Cambodia 2020 - 6. City Tour via Tuk-tuk

6. City Tour via Tuk-tuk

We are standing near Pub Street, near the Old Market. We had planned to spend a big chunk of time visiting in or around the Old Market but it turned out this part of the city is not for us.

In order to save the day, we chat with a young tuk-tuk driver who speaks some English and who suggests that he can show us the town of Siem Reap for $5.  He would drive us to parts of town that other tourists find popular. Hmm… it’s not a lot of money so we said: “Yes”.

Driver Bought Us Potato Rounds From a Street Vendor (Cooked, Mashed, Covered With a Sweet Sauce (Honey?)
Very Good

Riding in a tuk-tuk is fun, it’s much better than in a car, as long as the tuk-tuk moves it is pleasantly cool. The breeze cools us off. It only gets hot when we stop for awhile.

The New Market (Looks Like the Old One to Me)

So this young man now drove us through town to the New Market. That building was just like the Old Market, just newer. Duh!

Welcome?

We had a meeting of minds with this guy… he just did not get that we don’t want to shop for anything, but after our ‘chat’ he agreed to drive us to the War Museum which was a bit out of the city center. So our next stop is the War Museum.  

I did not know what to expect from a War ‘Museum’. I am a bit sensitive to the whole subject of ‘war’; especially being shown some glorification of it in, of all places, a ‘Museum’.

Helicopter Used by the Khmer Rouge

 I have been to the Stalingrad ‘War Museum’ and hated it. I have heard the ‘loser’ side of battles (my Dad was in Stalingrad on the German side) and the whole experience is too disturbing for me, brings back bad memories.

So here I am in Cambodia, visiting this place but it actually was a large

Bombs

 field on which a bunch of guns, tanks, machine guns, burial pits and a helicopter etc. are placed as reminders of a battle. There were many posters and pictures of the atrocities. 

But… this place, this museum, this ‘field’ was also a Killing Field of the Khmer Rouge.  

Child Soldiers

An attempt is being made today by the people of Cambodia to not call it a Killing Field, but to call it a Museum; a place where atrocities occurred beyond the understanding of rational people.

The time between 1975 and 1979 was a terrible era for Cambodia.

Pol Pot

One of Several Burial Pits

Totally misguided by Pol Pot, the communist leader at the time, Cambodia underwent horrendous, evil changes in its way of ruling people. Out of a population of 7.8 million people approximately 1.5 to 2 million people were killed by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

Anti-Aircraft Guns

That is close to 25% of its population.

Here I am, walking across one of those ‘Killing Fields’; a very sobering way to spend a day.

Tools of War

This ‘Museum’ had guides who volunteered to give more information, but I passed on them. Enough is enough, I don’t need to hear the details, and I get it.

Those tools used in war, which are displayed here, were not really the issue; it was the minds of the people, their thinking at the time which disturbs me.

More Guns

So I just walked all around the fenced-in premises with dulled feelings, staring at machines of destruction all around me and I felt…?

Lucky to be alive today!

Typical Red Dirt of Cambodia

I felt lucky to not have been born into Cambodia but to be born into Germany even though that was no great place to be after WWII. 

War, any war, is not the way to go!

I was a bit ‘shook’ up when we exited this ‘Museum’. But we were not finished with our tour, yet.

Buddhist Temple

Our tuk-tuk driver drove us along dirt roads, through back lanes to our next stop. 

Inside the Temple

He drove us next to, of all things, a pagoda, a place where Buddhists live and give blessings. We entered the Buddhist pagoda complex. It was a peaceful spot. A great place for reflection, for spirituality, for meditation, but it was … another Killing Field.

Ossuary

Other End of the Temple

The Drinking Water Well

Skulls were stacked in a glass case in the center of the grounds as a reminder of the evil that occurred here. 



We discovered the water well, a drinking well, where people were drowned on purpose during the Khmer Rouge period, another spot where ‘soldiers’ used babies, thrown into the air, as target practice, signs and reminders were all around us.

Desecration of the Well

It was difficult to comprehend how Pol Pot thought, how the Khmer Rouge behaved, how Cambodia was then.

The past here, like in Germany, is not what determines the true character of its people. I see the Cambodians today and they are wonderful folks.

Explanation of the Contents of  a Mass Grave

 I like Cambodia a lot better today. The smiles, the attitudes, and yes, even the not so clean conditions of the streets, etc make Cambodians likable.

Some of the Contents of the Mass Graves

But this day turned out to be a sobering discovery of a period in time within Cambodia that is still too recent to forget, too close to be thought about lightly.

A Horrendous Experience for One Man

The people who participated in and are responsible for these atrocities are still around someplace. Here they did not have a Nuremberg Trial. Most of the Khmer Rouge assimilated after 1979 back into the mainstream of the populace.

