We decided to spend the final week of our two-month trip in Borneo Malaysia. We visited Peninsular Malaysia earlier in our vacation, however Borneo has a much different feel to it. It is really laid back here, and the physical geography of the island allows for many outdoor activities. We arrived to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia from Hanoi, Vietnam late on Sunday night. Monday we took a bus to Sandakan, which is located along the east coast of Borneo Malaysia. Here, we booked a 3-day/2-night Borneo jungle trek along the Kinabatangan River.
At the beginning, I was a little bit unsure of how this jungle trekking activity would turn out, however by the end, I loved it. During our stay in the jungle, we had 4 river cruises and 3 jungle treks (2 or which took place at night). There were 6 of us in total (3 couples) that were all backpackers, so it was nice to have a small group, and we all got along really well. The river cruises basically involved us sitting in a boat that either travelled upstream or downstream for an hour or two. The first couple of river cruises we got to see various types of monkeys, birds, and a moniker lizard. However, the 3rd cruise we got to witness wild elephants alongside the riverbanks! They were pygmy elephants (not as large as regular Asian elephants, but still big nonetheless!) Our tour guide even let us out of the boat and get onto the riverbanks to get a closer look at them. Everyone who comes to this jungle basically wants to see elephants, however we were told that they are only visible every few days. The walking jungle treks were a little less exciting, but we still got to see many frogs, grasshoppers, spiders, and at night we saw a snake and an owl.
I was really happy I got to experience the jungle, as it is something that I had never had the opportunity to do before. It was just a really neat experience to basically live on the banks of the Kinabatangan River, and literally sleep 100 feet away from the jungle!
We left Thursday morning to head to Semporna. This city is well known for its nearby dive and snorkeling sites. We decided that for the last few nights of our trip we would stay in a nice hotel (SeaFest Hotel) which is the only 3-star hotel in the entire city. We are staying right at the waterfront, and the room is a couple of steps up from many of the places that we have stayed in South East Asia! Tomorrow we are going snorkling at the nearby island of Mabul. Then we catch an overnight bus back to Kota Kinabalu to catch our flight to Manila on Sunday afternoon. Monday morning is departure day, to return to the Great White North.
Hard to believe that tomorrow is basically our last free day to spend before two days of airports and flights. The trip seems like it just started yesterday!
Stay tuned for a post-trip blog.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Borneo Malaysia from Melissa
Our last week of travelling was left undecided until the last minute, this is part of the joy of backpacking, going wherever you like, whenever you like.
We did a cross comparison chart (no joke) of costs and benefits to returning to Philippines, Laos or Indonesia and then one day I happened to discover Borneo in a guide book.
Without really knowing what Borneo would offer us we decided to go and I am really glad we made this decision.
Borneo has been amazing and by far one of the greatest places we have been so far my only regret is that we do not have longer here.
We left Hanoi on August 23 (the last day of our visa) and travelled to KL in Peninsular Malaysia then we transfered to Kota Kinabalu in Borneo
Our first impression of KK was the small city feel and cleaner air.
We spent one night in KK before taking a bus to Sandakan, we didn't really know what Sandakan had to offer all we knew is that it was a good hub for tours to the jungle or mountain climbing, rafting and so much more.
The bus ride to Sandakan was beautiful, through the foggy mountain side and small villages it was a treat just to see it all.
Sandakan is another very small city in Borneo, we spent 1 night here organizing our jungle trek in Sukau.
In reality I didn't expect much from the trek, I just wanted Darryl to have the experience of outdoor adventure and nature at it's best.
Our jungle adventure consisted of 2 nights under mosquito nets (D's first time ever), in cabins; 4 river cruises on the Kinabatangan river, 2 night treks and 1 day trek.
On our tour we met an Irish and English couple who were great tour companions.
On our first cruise we say many types of monkeys including some endangered species and different types of birds. On the night trek we came close to many smaller animals such as birds, frogs, spiders and scorpions.
