Cambodian Khmers
Cambodia + versus -,
POSITIVE~ The grandeur of religious building's one of which is the largest in the world.
NEGATIVE~ A history of disturbing violence, The killing Fields and the S-21.
POSITIVE~ Buddhism
NEGATIVE~ An estimate of 2 -3 million people murdered during the height of the war. From a population of 8 million.
POSITIVE~ Amazing food.
NEGATIVE~ A country of landmines, people with devastating stories of the past and allot with the physical scars to prove it.
POSITIVE~ Tolerant people with happy faces. NEGATIVE with some sense of underlying sadness.
POSITIVE~ Rice paddie fields EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!
NEGATIVE~ Drug abuse, child abuse, leaders betraying the people is complete corruption on the highest scale.
POSITIVE~ Monkeys that are wild and are free to roam, yet un-fearful of humans.
NEGATIVE~ Lack of concern for rubbish- rotting directly in the streets and in the water. Ha! they would not even consider the environmental impact they have on the world, they just don't care.
POSITIVE NEGATIVE??~ 2 Prime ministers and a king! not sure if this is good or bad!
POSITIVE NEGATIVE~ A war that only finished in 1999.
So as a result from all of this- the attitude is live for today and not for tomorrow.
Too many tuk tuks not enough tourists.
Desperate to make a dollar.... American that is.
We arrived in Siem Reap from Bangkok and were taken aback by the amount of people begging on the streets.
We were freaked out by "Duke" on the first night as he came up to us with arms stretched toward us, pleading for some money. Well, he would have, if he had any. We had no change at all so averted our eyes and walked past. We made a pact that night (in the safety of our air conditioned motel room -$8 per night) to accentuate the positives and to give money to the landmine victims and buy the kids food or drink.* We have also made a point of eating at restaurants that support street kids and rehabilitate them back into society with more skills to have a better life. We have donated food to orphanages; well, I am going there later so by the time you read this it will be done.
The government here does nothing to support these people as there is no welfare system at all.
We saw Duke again the next night and spoke to him and gave him a generous sum to cope with our averted eyes the previous night. As a 13 year old child (he is now 40) he was playing in the fields near his home of Battambang, where he found a land mine. He lost both arms from above the elbows, has huge scars across his body. But he seems happy enough. We met others who have one or two legs missing, and some who have all four gone. To a boy who was working at the War museum who really do not know how old they are as the rest of their family has been wiped out. it really shows the atrocities of war in its rawest form.
* Allot of the time kids beg for money to then give it to their boss who supplies them with only one thing, Glue. No clothing, food or shelter, they just have to make money for the man and they get their fix. Its really really sad. They use baby's to help with the extraction of money. Some Kids, yes I am talking 6 years and upwards; said they wanted powder formula for the baby, maybe some of them used it, maybe some of them sold it back to the store after I was gone. Who knows? I don't, but at least i tried to do the right thing..... yeah here I go again trying to save the world etc etc.
Anyhow, the Wat's were amazing. Really good to see that they have attempted to clear out the jungle and rebuild parts of them. To powerful to accurately describe, but they we majestic and STEEP! And yes hoping once back in Thailand I may be able to get some photos up.
I had my hair put in corn rows while in Thailand, as it was much cooler and easier to manage. People on the streets thought I was a bit of a novelty. Actually it wasn't just me, they stared at David also. Yes, yes, here comes the freak show!, nothing new there for me. Although it was new for Dave, yeah, it pretty much freak him out! A wander through Battambang Park felt like a celebrity walk on the red carpet in Hollywood! Smiling, waving, greeting the people... strange.
While we were at Angkor Wat we saw a group of monkeys grazing on the edge of the forest, so we went down to watch them for a while. After 10 minutes or so they wandered over to us. A couple of them were only little a little smaller than the size of your forearm- wrist to elbow. They decided that my hair braids were pretty cool and began playing with them and trying to eat the beads off the ends of them. One also grabbed my upper arm (very soft little hands) and began "kneading" it then looked up into my eyes, turned his head on the side and proceeded to attempt to take a bite!!!!!! David thought this was hilarious, unfortunately I did not.
