July 5, 2011: Cambodia Day 4 - Phnom Penh - royal palace, Killing Fields, Wat Phnom

 July 5, 2011: My day began at 5:30 a.m. when the friend of my driver (Seyha) and his wife (Suny) arrived to pick me up and drive me to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Phnom Penh is the largest city in Cambodia with a population of 3.5 million people. This proportion of population of the capital to the population of the country (14.5 million) seems to be consistent with the countries in Europe and Asia that I've visited in the past. Siem Reap is second in population with 1 million. The drive from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh took four hours -- four hours driving across Cambodian countryside filled with all sorts of interesting activities and scenery:

• Although it was 5:30 a.m., the road was filled with activity. I think that our car was the only one on the highway for the first couple hours of driving but there were all sorts of modes of transportation including carts powered by cows or horses or tractors. Motorcycles were also common carrying many people as previously reported as were bicycles, some of which had huge bags of vegetables making the center of gravity of these bicycles above the head of the driver. Bicycles also carried pigs (plural) stowed in wicker baskets. Some tractors pulled huge carts overfilled with furniture. There were also a lot of trucks filled to capacity with people. I saw one man lying prone and clinging to the top of a van that was traveling at least 50 mph. And when we did eventually see other cars similar to ours (a Camry) it contained around ten people -- there was even a passenger sitting to the left of the driver in the front seat (The driver's side is on the left in Cambodian cars)!

tractor toting furniture

cows being herded across road in rainstorm

• The rice fields were extraordinarily beautiful. It's really difficult to capture the beauty of it all in a picture since you need to see the entire horizon of such a scene to appreciate the beauty of it. And workers were in some of the fields giving baths to their cows, quite a sight.

• There were plastic sheets gathered up along the road. Seyha, my driver explained that these sheets are spread out and water put on them so that they can "catch" crickets which are then fried and sold as a snack. Later he also showed me a streetside stall that sells fried tarantulas as a snack food, too.
• People were leaving large batteries (the size of car batteries) along the side of the road. These batteries are the source of electricity for the people, each battery lasting about 2 days. A truck would then come along and collect the batteries, charge them, and then put them back where they found them that evening. This cost is about 50 cents per charge.

After two hours of driving, it was time for breakfast. We stopped at a hotel/restaurant that was filled with people. Here is a picture of my driver and his wife:

Seyha and Suny

Seyha couldn't resist tasting a crunchy cricket from a bag that his wife had bought. After a bowl of noodles with chicken (I got the liver and a claw of the chicken plus one tiny morsel of meat) plus Chinese tea of course, we continued on our trip. At first I found Seyha a very cautiously aggressive driver, but later he transformed to an aggressively aggressive driver -- his driving definitely got my attention: it appears that solid lines and speed limits are just "suggestions". The speed limit on this road (very congested with people, dogs, chickens, cows, etc.) was as much as 60 kph and I looked to see that Seyha was driving 80. However, later I realized that his speedometer was in mph, not kph, so that in actuality he was driving at twice the speed limit! His generous use of the horn helped people get out of our way. You can be sure I was very thankful that we returned home safely, especially since on our return trip there was a torrential rain and we passed three trucks/cars in separate accidents. Fortunately the rain did slow Seyha down a bit but as soon as we were in the clear, it was back to driving as normal. Even the poor condition of the road which at times was under construction (meaning there were all sorts of potholes) didn't particularly slow him down. I pity the uncle of Seyha whose car we were using because I bet the suspension is a mess by now.

One good thing about the speedy trip to Phnom Penh, however, was the fact that I could enter the Royal Palace when it was open (8:00 - 11:00 and 2:00 - 5:00). I only had 35 minutes to go into some of the palaces on the grounds, but that was enough for me to get a feel for the palace. There were other outdoor things I could see that didn't close during those time periods so I saw what I wanted to see:

Spires peeking from behind Royal Palace wall

Royal Palace entrance

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Leaving the Royal Palace, I saw some other nearby sites that looked interesting:

After that we drove to Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (aka Killing Fields) which was some distance out of town. If Aushwitz in Krakow, Poland was disturbing, the Killing Fields are horrific. I cannot bring myself to describe the torture that was inflicted on 3.5 million Cambodian people (men, women, children, and babies) from 1975 to 1979 ("four years, eight months, and twenty days" as Seyha says -- the exact number of days is known by all Cambodians), but  you can put the story together yourself when I tell you that machetes, sharp palm knives, and clubs were on display in the museum. I've also provided pictures of some of the signs that explained what went on. The really eerie part of my visit was in realizing how recent all of this took place -- it was while I was living in Korea and attended graduate school at Ohio State that all of this took place! How sheltered I now feel.

Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (Killing Fields)

Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (Killing Fields)

Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (Killing Fields)

Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (Killing Fields)

Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (Killing Fields)

Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (Killing Fields)

Before I move on, I'd like to mention that the real story of the parts that Pol Pot, and Sihanouk played in the massacres that took place is really not well understood. I've talked with Cambodians who revere Sihanouk and Pol Pot, stating that they were unaware of what went on. They claim that only after Sihanouk dies (He now lives in Beijing) will the real story be revealed.

After the Killing Fields, I went to the national museum:

Cambodian National Museum

Cambodian National Museum - note monks

Cambodian National Museum

After the museum, we went to Wat Phnom, a manmade mountain from which Phnom Penh gets its name ("Phnom" means "mountain" and "Penh" is the name of the people who built the mountain -- I believe I have that right since I'm recalling this from memory.) "Wat Phnom" therefore means "Mountain Monastery".

Wat Phnom

Wat Phnom

Wat Phnom

Nearby Wat Phnom was a man selling birds -- I imagine to be freed.

As we left the city, we passed by Independence Tower, the tower erected to commemorate the day that Cambodia achieved independence from the French in 1953 (I believe). Note that these pictures were taken from a moving car and in fact, one of the pictures was taken by my driver as we raced around the circle since I wasn't on the side that could see the tower.

Independence Tower with 100 dragon heads on it

Independence Tower

After my exhausting trip back to Siem Reap, I was more than ready for dinner. Here's a picture of the evening's restaurant, the Red Piano:

Red Piano Restaurant

Tonight's meal (red curry chicken with vegetables and rice plus two glasses of fresh limeade) cost $6.25. I returned to my hotel and crashed. More tomorrow when I just rest for the day.