The next morning we had to get up at 5:50am for a morning cruise, we didn't see much except monitor lizards and birds.
That evening we were in for a real treat, we tracked wild pygmy elephants and came SO close to them, they had a baby elephant which the herd was very protective of. In total there were approximately 10 of them. I was so close to them that I could reach out and touch them (which I didn't try because they are wild animals) however I did video tape it.
We watched from for almost an hr, swimming, eating, and moving through the jungle. The only reason why we had to leave was because it was almost dark.
This is by far one of my most treasured experiences ever while travelling.
THEN the next morning we also got to see an orangutan! honestly we couldn't have asked for a better experience.
After leaving the camp, we were to take a bus to Semporna, (approximately 4 hours from Sukau) however at the highway junction we found out that the bus had broken down and we were stranded with the English couple. So Paul made a sign and the 4 of us hitch hiked. We actually ended up having a better experience than if we had taken the bus, a really nice man took all 4 of us into Semporna (which was out of his way) and we paid him less than if we had taken the local bus. He spoke very good English, wanted to show us the local sites and even wanted to make sure we had a good hotel to stay at once we arrived in Semporna. We are not naive or stupid, we know that many people here are often out to take you for your money or rob you, but this man was genuinely kind and he taught us so much about the country and it's people.
We are now in Semporna, we splurged for a 3 star hotel since it will be our last nights on vacation. Semporna is an even smaller city that is the gateway to Sipadan, one of the worlds top 5 dive sites. Due to regulations it is almost impossible just to show up here and expect to get to Sipidan to dive or snorkel (regulations only allow 120 permits per day) so we have decided to snorkel Mabul Island tomorrow which is very close to Sipidan and we have been told almost has beautiful. After that we head on our last overnight bus to KK then fly from KK back to Manila, then Manila home....
time flies
We did a cross comparison chart (no joke) of costs and benefits to returning to Philippines, Laos or Indonesia and then one day I happened to discover Borneo in a guide book.
Without really knowing what Borneo would offer us we decided to go and I am really glad we made this decision.
Borneo has been amazing and by far one of the greatest places we have been so far my only regret is that we do not have longer here.
We left Hanoi on August 23 (the last day of our visa) and travelled to KL in Peninsular Malaysia then we transfered to Kota Kinabalu in Borneo
Our first impression of KK was the small city feel and cleaner air.
We spent one night in KK before taking a bus to Sandakan, we didn't really know what Sandakan had to offer all we knew is that it was a good hub for tours to the jungle or mountain climbing, rafting and so much more.
The bus ride to Sandakan was beautiful, through the foggy mountain side and small villages it was a treat just to see it all.
Sandakan is another very small city in Borneo, we spent 1 night here organizing our jungle trek in Sukau.
In reality I didn't expect much from the trek, I just wanted Darryl to have the experience of outdoor adventure and nature at it's best.
Our jungle adventure consisted of 2 nights under mosquito nets (D's first time ever), in cabins; 4 river cruises on the Kinabatangan river, 2 night treks and 1 day trek.
On our tour we met an Irish and English couple who were great tour companions.
On our first cruise we say many types of monkeys including some endangered species and different types of birds. On the night trek we came close to many smaller animals such as birds, frogs, spiders and scorpions.
The next morning we had to get up at 5:50am for a morning cruise, we didn't see much except monitor lizards and birds.
That evening we were in for a real treat, we tracked wild pygmy elephants and came SO close to them, they had a baby elephant which the herd was very protective of. In total there were approximately 10 of them. I was so close to them that I could reach out and touch them (which I didn't try because they are wild animals) however I did video tape it.
We watched from for almost an hr, swimming, eating, and moving through the jungle. The only reason why we had to leave was because it was almost dark.
This is by far one of my most treasured experiences ever while travelling.
THEN the next morning we also got to see an orangutan! honestly we couldn't have asked for a better experience.