While in Battambang - pronounced Batt-thom-bong - we did a Khmer cooking class. The trip to the market was an eye opener- You name it it was there for sale. Fish jumping out of small boxes trying to escape. Watching as they bash the fish on the head to half kill it then de-scale it. The underlying violence is still prevalent today. The cooking class was really good, we learnt a few new tricks - aside from how to kill a fish Khmer style! The only two downers we had was that everything we made was out of control spicy. All six of us couldn't finish our food! the other was that I watched 8- 10 kids sniff glue across the road the whole morning. But the upside was that our left overs went to the kids and so they didn't bother us for money when we left. Maybe that's why our food was so spicy??? We made 2 new friends Alex & Nick from Hamilton in N.Z. and hope to catch up with them on the snowfields one day. We caught a bus to Phnom Penh with them and had drinks and dinner that night. We stay at the Okay guesthouse which is more than that- its cool as! Internet, restaurant and good guys working here. Of course all waiters here freelance as a tuk tuk drivers (or maybe its the other way around!) so that makes for convenience for us and them!
The first day Map took us to the Tuol Sleng Museum or as it was know during the war S-21. It used to be an old high school. The Khmer Rouge now deny it existed. Where they believe (they have founds loads of records/confessions and photos) 20,000 men, women and children were imprisoned, tortured for confessions and eventually murdered. They mainly picked out anyone who was educated, lawyers doctors, teachers and anyone to do with the military. The kids were re-trained into killing machines, oh sorry, I meant guards. An Australian died here to you know, I believe he was a journalist. I can't explain to you why this happened, but I cried for the thousands lost. I could go on for a long time about the things that happened in this horrible place along with the other things that happened at the Killing Fields itself, but I feel it is to morbid. they have a large memorial set up there at the killing fields full of skulls, bones and clothes from the mass graves they uncovered there. It is truly gut wrenching and yes you can still see pieces of bone and clothing sticking out of the ground, remember it was only 30 years ago. I was 2 when it "ended". The really war did not end until 1999 according to the Cambodians. check out this if you want to know some more, or refresh your memory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War
Pol Pot was a pure evil person and I am quiet happy to say that he is dead, but unfortunately he died of natural causes and was never brought to justice.
I guess you call this a POSITIVE in a strange way- Now that there is not so much warring going on over here that a heap of shooting ranges have opened up. Before we went to the killing fields we took a side track to a range. For a (smallish) fee you can shoot pretty much any gun/ pistol you can think of, especially if it was made in Korea, Russia or America. Even a bazooka thingy!- but I tell you if there had of been any mention of blowing up cows, Acey would have been swinging punches- army dudes or not!!! That's just not right. It clearly states on the "menu" that you are not permitted to take a photo of it! bugger! So Daveo went for an AK-47 It was VERY loud! I think he had 20 shots, doing single ones first and then rapid for the last. Man what a noise! I took video and photos and he was allowed to keep the target paper he shot. A large grin on the face of Daveo puts this as being a positive! Although map asked us not to tell anyone that we went there - purely for the reason that he would have to pay off someone else. Desperate to keep every dollar for themselves. Fair enough.
Yesterday we strolled around the grounds of the Royal Palace where there is a Silver Pagoda. The whole floor is silver tiles (very cool) With two Buddhas, one is emerald- well its jade really and the other is gold with 2086 diamonds and rubies encrusted in it.
The rain is amazing it comes usually at 2.30 every day and really pours down its great! The locals get out in it and shower wash hair clothes that they are wearing the works its quiet funny to watch!
- Thats enough mayhem hey?! OK so that's all for this war torn exotic country that's slowly picking up its feet and trying to carry on and get its head above water. And there is allot of water around.
Its been hot, beautiful, really heart wrenching and oh so REAL.
Oh yeah its official we will be departing Bangkok at midnight on the 20th of September so that means.........
Back in Melbourne on the 20th, 12 noon! Do I need to say we expect some sort of welcoming party, even if it is a Wednesday! You have enough notice!
