Cambodia is a Mix of Sad and Happy

A cosmo in Cambodia?!
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The people of Cambodia are beautiful, with their fiendly hellos and wide smiles.  But, there is a darkness that haunts the countryside and the stories told by the few people left in the older generation.  Looking at the population of Cambodia, you may question why 50% of the people are 18 years or younger?  The Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge are the answers.  A sorid history looms over the new generation of this rebuilding country.  The former soldiers live side by side with their ex-prisoners as the country tries to reestablish its existence.

Buddhist monks collecting alms in the morning on the streets of Phnom Pehn.
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We drove into Cambodia on a public bus with several other tourists and locals heading home.  The entrance into this developing country is pretty simple.  We handed our passports over to the officials, stood in line a few minutes, and then reboarded the bus on the other side.  Our bus attendant even did all the paperwork for the visas.  It was very simple.  Much easier than the stress of getting into Vietnam.

We arrived in the mid-afternoon, and after the many hours on the bumpy roads, we were happy to stretch our legs.  Arriving into Phnom Penh, I was surprised by the modernity that co-exists with the utter poverty and filth that lines the streets.  There are nice buildings, a river walk, and bars and cafes with very westernized menus.  The fact is though, that as you sip your coffee on a padded wicker chair on the patio of your nice cafe, you stare right into the eyes of a street child forced to beg in their limited, if any, clothing as their parents watch from across the road.  How do you justify a 3 dollar coffee, when they could feed their family with that for a day or two?  My guilt was hard to cope with most of our trip.  I found out though, if you give to one, the hoards with follow you relentlessly, so it is best not to give to them directly.  Our tour arranged opportunities for us to give to the right organizations in the community to help in the right ways.  That made me feel a little better.

Some of the orphans putting on a dance show to raise money for their cause.
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As a group, we gathered at the FCC, Foreign Correspondents Club, for Happy Hour.  Yes, I too thought it was funny to have Happy Hour, but the cocktails were amazing!  I had a Cosmopolitan, and it actually tasted like a Cosmopolitan!  The club used to be where foreign journalists and photographers met to drink and comizerate.  I am not sure if they still frequent it, but the tourists sure seem to love it!  The pictures that fill the walls are amazing too, so a definate must see, if just for the wall art.  There are photos of the war and the terror, as well as the humanity of the country.  This fine balance is what facinates me here.

Some of the proud kids after the show finished.
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Our second day in Phmon Phen was more somber and historical.  We toured the S-21 Museum where photos display the soldiers, prisoners, and torture rooms of the recent past.  It was really hard to take, and we need a few breaks to breathe the fresh air.  After the informative tour of this torture prison, we didn't stop for a break.  It was right to the Killing Fields.  This is the mass grave site of 1000s of Cambodians persecuted and tortured by the Khmer Rouge.  The sight is so fresh, that clothing, teeth, and pieces of bone actually rise up out of the ground in the wet season.  We were walking on top of people's remains!  Needless to say, we were all pretty upset and angry after the tour.  How a whole country could put a few in power, use children soldiers, and murder all the doctors, lawyers, teachers--a whole generation of its own citizens is amazing!  Over 19,000 Killing Fields exist throughout Cambodia.  Millions were killed and mass graves were created to bury them all.  Some graves contain up to 450 bodies!

Our guide was a former child prisoner, and he spoke of the corruption, and how he co-exists with his former imprisoners.  His neighbor is an ex-Khmer Rouge soldier!  The country is oxymoronic in its existence at the moment, in my opinion.  The people who suffered most, are just waiting for the next generation to grow up and create change.  A change they may not see as necessary, as they are not even taught of the attrocities of the past!  The current Prime Minister/President and other head politicians are former Khmer Rouge!  They were given amnesty after the death of Pol Pot, the former leader.  As they are still in power though, supposedly without the violence, they just use the money of the government for their own gain.  The contrast of poverty and wealth in Cambodia can easily be linked to corruption and past wrong-doings.  I really had a hard time believing how people live in the day to day here!

I left Phnom Penh with frustration and anger in my veins, and utter dispair with the knowledge that I could not do much to help change.  I gave to the orphanage, bought some souvenirs made specifically by locals, and prayed that something will occur to help the whole country heal.