Cambodia's Lasting Impression

A trip to Cambodia is not for the faint at heart. While there are beautiful sites to see, there are also harsh realities you can’t ignore. The Cambodian people have suffered through unimaginable horrors. From 1974-1980, more than half of the population of the country died, either at the hands of the Khmer Rouge or by starvation and illness. The people who remain, seem brow beaten and tired. It is not easy being a Cambodian. Life is hard. And although they could just give up, they endure and move forward. There is a sense of optimism if you look closely. The children’s smiles truly capture your soul. You want to hug each one and let them know that everything will be ok. But will it?

In 1992 UNTAC (UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia) arrived to oversee the overall reconstruction of the country and to supervise the democratic election. Although Funcinpec won, Cambodian People’s Party (CCP), Hun Sen, managed to bully and threaten his way into the title of Second Prime Minister. UNTAC agreed, God knows why, and allowed the two parties to form a unique coalition. In 1997, Hun Sen staged a bloody coup, overthrowing the First Prime Minister, Prince Ranariddh, who by the way, manipulated his way into political power many years earlier. The fact that Hun Sen is a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla has not been lost on the people of Cambodia. His strongman tactics more than shadow the ruthless ways of his old comrades and the nation’s citizens are well aware that they are living under a thinly disguised dictatorship. Why must so many people suffer in the name of power? What do these men ultimately get out of it? It is very clear, while traveling through this country that no one is looking out for majority of the people. The few rich are getting richer and the vast majority of poor are becoming utterly destitute. With the out of control increases in the cost of fuel and food how will they survive? It is understandable that the people would feel that they are so much better off than they were 20 years ago, but as an outsider looking in, there is so much room for improvement.

Siem Reap and the surrounding area offer much to see and experience. The temples of Angkor are beautiful and inspiring. A true architectural treasure of historic magnificents. The people in this area are sweet, although there are many looking for handouts, you don’t mind doing so, because your heart goes out to them. At least four days are needed to really take in the sites.

In Phnom Penh, on the other hand, there is not much to see and the overall atmosphere is unfriendly. Warnings came from everyone we met about men who may attempt to steal your belongings. The unsafe feeling was uneasy, and honestly we were anxious to leave after visiting the orphanage and seeing the Genocide Museum and The Killing Fields. The recent violent past excuses the attitude of the people. Who wouldn’t be angry after the way that they have been treated? That being said, one day is enough in Phnom Penh.

Though it may not seem like it, we are glad we came. One must always be reminded that there are unacceptable atrocities in this world. People are people wherever you go. We all want and deserve the same simple things; respect, understanding, security and love. The Cambodian’s have impacted us in a way that we will never forget. And although we were only able to help some of them in our own small way, they have impacted us in a big way. We will eternally be grateful for our blessings and keep the lessons these people have taught us, close at heart.

The Genocide Museum and The Killing Fields 1974-1979

Reading about the devastation that occurred in Cambodia in the recent past, can’t possibly make the impression that witnessing the places where it really happened does.  It is hard to imagine that people can be so brutal, cruel and heartless. These types of mass killings are part of human history. We have read about the Nazi death camps, the genocide in Rwanda, but to look at the victims in the face, row after row, room after room, of faces…is a painful reality. It was incredibly emotional and difficult to see, to take photos of, to view the documentation of senseless killing. It’s frightening that this happened in our lifetime.

In April 1975, screaming soldiers armed with AK47’s entered government buildings, offices and homes in Phnom Penh and ordered everybody out. They told them they could come back in 3 days, as the Americans were planning to bomb the city. They then marched them in a mass exodus to the countryside, where for the next four years they were forced into slave labor to meet Pol Pot’s revolutionary dream. 

Pol Pot had devised a plan of turning the country into an agrarian utopia through an ultra-Maoist regime.  He scratched the calendar and began at year zero.  The name of the country was changed under his fanatical rule to the Democratic Kampuchea. Books, music, arts and religion were all abolished. Any person who was educated was instantly executed. It is believed that over 1.7 million people died during this time. Families were separated and those who survived were subjected to starvation and torture. 

The Khmer Rouge gathered over 17,000 people over four years, to what was called Security 21 (S21), a former school in Phnom Penh.  It is now called the Genocide Museum.  The killers who detained the victims would first photograph each as they entered and again as they tortured and ultimately killed them. These photos are on display in the rooms of the prison. The faces are haunting, women and babies, children, men, even a few foreigners. It didn’t matter to them how old or young the people were that they brutalized. Pure evil existed in this place. The prisoners were kept in metal shackles, starved and tortured daily for an average of two to four months for peasants and six to seven months for politicians or the educated, before they were executed.

