Cambodia 2020 - 21. Butterfly Farm

21. Butterfly Farm

Peace!

Entrance

“Once upon a time, I, Hans, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Hans. Soon I awakened, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things."

The Clipper Moth

Coming out of the Landmine Museum and then going to the butterfly park kind of reminded me of this Taoist poem. This is known as the: The Tenets of Valid Cognition.

Traveling from the Landmine Museum to the Butterfly Park really was a contrasting experience, or maybe we needed that. Maybe we needed a soothing place, a small nature path leading us in a roundabout way back to the entrance.

Papilio Memnon

We did not see that many butterflies, though.

In the right mood this place might be magical, it has small niches to have tea, it is quiet and relaxing and the world passes by outside. It’s just you and the butterflies. 

But we just could not manage to get ourselves into this kind of thinking.

2 Great Mormon, One Male and One Female?

At the time I thought this place was a rip off, but now, writing this blog I think we should have had a cup of tea.

I’ll pass on any judgments now… good or bad…. It’s a Butterfly Conservatory.  Admission is $6 per person.

Cambodia 2020 - 20. Landmine Museum

20. Landmine Museum

Written by the Founder Who Had Been a Child Soldier After Parents Were Shot

On the way back from Banteay Srei, Mr. Touch #2 took us to the Landmine Museum, it was a stop he recommended.

The Khmer Rouge planted millions of mines all throughout Cambodia.

It might have been an act of desperation but it sure was extremely stupid.

Trying to Give Back to His Country

The mines were laid down without a master plan, without any plan whatsoever. The ‘soldiers’ of the Khmer Rouge were just told to mine this field, these woods, that piece of land, etc and were given unlimited mines and the boys or girls just went out and put them in the ground. Nobody knows where they are.

 

Samples of the Many Bombs and Mines That Were Found

There are a few larger, heavy duty mines for tanks, trucks and vehicles.

But the majority are smaller mines, all were set haphazardly; all were set as anti-personnel mines. The museum showed the kind of mines used.

 

Caltrops, Spiked Weapons Planted in the Ground

After the Khmer Rouge disbanded, the land, the woods full of landmines, was not usable, was even dangerous to enter. Rice paddies, bamboo groves, usable lumber areas all were ruined by sleeping, lethal mines; large and small ones of different makes.

Still Has Live Ammunition In It

It’s a disaster. Young children were used to disarm the mines because their weight was so low that mines did not trigger a lot of times, but there were also trip-wired mines, or other mines that killed or maimed many a child until the government decreed certification necessary to de-fuse mines. Like the dreaded Claymore Mine.

Found Less Than a Year Ago

Even today in 2020, large areas in Cambodia are still ‘mined’. There are an estimated 3,000,000 still active land mines in the ground in Cambodia.

Rats are used today to sniff out the TNT in the ground.

I will write another blog about those rats later and explain how

More Bomb and Mine Samples

they do it. Rats are good sniffers; they found 4,500 mines in 2019 alone and 36,000 bombs or grenades.

This stop was a shocking reminder that the time of the Khmer Rouge still has residue that kills people, yes, even today. A log is kept of how many people are killed each year by landmines.

Child Soldier Taken by
Khmer Rouge When He Was 5 Yrs. Old

What is disturbing is that the “Anti – Mine“ Treaty signed in 1997 by 141 countries in Ottawa, Canada, was rescinded this year by Mr. Trump.

Why use mines, they don’t kill people only during war times but more people die from mines AFTER a war or conflict stops. Mines are really, really bad.