The Other Side of Cambodia

Last post I highlighted some of the great things about Cambodia - the food, the temples, the tuk-tuks.  Phnom Penh is one of the most raw, gritty places I've been and has a very dark, recent history.  Fair warning : heavy shit coming up but it gets better at the end.

For those of you who (like me) didn't know much about Cambodia, there was a mass genocide that took place at the hands of the Khmer Rouge - a Cambodian Communist Party - between the years of 1975 and 1979.  They killed an estimated three million of their own people and wiped education, religion, arts, traditional culture, you get the point.  People were sent in masses to killing fields where they endured torture, digging their own graves and eventually being brutally killed. 

Early in the week we watched a video called We Will Not Forget documenting how this affected the arts of Cambodia.  At the time they were flourishing, having musical influences from South America, Cuba, France and the United States.  Anyone who was a doctor, artist, singer, or had any skill was killed immediately.  In just four years, almost an entire generation of artists was killed.  

After the movie, I spent an afternoon at the genocide museum in the former S-12 Prison here in Phnom Penh.  S-12 Prison was the most important prison in Cambodia holding an estimated 14,000 people during the Pol Pot Regime.  Sadly only 12 prisoners who were kept there survived.  On Friday we went to the Killing Fields.  I'll spare you the details of what we learned here, it was too gruesome and shocking. 

We rounded out the week with a trip to a village called Kampot in the countryside where we volunteered with a group called Girl Guides (think girl scouts).  These girls were so sweet and happy to have us.  Their twice monthly meetings teach them things like human rights, hygiene and encouraging them to have confidence, stay in school past grade 9 and the dangers of trafficking.  A far cry from the girl scouts we know.

SO family. If you were worried about how to possibly get my extravagant Christmas gifts to Cambodia...don't. I'll just buy more cape pants.  Click Here  to our fund raiser page.  It's going to go to some amazing local charities that really need support.  The whole group of 20 girls could go camping for $25 and an entire school/orphanage supports and educates 91 students for $800 a month.

Outside of the S-12 prison.  These 14 tombs were for the last 14 people who
died in the prison.  As the Khmer Rogue fled the killed the last prisoners and
fled.

At the Killing Fields tourists leave their bracelets on fences and trees in
memory of the hundreds of thousands of people who lost their lives here.

Strolling around the Killing Fields.  The pouring rain
added to the mood.

The delicious lunch our host for the Girl Guides prepared
for us upon arrival!

The local coffee shop in the village we visited.

SO MANY PUPPIES OUT HERE. And so cute that
even my Mom might smile.

The girls practicing their new hand-washing techniques
they learned during their meeting.

Teaching the girls basic hygiene like washing hands.  Some of
their families don't have toilets, they just dig holes to use the
bathroom.
After a lesson and a fun dance game the girls stopped for a group photo before
biking and walking home.
Following the afternoon with the girls we hiked up this
waterfall.  Which was really fun (despite it having
 more stairs than we had in Cusco.  Fun until I didn't see
 hole in the rocks and took a hard spill that is. #Fail


We took a beautiful ride into the Cambodian countryside to see some caves.
Our trip happened to be during peak rice harvesting season so we saw a lot
of action on the farms.
This countryside is beautiful! 



We wrapped up the weekend at this beautiful beach and crab market for lunch
before our ride back to Phnom Penh. 

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