After leaving the camp, we were to take a bus to Semporna, (approximately 4 hours from Sukau) however at the highway junction we found out that the bus had broken down and we were stranded with the English couple. So Paul made a sign and the 4 of us hitch hiked. We actually ended up having a better experience than if we had taken the bus, a really nice man took all 4 of us into Semporna (which was out of his way) and we paid him less than if we had taken the local bus. He spoke very good English, wanted to show us the local sites and even wanted to make sure we had a good hotel to stay at once we arrived in Semporna. We are not naive or stupid, we know that many people here are often out to take you for your money or rob you, but this man was genuinely kind and he taught us so much about the country and it's people.
We are now in Semporna, we splurged for a 3 star hotel since it will be our last nights on vacation. Semporna is an even smaller city that is the gateway to Sipadan, one of the worlds top 5 dive sites. Due to regulations it is almost impossible just to show up here and expect to get to Sipidan to dive or snorkel (regulations only allow 120 permits per day) so we have decided to snorkel Mabul Island tomorrow which is very close to Sipidan and we have been told almost has beautiful. After that we head on our last overnight bus to KK then fly from KK back to Manila, then Manila home....
time flies
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Kingdom of Cambodia-Mel
I am behind Darryl in the usual blog writing, probably because most of the time I am on the Internet I am searching for cheap accommodations or activities and Darryl does a really good job of providing everyone with our updates.
However it is never to late so here are my thoughts on Cambodia....
what can I say, I have a love, love, hate relationship with this country.
Meaning I really did love this country, however at times the aggressive attitude of some drivers and children pushed my levels of patience.
To get into Cambodia, yes we took the scam bus from Bangkok, known to most lonely planet readers and Yes we KNEW we were taking the scam bus. Scam bus means they basically gouge you for whatever extra money they can, lie to you and give you a "free" tuk tuk ride to their friend's guesthouse. To us, since we knew what was going on, we excepted it and moved on, (unlike some other people on the scam bus who stayed angry for days and some people who had no idea it was a scam) along the way we meet 2 other Canadians from the Guelph and Toronto area with whom we became very close with.
We also had the adventure of walking over the border between Thailand and Cambodia, along the way you pass through "no man's land". We thought it was pretty cool and it helped lighten our mood.
We did stay at the "suggested" guesthouse, but hey it was cheap and we didn't mind it.
Siem Reap is a small place with a lot of character, we spent a day at the temples of Angkor, went to a floating village, had our feet massaged by fish, bought matching tshirts (ya thats right all 4 of us, Same Same but Different) spent a night drinking cheap buckets and getting free shirts out of it and all in all had an amazing time.
A couple of days later we went to Phnom Penh, the capital city. Here we visited the Genocide museum and killing fields. Overall a very educational and sad day for all of us, so we drowned our sorrows at an all night club in the city.
After a week in Cambodia, it was team Canada's time to spilt; now a team of 6 Darryl and I would soon again be a team of 2, sad for us all however since we all had different itineraries it had to be done. We would run into Hoang and Tom though in Vietnam lunch before they had to leave for Hoang's grandma's place near Saigon.
However it is never to late so here are my thoughts on Cambodia....
what can I say, I have a love, love, hate relationship with this country.
Meaning I really did love this country, however at times the aggressive attitude of some drivers and children pushed my levels of patience.
To get into Cambodia, yes we took the scam bus from Bangkok, known to most lonely planet readers and Yes we KNEW we were taking the scam bus. Scam bus means they basically gouge you for whatever extra money they can, lie to you and give you a "free" tuk tuk ride to their friend's guesthouse. To us, since we knew what was going on, we excepted it and moved on, (unlike some other people on the scam bus who stayed angry for days and some people who had no idea it was a scam) along the way we meet 2 other Canadians from the Guelph and Toronto area with whom we became very close with.
We also had the adventure of walking over the border between Thailand and Cambodia, along the way you pass through "no man's land". We thought it was pretty cool and it helped lighten our mood.