POSITIVE~ The grandeur of religious building's one of which is the largest in the world.
NEGATIVE~ A history of disturbing violence, The killing Fields and the S-21.
POSITIVE~ Buddhism
NEGATIVE~ An estimate of 2 -3 million people murdered during the height of the war. From a population of 8 million.
POSITIVE~ Amazing food.
NEGATIVE~ A country of landmines, people with devastating stories of the past and allot with the physical scars to prove it.
POSITIVE~ Tolerant people with happy faces. NEGATIVE with some sense of underlying sadness.
POSITIVE~ Rice paddie fields EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!
NEGATIVE~ Drug abuse, child abuse, leaders betraying the people is complete corruption on the highest scale.
POSITIVE~ Monkeys that are wild and are free to roam, yet un-fearful of humans.
NEGATIVE~ Lack of concern for rubbish- rotting directly in the streets and in the water. Ha! they would not even consider the environmental impact they have on the world, they just don't care.
POSITIVE NEGATIVE??~ 2 Prime ministers and a king! not sure if this is good or bad!
POSITIVE NEGATIVE~ A war that only finished in 1999.
So as a result from all of this- the attitude is live for today and not for tomorrow.
Too many tuk tuks not enough tourists.
Desperate to make a dollar.... American that is.
We arrived in Siem Reap from Bangkok and were taken aback by the amount of people begging on the streets.
We were freaked out by "Duke" on the first night as he came up to us with arms stretched toward us, pleading for some money. Well, he would have, if he had any. We had no change at all so averted our eyes and walked past. We made a pact that night (in the safety of our air conditioned motel room -$8 per night) to accentuate the positives and to give money to the landmine victims and buy the kids food or drink.* We have also made a point of eating at restaurants that support street kids and rehabilitate them back into society with more skills to have a better life. We have donated food to orphanages; well, I am going there later so by the time you read this it will be done.
The government here does nothing to support these people as there is no welfare system at all.
We saw Duke again the next night and spoke to him and gave him a generous sum to cope with our averted eyes the previous night. As a 13 year old child (he is now 40) he was playing in the fields near his home of Battambang, where he found a land mine. He lost both arms from above the elbows, has huge scars across his body. But he seems happy enough. We met others who have one or two legs missing, and some who have all four gone. To a boy who was working at the War museum who really do not know how old they are as the rest of their family has been wiped out. it really shows the atrocities of war in its rawest form.
* Allot of the time kids beg for money to then give it to their boss who supplies them with only one thing, Glue. No clothing, food or shelter, they just have to make money for the man and they get their fix. Its really really sad. They use baby's to help with the extraction of money. Some Kids, yes I am talking 6 years and upwards; said they wanted powder formula for the baby, maybe some of them used it, maybe some of them sold it back to the store after I was gone. Who knows? I don't, but at least i tried to do the right thing..... yeah here I go again trying to save the world etc etc.
Anyhow, the Wat's were amazing. Really good to see that they have attempted to clear out the jungle and rebuild parts of them. To powerful to accurately describe, but they we majestic and STEEP! And yes hoping once back in Thailand I may be able to get some photos up.
I had my hair put in corn rows while in Thailand, as it was much cooler and easier to manage. People on the streets thought I was a bit of a novelty. Actually it wasn't just me, they stared at David also. Yes, yes, here comes the freak show!, nothing new there for me. Although it was new for Dave, yeah, it pretty much freak him out! A wander through Battambang Park felt like a celebrity walk on the red carpet in Hollywood! Smiling, waving, greeting the people... strange.
While we were at Angkor Wat we saw a group of monkeys grazing on the edge of the forest, so we went down to watch them for a while. After 10 minutes or so they wandered over to us. A couple of them were only little a little smaller than the size of your forearm- wrist to elbow. They decided that my hair braids were pretty cool and began playing with them and trying to eat the beads off the ends of them. One also grabbed my upper arm (very soft little hands) and began "kneading" it then looked up into my eyes, turned his head on the side and proceeded to attempt to take a bite!!!!!! David thought this was hilarious, unfortunately I did not.
