lara Croft was filmed at. That night, I watched the movie on Netflix. Terrible movie, but cool temples. The third temple we visited was the Bayon Temple; temple of the faces. Every single tower in this temple has four faces on it, each facing a different direction, so that everywhere one looks, there are faces. It was one of the more trippy places I have ever been.

Pictured: Angkor Wat by sunrise, Ta Phrom Temple, and Bayon Temple.

If I had not been feeling so weak, and had it not been so hot, I probably would have stayed the entire day at the complex, but I decided to head back to the hotel in the afternoon to rest, and to get a fish pedicure.

Overall, I absolutely loved Cambodia, and definitely plan on returning back to eat more food (that isn’t pizza) and to explore this beautiful country more.