We left the temples behind as we took off from Siem Reap, heading towards the coast of Cambodia on a one hour flight. A quick ferry ride from busy backpacker style Sihanoukville and the airport, to much more laid-back Koh Rong Samloem Island was welcomed. This small island has no roads or utilities other than what the small “hotels” offer. Our bungalow had no AC or hot water! But it did have a view.
Our “bungalow” was directly on the beach, walking distance from the ferry “pier”
Our plans for 4 days on a small island with nothing to do? NOTHING!
But we still found a few activities; sunsets, beach, scuba diving, hiking, exploring a local fishing “village”, and great food.
However, on the 3rd night at our Bungalow, we all of a sudden were awoken to something. Mosquito bites? Couldn’t be since we had the mosquito net down. Sandflies? Maybe. Bedbugs? Definitely! I have literally spent YEARS living in hotels throughout the world due to my job working for a Hospitality Company, and from my personal travels. Never once have I experienced, nor seen bedbugs. But I guess there is a first time for everything. The Hotel relocated us to another “resort” the next day, after our night was spent in less desirable sleeping arrangements, and an entire morning going through all of our clothes, souvenirs, backpacks etc. checking for bugs.
What better way to celebrate a sleepless night? Maybe hike across the island up to an abandoned lighthouse, surrounded by big guns from the Cambodian Military. Of course.
We also manged to stop by a small local “village” with around 10-20 people living there. Based on the excitement of the locals, it didn’t seem like any tourists took this detour. They gladly showed off the pig they had just slaughtered, and were now parting out. Blood on the floor, and no refrigerator for the pig – sure thing!
After some island time, we headed back to the mainland. A quick 45 minute “ferry” ride brought you back into busy Sihanoukville. We had arranged for some “VIP Shuttle Van” to take us to the Capital, Phnom Penh – around a 3-5 hour drive depending on conditions. As our VIP Shuttle Van was full of live cockroaches, we decided this was not going to work for us. A few arguments regarding refund and threats of engaging the police didn’t yield much more results than a $10 towards a private car transfer. After having wasted a few hours already, we decided to proceed, and agreed that next time we find ourselves in Sihanouville and need to go to Phnom Penh, to just spend the extra $ and take a private car. Lesson learned. Also, I wouldn’t recommend CTT Transports unless you are obsessed with Live Coackroaches.
Driving in Cambodia, and South East Asia in general, is not for the faint of heart. These drivers are crazy. Sometimes it is just better to not look. So we had loaded up the tablet with a movie, and watched some Tombraider – how appropriate since we were just in Angkor Wat.
In Phnom Penh we had very limited time, 2 nights yielding just one full day. It also meant that our time in Cambodia was coming to an end. Instead of finishing the visit to Cambodia with some amazing fun experience; we spent most of the day learning about the extremely dark side of the Khmer Rouge/Pol Pot regime. I would highly recommend everyone to spend a few minutes reading up on this if you do not yet know the history. From 1975-1979, two million people – a quarter of the population of Cambodia were killed. Many via indescribable methods that one simply cannot comprehend humanly possible. The next few paragraphs may be rough to read and see – but since I know that most of you may never have heard of this, and I feel that we as a humanity should never allow history like this to repeat – I have chosen to spend a good part of this post on this visit.
We visited the “S-21 – Security Prison” which sits in the middle of busy Phnom Penh. This used to be a high-school, that quite frankly, looked like many other high-schools I have seen around the world. Big green courtyards with trees, even a swing. Classrooms and outdoor hallways. One could imagine teachers in front of students in these classrooms eager to learn. Staircases leading to the upper floors where I am sure a lot of kids were running (late) for their classes.
But this was no ordinary high-school after 1975. The Khmer Rouge regime used this as a prison and interrogation center. An estimated 17,000-20,000 prisoners went though this prison from 1975-1979. All but 7 were killed, and today only 3 are still alive. Let that sink in for a bit.
We got to meet one of the 7 survivors in person as he was at the prison that day, sharing his story via a book.
Most of the prisoners were simply tortured until they confessed to something. These confessions were all lies and made no sense.
A few foreigners were also imprisoned here. One of them were Kerry Hamill, a young New Zealander that was sailing with a few friends around the world, and got caught drifting into Cambodian territory. His actual confession was displayed, and referenced facts such as “He wrote that Colonel Sanders (of the chicken fame) was one of his “superiors”, the home number in Whakatane was his CIA operative number and scattered through as members of the CIA are family friends – Colonel Perram was Miles Hamill’s gliding instructor, Captain Dodds was an old friend of Kerry’s from Whakatane.” He, among the thousands of others, were simply forced to confess to things they didn’t do, then it was documented and signed, and eventually killed at the Killing Fields just outside town.
On that uplifting note; we drove to the outside of Phnom Penh to visit the actual Killing Fields (Choeung Ek). If the scene at the high school could be more bizarre, then this may have been it. A beautiful green area, with birds chipping away, even a few chickens and a rooster walking around the grassy areas, and the nearby pond/lake. Flowers in bloom and a beautiful memorial building.
The signs and the audio tours tells a much different story. Thousands of people were killed here in inexplicable ways. Ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred per day. Most were clubbed to death while kneeling in front of a mass grave. Babies and infants were simply smashed against a tree. All to save costly bullets, and to avoid any noise.
The visit to S21 and the Killing Fields left us with a deep impression. This may not be your typical vacation go-to-spot, but people travel to broaden their understanding of other people, and understanding people’s past may help you in that understanding. While no one will truly understand why Pol Pot and his regime did what they did – we as mankind must be aware of them, and never to repeat them.
The rest of our visit in Phnom Penh was spent at a few local markets, and some walking around the city. We even managed to find the exotic North Korean Embassy.
Phnom Penh seems extremely hectic and crazy at first, but the city is full, of quiet side streets and restaurants. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Cambodia. From amazing cultural sights such as Angkor Wat, to beautiful landscapes outside Siem Reap, to small islands off the coast with amazing beaches, to dark history from the Khmer Rogue Regime. I’d recommend Cambodia for anyone interested in some of this.
Next stop: Hong Kong and home to the US.