We did stay at the "suggested" guesthouse, but hey it was cheap and we didn't mind it.
Siem Reap is a small place with a lot of character, we spent a day at the temples of Angkor, went to a floating village, had our feet massaged by fish, bought matching tshirts (ya thats right all 4 of us, Same Same but Different) spent a night drinking cheap buckets and getting free shirts out of it and all in all had an amazing time.
A couple of days later we went to Phnom Penh, the capital city. Here we visited the Genocide museum and killing fields. Overall a very educational and sad day for all of us, so we drowned our sorrows at an all night club in the city.
After a week in Cambodia, it was team Canada's time to spilt; now a team of 6 Darryl and I would soon again be a team of 2, sad for us all however since we all had different itineraries it had to be done. We would run into Hoang and Tom though in Vietnam lunch before they had to leave for Hoang's grandma's place near Saigon.
Vietnam - Darryl
It has been a while since I last wrote a blog. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday August 9th. HCMC (or Saigon) is a very chaotic city full of motorcyclists travelling every which way. Sidewalks do not exist in Vietnam, as all of them, especially in HCMC are filled with motorcycles! This city is go-go-go all the time, and it felt as if the city never stopped moving. During our three days here, we got to visit the Cu Chi Tnnels - an underground network of tunnels used by the Vietnamese during the "American War" (as it is called over here). Our tour guide even let us crawl through a few of them. By the time we got out of the tunnels (and we only climbed 100m of them, everyone was soaked in sweat. I can't even imagine what it would have been like for the Vietnamese during war conditions.
In Vietnam, most tourists buy an open-bus ticket which enables the user to visit a set of cities, and at their own pace. Basically you have to book your ticket the day before you want to leave to head to the next city. So we bought a ticket that took us from HCMC, then Nha Trang, then Hoi An, then Hue, and finally Hanoi. This took us from south Vietnam, all the way to North Vietnam. Most of these bus trips were taken overnight, as they took anywhere from 10-14 hours. The Hoi An to Hue trip was the only one that we took during the day as it took 5 hours.
Nha Trang, our second stop, was very relaxing. The city sits on the coast, and so the beach is the major destination for travellers. We also did an island tour, where we got to swim and snorkel, visit an aquarium, hang out at a floating bar in the ocean, and had a buffet lunch as well. A few days later, Melissa and I tried our luck with scuba diving. Since we are first-timers, we had a professional diver at our side monitoring our gauges and oxygen levels. We got to go down as far as 6 metres in depth, and saw tons of fish and coral! This was by far the highlight so far of the trip. The dive lasted 30 mins, but it felt like we were down underwater forever. It took a lot of concentration to make sure you were breathing at a regular pace, and my ears definitely popped from the air pressure. But all in all, it was a great time.
The third stop to Hoi An was a lot different. It was much more laid back. The city is very old, and is well known for its "Old City Centre". I have never seen so many tailor shops and shoe shops in my life!!! Custom-made suits can be purchased for about $40-$60 dollars, and great discounts are offered for many other items. Melissa and I also did a tour of the My Son temples. These are less impressive than the Angkor Wat Temples, but nonetheless, these were still pretty interesting. The My Son temples were built in the 4th century, and the majority of them have been destroyed by U.S. bombs in the war.
Hue was our next stop along the way up the coast. It is a relatively big city, but not as action-packed as HCMC, which I liked. Here we did a city tour where we visited 3 different tombs of emporers of the Nguyen dynasty, the famous Citadel, and a Pegoda. This gave us the chance to see different historical aspects of the city, and our tour guide was really helpful in giving us information. At the end of the tour, we took a 30 minute dragon boat ride back to the city, which was really relaxing!
This morning we arrived to Hanoi, by an overnight bus. Today we have spent the day getting organized for the next few days. We purchased tickets for the 2 day/1 night Halong Bay Cruise that we taking tomorrow. We stay overnight on a boat, and during the day get to experience some great sight-seeing of the many islands and caves in the area. Hopefully it will be great weather!
