Day 9 – Friday
Today was the day of our big trip to Phnom Penh and at 7.30am we boarded the bus for our six hour trip. We were all exhausted from our first week and slept most of the way besides a few toilet stops for all our little girl bladders. The road to Phnom Penh got rough at times and for part of the way had been reduced down to dirt due to the flooding rains of the wet season.
When we finally arrived it was easy to tell that Phnom Penh had a larger amount of people suffering from poverty and also had a lot more begger children going around selling items to try and get money. It was difficult to say no to them however we knew that the less we supported them hopefully they were more likely to go to school. As we were all starving after the bus trip, the first port of call was a cute little cafe for lunch, which by the way was delicious.
After lunch we walked across the road to our first proper insight into Cambodia’s sad and horrific history, S-21 which was previously a school however during the Khmer Rouge was turned into a horrific genocide prison of torture. Walking around s-21 was hard, the classrooms had been turned into prison cells where one prisoner would be kept and tortured until they were close to death and sometimes even to death. There were pictures on the wall showing bodies that they had found after the Khmer rouge was over.
There were also still blood stains on the ground where the prisoners laid after being tortured. It was very surreal and upsetting to realise that these terrible terrible things happened after our parents were born which is not that long ago it terms of other historical events. Throughout the museum there were many pictures of the victims of the prison as well as glass cases filled with victims clothes and the torturing equipment that was used. Some of the building fronts were covered in barbed wire and many of the class rooms had been sectioned of into tiny,dark cells where prisoners were forced to stay. For those of you that do not know much about the Khmer Rouge, these prisoners I speak of were not there as a result of crime or misconduct, they were there because they were educated, could speak more than one language or were married to someone who had a high standing role in Cambodian Society.
The more I explored the museum the more sombre I felt and there was many times that I became teary eyed thinking about the hardship that they must have gone through being tortured by their own people for being educated just like we are becoming by studying our degrees. After we finished our tour we were all feeling quite dismal as what we had seen had just hit home in such a big way. The bus trip to the hotel was very quiet as nobody really knew what to say, we were just aware of how lucky we are in Australia and how good our lives actually are. Upon arriving at the hotel we were so excited, we had comfy beds with big fluffy doonas and pillows that felt like sleeping on a cloud. That night we all stuck together in a group, as we didn’t know our way around Phnom Penh and were quite hesitant to explore in small groups, and headed out to dinner before heading back and having one of the best night sleeps I know that I have had on this trip.
Day 10 - Saturday
Today was an extremely busy day and we covered a surprising amount of Phnom Penh in a day. After having a small sleep in, we boarded the bus headed for the Choeung ek Genocidal Centre also known as the killing fields. This place is another important part of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge History and we knew it was going to be another sad insight into the history. For those who don’t know the Killing Fields is one of the places where the prisoners were taken to be shot or killed in another way. When buying the tickets upon entry there was an option to hire a set of head phones with an audio machine which gave you an automated tour filled with information, music and survivor stories.
This headset was amazing, I personally don’t believe that I would have gained as much out of the experience if I did not have the headphones and I know that others felt the same way. The killing field’s grounds were pitted all over the place from the large amount of mass gravesthat had been found post Khmer Rouge. Some bones are still to this day being found at the some of the mass grave sites as rain washes away the old dirt.Some of the mass graves still have not been uncovered but the caretakers have decided to let these people’s spirits rest without disturbing them once more. The grounds were extensive and the history behind each part of the tour was fascinating and tragic.
There were boxes of real victims clothes as well as bones that had been uncovered from the mass graves, on display around the killing field. The grounds were so peaceful and yet so saddening at the same time. It was at the killing fields that I also had my first encounter with a wild snake which definitely made my heart skip a few beats. After leaving the killing fields we headed out to the Russian Markets. These markets were extremely large, larger then any markets in Siem Reap. There were many beautiful things to buy however the owners tended not to barter as much as people from Siem Reap do. Within saying that everyone still managed to buy a lot of wonderful souvenirs. After the markets the group split up to explore whatever part of Phnom Penh that tickled our fancy.
Katie, Anna, Abi and I all decided to go and visit the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. The royal palace was absolutely amazing, the buildings had so much detail and the ceilings were painted with so much detail. The grounds of the palace were so beautifully kept with amazing shaped hedges and perfectly mown grass. Therewere many buildings inside the grounds of the royal palace and all of them contained different artifacts from different centuries and display cabinets containing traditional dress of the royal family. The Silver pagoda was an exquisite building which was named the Silver Pagoda due to the fact that the tile floor is made out of actual Silver.
It was very cool however due to cultural values we couldn’t take photos inside. It was then that we bumped into Amy, Maddie D, Jane, Jess S and Leselle, who had also decided to explore the royal palace. That night we all went out to a group dinner at a restaurant called “Friends”. This restaurant takes teenagers who are working on the street and helps them to learn English and cooking or waitressing skills so they have the ability to gain better jobs in their life. It was such a great restaurant with a really great story and the food was so delicious! After dinner I was exhausted and although others went to explore a little more of Phnom Penh, I went back to my aircon and fluffy doona and fell asleep.
Day 11- Sunday
Today did not start off well. Some of the girls got sick with gastro and were not feeling good at all. As we had to take a six hour bus trip home it was unfortunately bad timing for them and our main priority was getting something to make them feel better before we got on the bus. Luckily we were able to get something from the pharmacy andthey were ok to travel by around 10am.
Every one was exhausted for the bus trip home and all of us slept most of the way. When looking down the aisle of the bus all you could see was body parts sprawled everywhere as people were trying to find the most comfortable way to sleep. The bus trip was absolutely hectic, our bus driver was a crazy driver and was going pretty fast and as everyone loves to use their horns over here he didn’t hold back. Needless to say we got back quicker then expected which gave us all time to prepare for our new clinic rotation and time to go to bed early.
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