It is difficult to understand, difficult to comprehend and more difficult to accept that this evil can dwell in and among all of us.

Cambodia 2020 - 5. Tuk-tuk to the Old Market

5. Tuk-tuk to the Old Market

One of the attractions everybody recommends is the Old Market in the center of Siem Reap.

The Old Market - A Block in Each Direction

We got up early to make this a full day of exploring the inner city of Siem Reap and now, knowing not to walk, hired a tuk-tuk to take us there. My negotiations with the tuk-tuk driver landed us a fare of $2 one way. 

I had a foggy idea where

All Kinds of Rice

the Old Market was, I studied the map the hotel gave us. I learn quickly to not be taken for a ‘ride’.

Our tuk-tuk let us out a bit before the actual Market building and we walked the streets into the Old Market Hall, a huge hall with many doors and entrances. It was crowded in there. Very narrow

Dragon Fruit - White or Dark Red Pulp With Small, Black Seeds

aisles created what seemed to be a maze of stalls and merchants. Yes, you probably can buy anything in here; from clothing to food, to jewelry to whatnot. They even had ‘restaurants’ within. Already at the entrances, shack-like setups inundated us with their offerings. Like hucksters, people yelled at us to buy. “Just one dollar”: was a common approach. 

Crabs (L) Are a Specialty in Cambodia

 There was a cacophony of sounds, sights, smells and activities. 

Carol and I walked into the mayhem, slithered through the narrow, dark isles inside the market and then could not wait to get out.

Phew! NOT for us!

Preparing ???

Its not that I am claustrophobic, but I really, really don't need anything from this place, this Old Market. 

Well, that’s not really true. I did buy a knife! We needed a peeling knife for the mangoes we bought yesterday. It’s an odd looking knife but works just fine… yes, US $1. I used it every day; the knife was a bargain.

Multi-Purpose Knife, Peeler, Opener

Seriously, would you eat at the ‘restaurant’ counter in this place? If you said yes, consider the implications of the poor hygiene we witnessed. I did eat like that in Africa once, I was sick for months.

So, even though this Old Market is recommended by many brochures as THE place to visit… it was not for me.

Long, Crowded Counters

Our next planned visit was the Pub Street section; another MUST see recommendation, just a few blocks away from the Old Market. We could walk to it.

But first we had a Coke at a French Style Bistro a block from the Old Market. I picked this

Cambodian Coke

Bistro because 2 ‘older’ fellows were just sitting at a table watching the world go by. I thought, yes, that is up to my speed. Talking to them revealed they were French and I guess, about 70 years old.

Remember, Cambodia is a former French Protectorate, only gaining Independence in 1953.

Both fellows, friends, lived off their French pensions. They told me that they loved Cambodia, had been here now for the last 7 years and would

Pub Street

never go and live in France again. They found their Nirvana. Their pension money goes a long way in Cambodia and they just love the attitude of the people. Everybody always smiles, no matter their hardship. Those older men let the world go by and just enjoy each day as it comes.

Great! But a Little Early

Good for them, I thought… then asked myself if I could do that.

Well, could I?  Let me think on that one for a while, I will let you know after all the blogs.

We now walked through the section of town called Pub Street.

Cleaning Up From the Night Before

It’s a broad street with many pubs, clubs, restaurants and hubbub even along the side streets too. Remember we are at Pub Street in the early morning hour, about 10 AM and all we see is the ‘Morning After’ look, the ambiance I was feeling this morning was like a hang-over covering this Street. Let’s call Pub Street the ‘seedy’ section of town. Not really, but close!

Dara Teng, Double Amp, Blind in 1 Eye & Major Abd. Issues

The restaurants were cleaning their floors, sweeping the stuff from last night into piles. We saw shops that were closed now, since most of the activities here start after it gets dark. What we saw was the effort to keep the places ‘clean’ and attractive. It’s a young people’s section, we are old timers. “I don’t belong here” is what I thought. Again, this is not for me… any longer!

While wandering through a side street, a homemade cart, which has a bicycle/box/tuk-tuk arrangement, aims for us. A small man inside, in broken English wants to sell us books. It’s a rolling mini book store with books along one side of this panel ‘truck’. The man ‘driving’ uses his hands to pump a bicycle-like gear box contraption. He has no legs; he seems diminutive because of it.

Dara Teng and 2 of His Children

In halting English he explains that he was injured by stepping on a landmine and he is just trying to make a living, selling books to foreigners. All the books are in English. Each book, no matter the title, costs $10.

Carol and I looked at each other, we usually don’t soften too much to sob stories but here is a man who is trying to work, is trying to provide for his family. Read below his approach to making a living. Would you buy his books?  We bought 2 books –

Dara Teng's Handout - How Can You Not Support Him?

Story of a Courageous Young Girl's Experience With the Khmer Rouge.

 To be continued…