The Killing Fields are a dismal and raw reminder of the Khmer Rouge's social engineering and rule in Cambodia. Led by Pol Pot, who envisioned an agrarian-based communist society which devoted its human resources to agricultural output, particularly a massive increase in rice production, the Khmer Rouge carried out a massive genocide mainly between 1975 and 1978. This was inspired by Pol Pot's ideology of self reliance, similar sounding to the juche philosophy which is idealized by North Korea. In this new agrarian-based society, individuals educated in any kind of Western or non-agricultural practice, such as the doctors and lawyers in Cambodia at that time, were summarily rounded up and executed at killing fields like Choeung Ek, which I visited outside Phnom Penh. Many were kept and tortured first in the Tuol Sleng center, now the Genocide museum.
Though today the number killed is debated, most estimates put it somewhere between 1.4 million and 2.2 million, or, as the audio guide we were given at Choeung Ek said: think of your own country, and imagine if one and every five people in it were murdered.
Showing posts with label Cambodia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cambodia. Show all posts
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Cambodia: The Road to Angkor
Journal excerpt, January 17th, 2012
I wake up to the gentle breeze of an air conditioner blowing over my shorts-clad legs. What?? I left Korea in strict sub-zero temperatures yesterday afternoon, the han-cheon river running through Yecheon frozen solid enough to skate on--is this really possible? I roll out of bed and trudge into the shared bathroom of the dorm style room I'm staying in at the Mad Monkey hostel. I shower and go downstairs to the lobby, one side open to the street, and get my first glimpse of Cambodia in daylight.
Last night my plane got in late and after taxiing to drop of my bags at the hostel I went out in search of cheap eats. I was immersed in humidity, recalling drenched memories of summer in Japan and Korea, except amazingly it's mid-January. Definitely the furthest south I've ever been.
After eating my first Cambodian dish--a bunch of things I pointed to all placed on a plate, including curried stewed beef, eggs and rice--a hostel mate I had just met and I ordered a couple domestic beers for the road and then discovered we couldn't find our hostel again (later we'd discover that this was because they turned off the lights, took the signs in and closed the steel gates out front for security after a certain hour). After wandering around a half-lit suburb of Phnom Penh, palm fronds and exotic plants looming lusciously in tropical shadows off and over the street, we finally gave up and paid a passing tuk-tuk (motorcycle pulling a small carriage) to find our hostel for us. After even he circled through the area twice without finding it, he was successful and I crashed in my bed to wake up this morning.
I order some food for breakfast and sit down to wait, glad I got up early and have a full day ahead. Outside I can see massive tropical plants fanning out greenly in front of buildings. Green! The air smells moist, fertile and decidedly wild, even here in the capital.
Today I head out to Siem Reap where I'll stay for the next four nights. I've bought my bus ticket already, opting for the six hour bus (as opposed to the four hour option), intent on taking in lots of the countryside of this jungle rich land. Ahead of me after that lay the temples of Angkor.
I wake up to the gentle breeze of an air conditioner blowing over my shorts-clad legs. What?? I left Korea in strict sub-zero temperatures yesterday afternoon, the han-cheon river running through Yecheon frozen solid enough to skate on--is this really possible? I roll out of bed and trudge into the shared bathroom of the dorm style room I'm staying in at the Mad Monkey hostel. I shower and go downstairs to the lobby, one side open to the street, and get my first glimpse of Cambodia in daylight.
Last night my plane got in late and after taxiing to drop of my bags at the hostel I went out in search of cheap eats. I was immersed in humidity, recalling drenched memories of summer in Japan and Korea, except amazingly it's mid-January. Definitely the furthest south I've ever been.
After eating my first Cambodian dish--a bunch of things I pointed to all placed on a plate, including curried stewed beef, eggs and rice--a hostel mate I had just met and I ordered a couple domestic beers for the road and then discovered we couldn't find our hostel again (later we'd discover that this was because they turned off the lights, took the signs in and closed the steel gates out front for security after a certain hour). After wandering around a half-lit suburb of Phnom Penh, palm fronds and exotic plants looming lusciously in tropical shadows off and over the street, we finally gave up and paid a passing tuk-tuk (motorcycle pulling a small carriage) to find our hostel for us. After even he circled through the area twice without finding it, he was successful and I crashed in my bed to wake up this morning.
I order some food for breakfast and sit down to wait, glad I got up early and have a full day ahead. Outside I can see massive tropical plants fanning out greenly in front of buildings. Green! The air smells moist, fertile and decidedly wild, even here in the capital.
Today I head out to Siem Reap where I'll stay for the next four nights. I've bought my bus ticket already, opting for the six hour bus (as opposed to the four hour option), intent on taking in lots of the countryside of this jungle rich land. Ahead of me after that lay the temples of Angkor.
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