Speaking of weather, it is blistering hot here. Especially since we have been in Cambodia and Vietnam, the weather every day has been sunny, and very humid. Most days the temperature is between 33-38 degrees, with humidity in the 80-90s! The minute we leave our air-conditioned hotel we are sweating! But it is much better than rain (which we have hardly had), so we can't really complain.
Hard to believe the trip is over in just a week and a half...
In Vietnam, most tourists buy an open-bus ticket which enables the user to visit a set of cities, and at their own pace. Basically you have to book your ticket the day before you want to leave to head to the next city. So we bought a ticket that took us from HCMC, then Nha Trang, then Hoi An, then Hue, and finally Hanoi. This took us from south Vietnam, all the way to North Vietnam. Most of these bus trips were taken overnight, as they took anywhere from 10-14 hours. The Hoi An to Hue trip was the only one that we took during the day as it took 5 hours.
Nha Trang, our second stop, was very relaxing. The city sits on the coast, and so the beach is the major destination for travellers. We also did an island tour, where we got to swim and snorkel, visit an aquarium, hang out at a floating bar in the ocean, and had a buffet lunch as well. A few days later, Melissa and I tried our luck with scuba diving. Since we are first-timers, we had a professional diver at our side monitoring our gauges and oxygen levels. We got to go down as far as 6 metres in depth, and saw tons of fish and coral! This was by far the highlight so far of the trip. The dive lasted 30 mins, but it felt like we were down underwater forever. It took a lot of concentration to make sure you were breathing at a regular pace, and my ears definitely popped from the air pressure. But all in all, it was a great time.
The third stop to Hoi An was a lot different. It was much more laid back. The city is very old, and is well known for its "Old City Centre". I have never seen so many tailor shops and shoe shops in my life!!! Custom-made suits can be purchased for about $40-$60 dollars, and great discounts are offered for many other items. Melissa and I also did a tour of the My Son temples. These are less impressive than the Angkor Wat Temples, but nonetheless, these were still pretty interesting. The My Son temples were built in the 4th century, and the majority of them have been destroyed by U.S. bombs in the war.
Hue was our next stop along the way up the coast. It is a relatively big city, but not as action-packed as HCMC, which I liked. Here we did a city tour where we visited 3 different tombs of emporers of the Nguyen dynasty, the famous Citadel, and a Pegoda. This gave us the chance to see different historical aspects of the city, and our tour guide was really helpful in giving us information. At the end of the tour, we took a 30 minute dragon boat ride back to the city, which was really relaxing!
This morning we arrived to Hanoi, by an overnight bus. Today we have spent the day getting organized for the next few days. We purchased tickets for the 2 day/1 night Halong Bay Cruise that we taking tomorrow. We stay overnight on a boat, and during the day get to experience some great sight-seeing of the many islands and caves in the area. Hopefully it will be great weather!
Speaking of weather, it is blistering hot here. Especially since we have been in Cambodia and Vietnam, the weather every day has been sunny, and very humid. Most days the temperature is between 33-38 degrees, with humidity in the 80-90s! The minute we leave our air-conditioned hotel we are sweating! But it is much better than rain (which we have hardly had), so we can't really complain.
Hard to believe the trip is over in just a week and a half...
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Cambodia - Darryl
Wow, the past week or so has been very busy. The last time I blogged, we were in Bangkok, leaving for Cambodia the next day. Melissa and I had read in the Lonely Planet travel book that there are scams that occur on the bus ride from Bangkok to Siem Riep, Cambodia. The main one involves the bus taking its passengers to a travel agency a few kilometres away from the Thailand-Cambodia border, and making people pay more for their visa than if one went directly to the border to get it done. Sure enough, that's exactly what happened to us. Although our 6 hour bus ride only cost $12, and our visa cost $40 instead of the typical $20, it is more the principle of the matter. During this whole ordeal, we managed to meet 2 Canadian female backpackers (Pam and Emily) who were on the same bus, going through the same thing we were. It was nice to atleast have some Canadian support! So we arrived in Siem Reap with our new travel buddies and found a nice quiet guesthouse located in close proximity to many of the city's sights. We have actually been with Pam,Emily, and two others - Tom from Saskatchewan, and Wang from Red Deer, Alberta for most of this week.