A few quotes from Cambodian’s who survived the Khmer Rouge, taken from a book we picked up, “Children of Cambodia’s Killing Fields”: 

“They told us we were VOID.  We were less than a grain of rice in a large pile.  Our lives had no significance to their great Communist nation, and they said, “to keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss.”

“Before people were butchered they were forced to dig small pits. None of us had the energy to fight back, because we didn’t have enough food to eat. After the pit was ready, the soldiers tied our arms and ordered us to kneel near the edge of the pit. Then the soldiers hit us with heavy hoes, bamboo sticks or axes. There were shouts of pain and moaning. Blood ran from our nostrils, ears, mouths as the objects crushed the backs of heads. Some did not die when pushed into the pit, so they were shot in the head and covered with dirt.”  

These pits became known as The Killing Fields.

Staring Real Poverty in the Face

Cambodia’s Tonle Sap is said to be the largest lake in Southeast Asia and its most interesting attractions are floating villages.  We drove down an extremely dusty dirt road that only existed during the dry season.  Come rainy season, the road will sink up to 30ft. below the river that flows into the mouth of the lake.  The river is low and looks more like a mud creek.  The people living along the banks are so poor.  They dwell in bamboo huts lifted off the ground with wooden poles, maybe 4 inches around.  It’s so hot that everyone has gathered under the only shade there is; the dried palm roofs.  There are no trees, just a blanket of baked brown.  We stopped at one point to take some photos and several children ran over to the car, some clothed, some not.  They begged, “one dollar please, just one dollar”.  We were sure it was the only English they knew.  Their dirty, sweet, little faces were so desperate.  In the few seconds it took us to reach for our wallets to find some singles, more children came to the window and now they were fighting for the front spot, all reaching their hands into the car to be the one who received, what may be, the only money the family gets that day.  Pulling the dollars out created more anxiety and they were literally shaking and fighting, all yelling, “please one dollar, please one dollar”.  We handed out the bills that we had and two boys had a grip on one and neither would let go.  The driver moved ahead and we felt awful.  We have never witnessed such utter desperation. So sad.

The people who live along, and on, the river and lake have known no other life.  Families have been there for generations.  They move their homes with the flow of the water.  When the water moves down, they move their homes down, as the water moves up, the move their homes up.  As we drove closer to the lake we actually witnessed a group of people moving a home.  Unbelievable.  They are at the mercy of the weather.  Most earn their living from the fish that they catch and when the water is low, as it was while we were there, the fishing is not good.  Some run boats for locals and tourists.   We parked where the river was deep enough to get on a boat and took a trip out to the lake to see the community of people actually living, and fully functioning on the water.  We were awe struck by this unusual way of life.  It must be so incredibly difficult.  The population of this community alone is over 10,000 and there are many communities all around this giant lake.  You cannot imagine it until you see it.  Families with many children cramped in quarters some with no electricity or running water, some with what would seem, luxurious amenities, such as a TV and toilets.  They all use small boats to get around, to shop for food, to get the children to the one school at the mouth of the lake, to visit their neighbors.  Most are from Vietnam and are highly discriminated against by the Khmer people. 

This place is a photographer’s dream…an intriguing image in every direction.  As we docked at the floating restaurant, many small boats followed us, each carrying small children begging for money, “one dollar please.” The mother’s would have bananas to sell.  One child had a large snake in a metal basket that he wanted to take out and show us.  Eek, take the dollar, quick!  The most creative getup, was a little girl, who stood at the front of the boat like a lake princess.  She had a colorful bunch of flowers on top of her head, a bright plaid dress, a pacifier attached to a ribbon as a necklace, and a snake wrapped around her neck.  She deserved a dollar for the most innovative, for sure.  What a crack up!  More boats pulled up as we ate lunch.  Our guide told us to ignore them or the whole village would show up.  The lunch was fried rice, although in hindsight, we should have passed and waited to eat at a more sanitary establishment.  I paid the price the next couple of days, if you know what I mean. 

We found this lifestyle absolutely intriguing.  How anyone can survive this way is incredible.  The hardest life title goes to the tenacious people of Tonle Sap.