While in Battambang - pronounced Batt-thom-bong - we did a Khmer cooking class. The trip to the market was an eye opener- You name it it was there for sale. Fish jumping out of small boxes trying to escape. Watching as they bash the fish on the head to half kill it then de-scale it. The underlying violence is still prevalent today. The cooking class was really good, we learnt a few new tricks - aside from how to kill a fish Khmer style! The only two downers we had was that everything we made was out of control spicy. All six of us couldn't finish our food! the other was that I watched 8- 10 kids sniff glue across the road the whole morning. But the upside was that our left overs went to the kids and so they didn't bother us for money when we left. Maybe that's why our food was so spicy??? We made 2 new friends Alex & Nick from Hamilton in N.Z. and hope to catch up with them on the snowfields one day. We caught a bus to Phnom Penh with them and had drinks and dinner that night. We stay at the Okay guesthouse which is more than that- its cool as! Internet, restaurant and good guys working here. Of course all waiters here freelance as a tuk tuk drivers (or maybe its the other way around!) so that makes for convenience for us and them!
The first day Map took us to the Tuol Sleng Museum or as it was know during the war S-21. It used to be an old high school. The Khmer Rouge now deny it existed. Where they believe (they have founds loads of records/confessions and photos) 20,000 men, women and children were imprisoned, tortured for confessions and eventually murdered. They mainly picked out anyone who was educated, lawyers doctors, teachers and anyone to do with the military. The kids were re-trained into killing machines, oh sorry, I meant guards. An Australian died here to you know, I believe he was a journalist. I can't explain to you why this happened, but I cried for the thousands lost. I could go on for a long time about the things that happened in this horrible place along with the other things that happened at the Killing Fields itself, but I feel it is to morbid. they have a large memorial set up there at the killing fields full of skulls, bones and clothes from the mass graves they uncovered there. It is truly gut wrenching and yes you can still see pieces of bone and clothing sticking out of the ground, remember it was only 30 years ago. I was 2 when it "ended". The really war did not end until 1999 according to the Cambodians. check out this if you want to know some more, or refresh your memory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War
Pol Pot was a pure evil person and I am quiet happy to say that he is dead, but unfortunately he died of natural causes and was never brought to justice.
I guess you call this a POSITIVE in a strange way- Now that there is not so much warring going on over here that a heap of shooting ranges have opened up. Before we went to the killing fields we took a side track to a range. For a (smallish) fee you can shoot pretty much any gun/ pistol you can think of, especially if it was made in Korea, Russia or America. Even a bazooka thingy!- but I tell you if there had of been any mention of blowing up cows, Acey would have been swinging punches- army dudes or not!!! That's just not right. It clearly states on the "menu" that you are not permitted to take a photo of it! bugger! So Daveo went for an AK-47 It was VERY loud! I think he had 20 shots, doing single ones first and then rapid for the last. Man what a noise! I took video and photos and he was allowed to keep the target paper he shot. A large grin on the face of Daveo puts this as being a positive! Although map asked us not to tell anyone that we went there - purely for the reason that he would have to pay off someone else. Desperate to keep every dollar for themselves. Fair enough.
Yesterday we strolled around the grounds of the Royal Palace where there is a Silver Pagoda. The whole floor is silver tiles (very cool) With two Buddhas, one is emerald- well its jade really and the other is gold with 2086 diamonds and rubies encrusted in it.
The rain is amazing it comes usually at 2.30 every day and really pours down its great! The locals get out in it and shower wash hair clothes that they are wearing the works its quiet funny to watch!
- Thats enough mayhem hey?! OK so that's all for this war torn exotic country that's slowly picking up its feet and trying to carry on and get its head above water. And there is allot of water around.
Its been hot, beautiful, really heart wrenching and oh so REAL.
Oh yeah its official we will be departing Bangkok at midnight on the 20th of September so that means.........
Back in Melbourne on the 20th, 12 noon! Do I need to say we expect some sort of welcoming party, even if it is a Wednesday! You have enough notice!
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