National Museum and Royal Palace

Well, I've been absent for a couple of weeks. I've mostly been busy working on projects for work, feeling pleasantly busy. I'll admit I've been pretty distracted and feeling too lazy to write anything for HWL. So, I'll just post some pictures of the Royal Palace and National Palace. These were taken back in June while I was on Transitions Global's engagement trip. It was a wonderful introduction to Phnom Penh and some cool NGOs operating here. They usually host two trips a year if you're interested!
Enjoy the photos...

National Museum

National Museum

Royal Palace

Royal palace

First Week in Phnom Penh

The Blue Pumpkin's comfy couch.

I'll admit that after living in China for nearly half a year, I was pretty excited about some of the western amenities Phnom Penh has to offer. Mostly the western food. When I was in China, I mostly ate Chinese food and I loved it. But sometimes you just have a hankering for western food--something with dairy products and real meat in it. Don't get me wrong, there were some really good western restaurants in Chengdu. But Phnom Penh has sooooo many options. This city actually has pretty decent Mexican food (sorry Peter's Tex Mex), even if it can be a bit pricey.

I was over the moon when I found these. No more tomato or steak flavored chips for me!

You think the new Lays Chicken and Waffles chips are...different? Try cucumber, seafood, or kimchi (this one is actually pretty good). Cheese flavored chips are not readily available in China, they're kind of a specialty item. BBQ isn't quite BBQ either. And one can only eat so many cans of Pringles. So when I found KETTLE BRAND CHIPS at the mini-mart near my hotel, I squealed with delight. 

Mango smoothies everywhere you go...so happy...

Another plus was the great Cambodian/Thai/Vietnamese food. I've had some very good Pad Thai and phở, as well as Khmer amok and lok lak. And as a mango-lover I can never get enough of the dried mango slices, mango ice cream, and smoothies. Just...heaven.

  At the Blue Pumpkin. No more squatty potties.

The Blue Pumpkin is one of the first restaurants I went to, and still one of my favorite. Does it get any better than eating fried spring rolls and mint ice cream on a fluffy white sofa? No, no it doesn't. They also bring you towels soaked in peppermint oil to help cool you off after being outside in the searing heat. Genius.

I participated in the Transitions Global engagement trip during my first week in Cambodia. James and Athena Pond took us to some of the best restaurants in Phnom Penh. It was the first time I had tapas, and it was fantastic. Before I left China, I was in a bit of a Shao Kao rut, so all this international food really woke up my palate.

Tapas at Cafe Yejj

About to eat some tapas!

As part of the engagement trip we got to tour some of the other NGOs operating in Phnom Penh. Daughters of Cambodia is an NGO working with victims of sex-trafficking and sex-exploitation in Cambodia. Their approach is a bit different than Transitions, one of the differences is that they work with women (not minors). They have a factory that produces beautiful gifts/souvenirs and they also have a restaurant. Find out more about them here.

The Daughters of Cambodia store.

Bunny Nuggets from Cambodia Knits

One of the unique (and cutest) NGOs we visited was Cambodia Knits. They're a social enterprise that seeks to empower marginalized communities in Phnom Penh and provide them with a way out of poverty. Their stuffed animals are totes adorbs. I had to buy some of these tiny bunnies. Too. Cute. All of their products would make great baby shower gifts! Find out more about Cambodia Knits here.

In a tuk tuk.

So, after learning a bit more about Phnom Penh, some of the great NGOs here, and the organization I would be working with for the next 6 months, I was very excited to begin my internship! What a great way to begin my life in Cambodia. After all that good food, though, my next step should be to find a treadmill...

Tuol Sleng (the Genocide Museum)

**Trigger warning: This post talks in detail about the acts of genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge and there are also some pictures of human remains that some may find disturbing**

Before it became Prison S21, Tuol Sleng was a high school, as you can see evidenced by the original blackboard.

So the second place I visited in Phnom Penh was Tuol Sleng (the genocide museum). What a cheery start, right? But really, it was truly fascinating and gave me a new context in which to view Cambodian culture.

Graves of some of the prisoners who died within S21's walls.

 Between 1975 and 1979, the former high school was used as a Security Prison. It housed "enemies of the people," who were tortured, starved, and ultimately executed. The prisoners were forced to give confessions for crimes they did not commit. Most of the prisoners were Cambodian, but there were quite a few foreigners who died at Tuol Sleng. Twenty-six year-old year old British national John D. Dewhirst was the youngest foreigner to die within S21's walls.

