Phnom Penh Nov 26, 2011

A heart wrenching day. Between the Killing fields and the street kids.
We started the day with a tuk tuk ride the 16km out to the Killing Fields. Between 1975-1978 the Khmer  Rouge led by Pol Pot killed over 3 million people. 25% of the Cambodian population. The guy was crazy and brutal but ran to Thailand after his reign so was never prosecuted. Even today, no one really knows why he had so many of his own people killed.

Me riding in Tuk on very dusty roads.l  Many people wear masks

When Cambodia attained freedom in 1975 and Pol Pot assumed power,  there was celebration in the streets, cheering and laughing. The celebration was recorded in newspapers.  The next day Pol Pot had every one who looked happy, in any newspaper photos killed within days. Even little children. He had anyone who had ever been on TV or in movies tortured and killed. And that was just the beginning. Children were removed from their mothers, even infants. Ethnic cleansing was practiced so all Vietnamese (living in Cambodia) were killed. Then teachers, scientists, religious leaders.

Teeth on the ground right on beside the path we were walking on.  I dont think most people there evennoticed them

The ground is covered with Victim's clothing just sticking out where the ground is somewhat eroded

A high school became a prison where innocent people were tortured before they were taken by bus to one of the over 300 'killing fields'. When the Vietnamese finally invaded S-1 prison, there were only 7 survivors to rescue. Only two are still alive today and earn their living telling their stories at the prison S1 museum.  We met both gentlemen. In the museum, (formerly the prison ) there are photos hanging of the bodies just as they were when the Vietnamese arrived.  Many rooms with torture tools, prison walls, blood on the floors etc have been left untouched.

Russian Market:
We hired a tuk tuk for the day for $15. He took us 15 km to Killing Fields and waited two hours in the sun for us. Then he drove us to the museum and waited and then he waited another two hours while we shopped at the Russian Market. This is a very crowded, huge market where you have to squeeze through isles and they sell everything. Foods to clothes and souvenirs. I have seen similar markets in Istanbul, Mexico etc. We were in desperate need of a massage so dropped our purchases at the hotel and then had tuk tuk drop us at the riverfront. We paid him $30 and he was extremely appreciative. They say government workers earn $60 - $100 per month.

We were looking for our favourite massage place but decided to stop for iced coffee. Met a German woman who told us the ferry to Siem Reap was not a great experience so we decided to change our plans. We stopped at a travel place and book luxury bus tickets for $6 to Battabang where we will stay two days snd then take a river boat to Siem Reap. We booked the nicest hotel we could find in expedia and since it was only $13 I decided to upgrade to the deluxe suite for $17 per night.

Street Kids are everywhere selling books, scarves and souvenirs.  They all say they work for their mother and a few locals confirmed that the money goes to the family and the kids actually go to their own homes at night.  They all seem to know each other and all know the ropes - act pitiful, 'what about me', please madame, my sister has a baby.  These children are from ages 5 - 11 I would guess.  There are some older ones around as well.  They are all nice kids with beautiful smiles when they smile.  One kids asked me to buy him ice cream so I did.  When we were approached at dinner later, one asked if we could buy her a coke so I took her to a store and by the time I got there, I had 4 kids with me.  I told them they could get anything they wanted and two picked a litre of milk and two picked a litre of orange juice each.  I was pretty pleased about that but I asked why they didnt want ice cream ?  "Because madame, if I get this, I can have some and then share with my baby sister and my family".  So I went back to Sara, we paid for our dinner and went back to the store to stock up on milk which we handed to any kids who tried to get us to buy something.
When we ran out of milk, I took a couple kids to a store to buy more and they asked for noodles 'cup of soup'.  They immediately asked the store owner if she had hot water and the kids ate so now we buy noodles and smaller milk boxes to carry around.