Siem Reap is a very touristy city located in north-west Cambodia. The famous Angkor Temples, which we visted on Tuesday, are located only about 15 minutes outside of the city. The temples were simply amazing. It is almost unimaginable that these massive structures were built about 1200 years ago. The artwork and decoration was so elaborate. We actually visted 4 main temples, although there were so many more that we didn't get a chance to see. Angkor Wat is by far the most famous of all the temples for its size, and location (at the front entrance). My Favourite was the Ta Prohn, which actually has massive trees that are literally growing across the walls, and even through the walls. The mix of man vs nature is awesome.
On Wednesday we did a "floating village" tour, where we took a boat tour and drove through a little community consisting largely of Vietnamese refugees. They reside in boats that are built as homes, and literally are stationed in water. The community has similar services to a normal city, such as a police station, schools and shops. It was really neat to see people driving boats up and down the river serving as "convenience stores", or "gas stations". We even saw one house with a pool table!!! We were told by our tour guide that every year when the water levels get too high, these people are forced to leave their homes for a few months and they go live in the mountains nearby.
Thursday we left to come down to Phnom Penh, which is the capital city of Cambodia. The bus trip took about 6 hours. We have a great guesthouse right up against the water, and only costs $5 a night for the room! Phnom Penh is a really chaotic place. The city is about 1.5 million people large, and has a lot of history to it. Cambodia as a whole is a very poor country, and Phnom Penh really shows it. While there are nice parts to it, as a whole, the events of 1975-1979 have taken their toll on the city and its citizens.
Friday we visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, and the Killing Fields. For all you who don't know about the genocide, I'll give you a brief recap. The Khmer Rouge regime, led by Pol Pot overtook the government in the mid 1970s, and basically evacuated all cities for fear that the "educated" people would revolt. Pol Pot's utopia was to build an agrarian-based Communist society where everyone participated in forced labour. The Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979 and more or less put an end to the Khmer Rouge regime. Tuol Sleng, formerly a high school, served as a prison and interrogation centre. The building was enclosed with electrified barbed wire and the old class rooms were turned into torture chambers. We had the chance to walk through the two buildings, which still have some of the beds that were used, and the cells where inmates were kept. Pictures of all of the inmates are on display, including many gruesome pictures illustrating the torture that these people went through. It is believed about 17,000 people were imprisoned here, with only 12 survivors throughout the 1975-1979 time period.
The Killing Fields, about a 20 minute drive from Tuol Sleng was where the prisoners were sent to die. It is believed that 20,000 people were killed here. Those who were executed were buried in these massive graves. We saw graves for women and babies, for those without heads, for those who were killed naked. They say that in order for the Khmer Rouge to save on ammunition, most of the people were killed by hammers, axes, sharp bamboo sticks, etc. Most victims were deemed intelligent, educated, or had some connection with former governments, and the majority of victims were Cambodian. Large craters are found everywhere throughout the site, and we could even see clothing, teeth, and bones in the ground - remnants of the events. A large stupa (a Bhuddist religious monument) was built to honour all the victims, with 17 levels high of skulls...
These two sites really gave me some chills. It is hard to believe that this only happened about 30 years ago, and that every Cambodian has likely been influenced by this event in some way shape or form. We noticed the other day that this country has a large percentage of its population that is under the age of 30, and this is likely one of the major reasons.
I have a much greater appreciation for the people of Cambodia and for what they have gone through. The people here are so nice and so pleasant that it makes it hard to imagine what this country experienced only 30 years ago. The emotional and psychological scarring from the Khmer Rouge must be so great, yet, does not seem that obvious in the people.
