Day 6 - A History Lesson

Day 6 - A history lesson
I was hoping that today we would be given the opportunity to sleep in... yeah that didn't happen because we were up and out at 7. We first stopped to see the Royal Palace which was built in 1866 and looked gigantic from the outside. Sadly it was closed so we were forced to see the silver pagoda instead. This was equally as impressive. It was adjacent to the royal palace and was a large square plot which yes you guessed it... Had a pagoda in the middle and many small pagoda's to the side. I decided that today I would shoot everything at a fixed 18mm on my camera adding a wide angle effect. It worked pretty well. We didn't have a tour guide so we made a loop around the grounds allowing our imaginations to run wild of what this place was like back in the day. It was so hot here that after about 30 minutes I had sweat through my shirt and wanted to leave. Reanna applied layers of sun screen and hid under her umbrella because she says she hates the sun. Upon exiting the silver pagoda we were surprised by the streets outside the royal palace. They were filled with no joke every school child in Cambodia lined up in organized rows. I believe they were welcoming some form of royalty back home. Soon enough we found out that it was the prime minister of Vietnam. We didn't stay long enough to see him due to the heat but that's ok.
Next we went to the genocide museum which was incredibly sad. We learned all about Pol Pots reign on Cambodia from 1975 - 1979 with the Khmer Rouge. At this time Pol Pot tricked the people of Cambodia into becoming communist. He got rid of the currency, burnt down Phnom Penh's buildings, and started moving everyone from the city out to the country to farm and do his dirty work. We were at S-21 an old highchool that was taken over by the Khmer Rouge and used for detention, interrogation, inhuman torture, and killing post confession. There were four three story school buildings all transformed into killing centers. The Kmer Rouge wanted to get rid of anyone with an education or mind of their own. They took in teachers, lawyers, doctors, business men, and tortured them until they divulged 10 names of those people who were against the communist takeover. We saw where they were tortured by water, weapons, and even electricity. Many people died during the interrogation. Others who broke down and gave names were still sent off to the killing fields and slaughtered. It was an extremely quiet tour because we were all in shock. Hung had her video camera and was able to catch it all on film. At the end we had many questions for Dr. Khauv because he was there during this time. He told us how the people of Phnom Penh were told propaganda that the Americans were going to bomb the city in three days. This is when the Khmer rouge arrived and were applauded being welcomed to the city as saviors They had no idea that the killing would begin three hours later. He said how his family was lucky as 2 out of the 7 million total Cambodians were slaughtered. The Khmer Rouge consisted mainly of children between the ages of 15 and 18 because they were so impressionable. Many of whom turned in their own families and were programed not to listen to their elders. They walked the streets with large assault rifles often 2/3rds their height. He told us how his father was forced to work in the fields (they survived on rice broth 2Xs a day and became extremely famished.) somehow they managed to escape to Vietnam by hiring a guide to take them through the jungle. When they arrived at the boarder they were thrown in jail because they had no papers. They remained there for 30 days until his father, papa khauv bribed his way out with a gold omega watch. They escaped to the jungle and took a boat to Thailand to be transferred to a rescue site. It was an inspiring story especially at the S-21 site.
Our next site was equally disturbing. It is called the killing fields. It is exactly what it sounded like; a field used for killing. This field was where those from S-21 were killed and put into mass graves. There were over 21,000 bodies buried here . Many of which were woman and children. Here they used no guns that way it was kept a secret. They played loud music over speakers so the screams of the murders were muffled from those who were soon to die. Many of the skulls seen here had been crushed due to blunt trauma to the head with assorted gardening tools. We even saw how they used palm trunks or plastic bags as weapons. Here we saw a large monument devoted to the lives lost during these 4 years. It was filled to the top with the skulls excavated from the burial site. The craziest part of this tour was that as we were looking at the mass grave sites we were literally walking on human bones sticking out of the ground. Clothes were also under our feet half buried, a reminder that this took place only 30 years ago. I think by this point of the day I was in the mood for a happier setting. But thus didn't happen quite yet. It was here at the killing fields where Phil started having bad stomach pains and kept having to make trips to the wash closet. Nick soon followed with similar symptoms. Chris and I were laughing about the whole process.
Dr. Khauv surprised us with a sunset cruise which was beautiful. We were out on the river once again, but this time with astonishing views of the city back lit by a sunset. We drove past towns made of boats tied together and saw many fisherman pulling fish out of their nets. Chris started feeling sick at this time passing out in a chair for most of the ride. I took some great sunset shots and can't wait to put them on a computer to see them. As the ship pulled back in to the dock/muddy bank we all exited the boat besides Chris because he was hanging over the side feeding to fish. We had to take him back to the hotel before dinner.
Dinner tonight was probably one of the best times I've had on the trip. Dr. Khauv's aunt invited us all over for dinner as long as we brought a table and adjusted more of her family. She lived on top of her watch store not to far from out hotel. It's a prime location in the city. We all piled into her house and sat at 2 tables made of wood with mother of pearl inlays covering the pieces. These tables were also surrounded by a set of 8 chairs and 2 love seats that matched. The set was probably valued close to 100,000 dollars! The food started flying in. We had chicken, pork with crispy skin, soup, and a veggie noodle dish. Rice we learned in Cambodian is called bye. More bye more bye we kept saying. Nick tricked me at the second nights dinner about hot peppers so I got him back when he asked me about how hot the pepper sauce was tonight. He poured it all over hahaha! It was delicious though. After dinner the food kept coming... We had coconut banana soup OMG so good. We also had some fruit I had never had before one called jack fruit and the other mangosteen... so good. Ok so this is where the night got crazy! Dr. Khauv convinced his cousin to come and join us and get adjusted. She is married to the princes son so yes that means she is royalty. She loved getting adjusted and after Hung taught her all about chiropractic and how it's all based off of the bodies neurology and nervous system. She became so fascinated by it that she insisted that Dr. Khauv come back to her palace and adjust her kids. While at the house we adjusted close to 25 people! For some reason they really liked me and made special requests for me to adjust them. They were so much fun because many of them spoke some English. I was taught how to say face down "cap mook" and face up "pnah". Nick and I talked later that night about how we had never felt more welcome in a strangers house before, it was great. After adjusting everyone including the maids we said our goodbyes as they loaded my arms with bundles of fruit. Even these tiny mangos that were super sweet. That night was fantastic but when we got home Nick got super sick. He was in and out of the bathroom all night. Poor guy I hope he feels better by the morning because we have a 7 hour bus ride tomorrow.