1. You must answer accordingly to my question. Don’t turn them away.

2. Don’t try to hide the facts by making pretexts this and that, you are strictly prohibited to contest me.

3. Don’t be a fool for you are a chap who dare to thwart the revolution.

4. You must immediately answer my questions without wasting time to reflect.

5. Don’t tell me either about your immoralities or the essence of the revolution.

6. While getting lashes or electrification you must not cry at all.

7. Do nothing, sit still and wait for my orders. If there is no order, keep quiet. When I ask you to do something, you must do it right away without protesting.

8. Don’t make pretext about Kampuchea Krom in order to hide your secret or traitor.

9. If you don’t follow all the above rules, you shall get many lashes of electric wire.

10. If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharge.

Tortures were carried out in former classrooms.

Over 17,000 people were imprisoned in Tuol Sleng. We only know of 12 survivors. Tortures were carried out on metal cots in the old classrooms. Car batteries, beatings, and pestilence broke the morale of the prisoners. Some of them managed to commit suicide. Most were not so lucky.

Shackles and torture devices.

Prisoners were strung up by their feet and their heads were submerged in pots of water until they lost consciousness.

The Khmer Rouge has had a lasting effect on Cambodian culture. Children of victims and perpetrators grew up next to each other. Together they had to try to piece their country back together after Pol Pot's reign of terror finally ended. We are just starting to see a generation people whose lives weren't directly impacted by the Khmer Rouge. Seeing Tuol Sleng gives you a sense of what Cambodian people's parents and grandparents went through. But still, their suffering was unimaginable.

Pictures of some of the innocent people held at Tuol Sleng.

The Killing Fields (Choeung Ek)

 **Trigger warning: This post talks in detail about the acts of genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge and there are also some pictures of human remains that some may find disturbing**

Memorial Stupa

I know I promised something a bit cheerier for my next post, but I've decided to go through my pictures and start uploading them to Her Wanderful Life. And in order to do it somewhat chronologically, I'm going to start with the first place I went to when I arrived in Phnom Penh: the Killing Fields (Choeung Ek).

One of the many mass graves

As you can tell from the pictures, the fields where this brutal part of Cambodian history took place are...gorgeous. The grounds are lush and verdant, there are flowers and palm trees, and quiet shady pathways. If you didn't know where you were it would seem like a nice place to string up a hammock and have a picnic. I don't know what I expected, but I was completely surprised by how peaceful it felt. But after having been there, it only seems right.

"The bones and teeth fragments that were exhumed in 1980 were in the ground. Nowadays, the bones and teeth fragments have come up after the flood and raining a lot, and they were collected to keep on."

There was an excellent audio tour to help guide you through the grounds. As you walked past roped off areas you would hear first-hand accounts of what went on there. Over here was a shed used to house the tools used to brutally beat people to death. And this large shady tree was used to smash babies heads in. The invisible horrors came to life as you walked silently past the many mass graves.

What was once beautiful farmland became the site of mass extermination of innocent human lives.

 It is no exaggeration when they tell you to watch for bone fragments and bits of cloth along the pathways. Over 1.3 million people were murdered at these Killing Fields during the merciless reign of the Khmer Rouge. Choeung Ek was just one of many of these camps set up to torture and kill "enemies of the people" (because pregnant women and children were such threats). There are many still scattered around Cambodia, but this is by far the most well known.

Mass grave

 During Pol Pot's reign, education and educated people were evil threats to a new "equal" society. Schools were shut down and teachers sent to places like Choeung Ek for punishment. Similar to the Cultural Revolution in China (oh, did I mention that China totally supported Pol Pot and his new government? Unfortunately, it wasn't just China.), being too educated was dangerous.

 "We will burn the old grass and the new will grow."

-Pol Pot, Quoted in Sulfur, Vol. 4 (1985), p. 53

Fragments of bone and cloth uncovered after heavy rain, now in glass cases along the paths.

In the first picture, you can see a large stupa. Inside are the unearthed skulls of many of the victims. The image of thousands of skulls and bones stacked carefully on top of each other is arresting, to say the least. I thought the way they chose to honor the victims of the killing fields was really beautiful. There was a definite solemn but peaceful feel to the grounds. Hopefully their spirits can finally find some peace.