Tomorrow (Sunday) we are headed to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (also known as Saigon). We will be in Vietnam for two weeks or so, and I'm really looking forward to seeing yet another country!
Talk soon.
Siem Reap is a very touristy city located in north-west Cambodia. The famous Angkor Temples, which we visted on Tuesday, are located only about 15 minutes outside of the city. The temples were simply amazing. It is almost unimaginable that these massive structures were built about 1200 years ago. The artwork and decoration was so elaborate. We actually visted 4 main temples, although there were so many more that we didn't get a chance to see. Angkor Wat is by far the most famous of all the temples for its size, and location (at the front entrance). My Favourite was the Ta Prohn, which actually has massive trees that are literally growing across the walls, and even through the walls. The mix of man vs nature is awesome.
On Wednesday we did a "floating village" tour, where we took a boat tour and drove through a little community consisting largely of Vietnamese refugees. They reside in boats that are built as homes, and literally are stationed in water. The community has similar services to a normal city, such as a police station, schools and shops. It was really neat to see people driving boats up and down the river serving as "convenience stores", or "gas stations". We even saw one house with a pool table!!! We were told by our tour guide that every year when the water levels get too high, these people are forced to leave their homes for a few months and they go live in the mountains nearby.
Thursday we left to come down to Phnom Penh, which is the capital city of Cambodia. The bus trip took about 6 hours. We have a great guesthouse right up against the water, and only costs $5 a night for the room! Phnom Penh is a really chaotic place. The city is about 1.5 million people large, and has a lot of history to it. Cambodia as a whole is a very poor country, and Phnom Penh really shows it. While there are nice parts to it, as a whole, the events of 1975-1979 have taken their toll on the city and its citizens.
Friday we visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, and the Killing Fields. For all you who don't know about the genocide, I'll give you a brief recap. The Khmer Rouge regime, led by Pol Pot overtook the government in the mid 1970s, and basically evacuated all cities for fear that the "educated" people would revolt. Pol Pot's utopia was to build an agrarian-based Communist society where everyone participated in forced labour. The Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979 and more or less put an end to the Khmer Rouge regime. Tuol Sleng, formerly a high school, served as a prison and interrogation centre. The building was enclosed with electrified barbed wire and the old class rooms were turned into torture chambers. We had the chance to walk through the two buildings, which still have some of the beds that were used, and the cells where inmates were kept. Pictures of all of the inmates are on display, including many gruesome pictures illustrating the torture that these people went through. It is believed about 17,000 people were imprisoned here, with only 12 survivors throughout the 1975-1979 time period.
The Killing Fields, about a 20 minute drive from Tuol Sleng was where the prisoners were sent to die. It is believed that 20,000 people were killed here. Those who were executed were buried in these massive graves. We saw graves for women and babies, for those without heads, for those who were killed naked. They say that in order for the Khmer Rouge to save on ammunition, most of the people were killed by hammers, axes, sharp bamboo sticks, etc. Most victims were deemed intelligent, educated, or had some connection with former governments, and the majority of victims were Cambodian. Large craters are found everywhere throughout the site, and we could even see clothing, teeth, and bones in the ground - remnants of the events. A large stupa (a Bhuddist religious monument) was built to honour all the victims, with 17 levels high of skulls...
These two sites really gave me some chills. It is hard to believe that this only happened about 30 years ago, and that every Cambodian has likely been influenced by this event in some way shape or form. We noticed the other day that this country has a large percentage of its population that is under the age of 30, and this is likely one of the major reasons.
I have a much greater appreciation for the people of Cambodia and for what they have gone through. The people here are so nice and so pleasant that it makes it hard to imagine what this country experienced only 30 years ago. The emotional and psychological scarring from the Khmer Rouge must be so great, yet, does not seem that obvious in the people.
Tomorrow (Sunday) we are headed to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (also known as Saigon). We will be in Vietnam for two weeks or so, and I'm really looking forward to seeing yet another country!
Talk soon.
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