words

We haven't said much about what we've been doing over the last couple of weeks, but Adam's been good about giving you an idea through the pictures....his patience deserves credit considering it takes 5 minutes to download just one onto the blog. I figured I could offer some words to go along with the pictures.
So, there was Cambodia, about 2 weeks, 3 cities, and filled to the brim. I told you a little about Sihanoukville on the coast....beach beach beach. Then Phnom Penh, the dirty crazy capitol. I guess what stands out to us, and what may be of interest to you, was seeing the Killing Fields and the S-21 prison. I don't really want to go into the history of it all, mostly because I don't have the energy to take out the Lonely Planet Guide and copy it word for word, but maybe all you need to know is this: from 1975-79, Pol Pot's regime managed to kill a lot of people indiscriminately and gruesomely. He wanted a classless society, so he tried to eradicate the classes....if you were educated, you were in trouble, so doctors, lawyers, anyone that could speak a foreign language, were rounded up, imprisoned, tortured, and killed. And it goes without saying that any political opposition was met with a heavy hand. If a person was guilty, his/her entire family would be considered so, and not just one's immediate family but cousins, uncles, aunts, and perhaps even more distant relatives were at risk. In effect, the regime took pity on no one. In fact, at the S-21 prison the entire first floor is full of the pictures of prisoners (the mug shots that the regime took for their records), and in whole sections of the walls you find only young faces with scared and confused eyes. We saw children as young as 6 or 7. It was crazy, room after room was full of these mug shots, and it was....I don't know....interesting..... to just run your eyes across them seeing eyes, noses, and ears that you might find on anyone out in the street. People that looked like people we've met. That might seem obvious, but that was the most chilling part of it all.....not the pictures of mangled bodies (which were on display as well), but of normal healthy faces perhaps awaiting their fate.
Before visiting the S-21 Prison, we went to the Killing Fields where thousands were executed and buried in mass graves (I think there were around 120 graves). Just a field that one might mistake for a park, except for the giant stupa in the middle filled with level after level of human skulls, to the point where you have to strain your eyes and neck just to see to the top. It was the first time I've ever seen a human skull and I thinkI got my fill. I wasn't sure really what one does in a situation like this......... I took pictures........ but that seemed inappropriate somehow. They separated the skulls into categories like "juvenile women aged 18-25" or "adult men aged 25-40" ....that seemed strange for some reason.
It was hard to connect all this. Like if there was just one picture of one of my family members at the prison, I would be inconsolable, but somehow we're able to walk through room after room of pictures and stare at hundreds of skulls, and afterwards we can still laugh and eat. Almost every Cambodian had at least one family member--and in many instances 3 or 4--fall victim and I can't imagine what it would be like for them to do the same tour we did....... we saw both in one day.
Ok then, so next was Siam Reap in the north where the famous Angkor Wat ruins are. It was the center of Southeast Asia from the 8th c. to the 14th c. .....I can't tell you much more than that. The ruins are all stone temples. For me, it felt like a playground for big kids.
The place is absolutely enormous. You can buy a 3 day pass, which many people do, because it's impossible to see all in one day. We went for the sunset one night, which is free if you buy a pass for the next day, and then the next morning for the sunrise (I know......). Pretty funny though because there was neither, we'll just call it a set and a rise. In the morning it was storming with thunder, lightning, and heavy rains.....I don't know what compelled us to stick with our plans, but we did. The place to see the sunrise is at the main temple, Angkor Wat (the biggest religious building in the world) and most people stay at the entrance to watch the sun rise over the towers, but I figured there would be nothing to see from there and decided to venture into the temple by myself. You have no idea how busy this place gets during the day, but when I went I was the only person in there, and I emphasize only. It was scary climbing the steep steps to get in and then wandering through the gray vacant stone rooms all around the temple. It was one of the more amazing moments of my trip even though I was pissing my pants the whole time. I was sure I would run into the lost soul of some improperly buried monk who would threaten me with an eternal curse if I didn't help him.....but it didn't happen, at least I don't remember it happening.
I don't want to talk to much more about all the temples and our long day wandering around because I've already written a novel (which I'm sorry about....maybe split the reading up into two or something) and because you just need to see it anyways. One final word about it though: Jesse almost got kicked by a horse.....there's a couple just grazing, he decides to feed one at my encouragement he do so, he makes too quick a move, the horse wheels around and throws the back legs at him, but Jesse swiftly maneuvers out of the way with the funniest look on his face.... if those legs had landed, he would not be providing little Jesse Dills to this world....... the moment is forever with me.
So, that was Cambodia. We got into Bangkok a couple days ago after the longest bus trip of our lives. There's no pavement from Siam Reap 6 hours to the border of Thailand. If there had been an earthquake, it would've felt normal. We almost drove into a muddy lake, and we saw an enormous fire burning through a few Cambodian stores in Poi Pet..... that's the story. More to come. Farewell, Adam.