| An S21 child Posted Tuesday, 25 July 2006 | ||
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| We have made it to a Cambodian 'resort'. It has proper turquoise sea, white sand and stuff just like in the brochures... we've done pretty little as there isn't an awful lot to do and also I have been ill. more about that later. We hit Phnom penh and soon hooked up with Dougaroo...Cambodia is probably the worst poverty we have seen so far, juxtaposed with massive hotels and flash cars. there is obviously a pocket of people who pocket the peoples money..(corrupt government workers so my moto driver believed) the rest seem to live pretty basically doing what they can to get some dollars. as a traveller this can be quite full on, but completely tolerable so far. We had to visit the Killing Fields out of town and the S21. The Killing Fields were as you can imagine, horrific. There is a sort of memorial type tower and within it the skulls of 6000 people found in the mass graves about 50 yards away. so you take a wander to the trenches where they have dug and to be honest there isn't an awful lot to see the trenches are a bit pond like now, with a bit of rubbish in them and the occasional sign saying how many bodies they found. however where you are actually walking the higher ground path ways, if you look a little closer are fragments of clothes and bone just under your feet. under trees there are whole bones, whole bits of clothes thrown in a heap. I can't quite describe the feeling when you realise what you are walking on. Pol Pot and the leaders of the Khmer Rouge have never been brought to justice for this and so the excavation of the mass graves was an exercise in collecting evidence for the war trials. there is a definite feeling that there is unfinished business here and that it is all still in progress. children seem to run around the place like a another bit of play ground asking for pens and dollars. I suppose being a tourist you are more used to staying behind red rope with a 'museum' bit about what happened here. but i suppose it isn't in the past and the story of what happened hasn't been concluded yet. Moving on to the S21 which was a school turned into headquarter base for the Khmer Rouge to torture and kill people (men, women, children and babies) thought to be against their regime. There still existed the classroom come cells, photos of the prisoners and torture implements. again a very somber place. As most you can appreciate, when offered to go shoot a AK47 after just seeing the Killing Fields I happily declined feeling that shooting guns a human shaped targets may somehow be disrespectful, nay just a bit f**king sicko. however I have had the displeasure of meeting gap yearers who have taken advantage of dodgy and impoverished soldiers who run this scam. the silly b*tch in question after guzzling cheap vodka and redball told me what an ''adrenaline buzz it was, maan'' and how ''it doesn't hurt like she thought it would'' and how she ''wasn't weird or nuffing, cos she didn't buy a live chicken to shoot or nuffing, cos that would just be sick''.. how do these people get passports and get to come to countries like this?? how i didn't deck her was a miracle. God only knows what the Cambodians think of idiots like her and her mates... After this day we had to get drunk and ended up in a club called the 'Heart of Darkness'. This was after a gay bar, where i managed to hook up with a bloke (a ha ha much to the boys disbelief - still got me touch!). he turned out to be a bit of an arrogant arse (he ACTUALLY said "people say I look like Brad Pitt', when i haven't got the stubble (you wot?)), but funny dancer none the less. The boys did equally as well. We also managed to bump into an actor from Hollyoaks and now Casualty who was getting his jig on with a couple of 'bar girls' (prostitutes). we have checked him out online and he is married, this is so being sent to Holy Moly for world wide coverage. We also went to visit an orphanage for street kids to get us some kiddie lovin (not in the Gary Glitter kind). We took them a sack of rice and meat and stuff. the kids were all happy enough and doing usual kids stuff. Doug and Ben had on average two kids dangling off them or demanding 'aeroplanes' at any one point. I seem to attract the teenage girls who just seemed to want to hang around looking cool. There were also really little ones who got passed around the kids who had no nappies or anything on, i was a little weary ( just how do you know when they are going to pooh?) the kids all disappeared, then we heard the TV on and saw about 50 kids huddled in a room watching something that looked like 'Planet of the apes'. they didn't seem to notice us go..! there were 114 kids in all and all ages. the place was put together by an ex monk, after the regime as many children were made homeless and orphans. They had basic facilities, but received some training in boxing, traditional dancing some English lessons they also go to school. In a beach resort now where I have mostly been ill. I have no idea what it is, but have convinced myself off all sorts. It is not bad enough to bother the Cambodian health system. Besides if I was in the UK the doctor would undoubtedly say it was a 'virus' and 'carry on taking whatever i am taking', oh and 'next please..' I have been out and NOT drank and just watched in horror everyone else getting wreaked and started doing fire twirling on the beach.. Ben, Doug and another friend Karen are on a day trip to a national park and I am emailing you and taking it easy. I might go meet some people I got chatting to last night from Manchester for some grub (one guy had been a president of a Student Union, oh how we japed about student politics!) . Hope you are all enjoying some sunshine and getting excited about going away somewhere. If you are at a loss as to what to do, need an idea and have a few quid I will be in Thailand from about the 17th june for a couple of weeks or so doing the Islands then down to Malasyia ...if you fancy it?! those of you getting excited about the world football wotsit. Get a life.... it is just men kicking a little ball around. wendy has spoken. | ||
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