Pol Pot and Phnom Penh

Monday evening again

A couple of days of contrasts.

We arrived yesterday. We were told that we didn't need the local currency as everything is priced in dollars - and certainly as tourists that seems true. Yesterday lunch we went out to a local restaurant which served gorgeous Khmer food in really pluch surroundings. After visiting the National Museum we went to the Foreign Colonials Club (FCC) overlooking the Mekong. 3 floors up in very swanky colonial type surroundings sitting drinking cocktails at $5.50 a go. Such a contrast to the street below.

Last night we went to another restaurant high over the river. The chef/owner was an American who had travelled the world for 40 years and wanted to settle. This restaurant served the most amazing food I have eaten - flavours danced of the tongue. He came out and talked us through every item - where the meat came from or fish or pasta, how it was cooked. So Veal from Italy, Steak from Scotland, Trout from Australia... amazing. Afterwards back into the library which was a comfy area inside for liquers (on the house). The meal cost English prices. We asked him why this and why Phnom Penh. He said that there were an increasing number of locals who now had money and had nothing to spend it on (there is a distinct lack of shops - just street stalls) so food was a way to live luxuriously. Real experience.

And today we visited the Genocide Museum in PP and the killing fields. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge existed during our lifetime but it is amazing and sickening to visit the museums and see the sheer mindless brutality of it all . In 1975 when Pol Pot took over there were 23 million people in PP. By the end of the year there were less than 3,000. Everyone was sent from the towns and cities (as these were imperialistic) to grow rice. There was no money, cars, tvs, papers, etc.. basically nothing. He also killed 2 million of the 7 million Cambodians during 1975 to 1979. But not a simple killing , oh no. Tortured then starved you for 3 months first , then took you to the killing fields (there are 340 of these around Cambodia each with mass graves that had 100 people in each grave). So when you got to the killing fields rather than shoot you they bashed you over the head with an iron bar or bamboo stick . You fall into the grave and they put another 100 on top of you. Guess what if you weren't dead you would be soon because they tipped ddt (fertiliser) over the grave to keep the smell down and kill you in case you survived the iron bar.

The prison 21 showed pictures of the prisoners when they arrived and also during and after torture and was terribly unpleasant and uncomfortable. Of the 17,000 who were taken to prison 21 only 7 were lewfdt alive at the end. Oh and get this. When you arrived at the prison with your family (You always turned up with your family because if you were accused then they rounded up the whole family as you were all contaminated ) they took you upstairs to the detention room and took away any children you had under 12 and killed them straight away as they had no purpose and were noisy!!!

And we sit there and complain that our towels haven't been changed..

Off on a 330km trip to Siem Reap (centre to visit Angkor Wat) tomorrow. We will be stopping at a village whose speciality is deep fried crispy spiders... (Shell I shall be thinking of you...)