It was a pretty bleak day today as we visited some sobering monuments of the Khmer Rouge Regime. Jim found that the breakfast provided by our hotel was less than stellar so we walked next door to a cafe and ate some breakfast as we watched Phnom Penh come to life or at least more life. A little homeless kitten came up to our table and stole my heart. If we were at home that kitten would be a new addition to the Kuhlman litter! Unfortunately, I had to walk away and hope that it would live a long life. On the streets of Phnom Penh I am not so sure that was going to be a possibility.

Right on schedule, Vuttha (that’s our guide’s real name) and Sawath (our driver) pulled up to our hotel and we made our way to the Royal Palace. The government in Cambodia is a bit like the British government where the Royal Family is pretty much a figure head and then there is Parliament that runs the everyday workings of the country. There is a King here is Cambodia and he is single, ladies! I am surprised that with the current state of the government that the whole Royal Family wasn’t abolished. Oh, well, too much for me to think about.

The Royal Palace is a magnificent compound of buildings surrounded by a heavily guarded wall. It is the roof tops of these buildings that I find the most interesting. They all gradually peak into a stunning spiral and the bottom edges are all turn to the sky.The pictures will be a better description. Most of the buildings are not being used and house historical artifacts from the Royal Family. Unfortunately during the civil war much of the treasures were looted. And that is not only of the Royal Family but also most of Cambodia. During the reign of the Khmer Rouge, the Royal Family was under house arrest in the compound. Not a bad place to be imprisoned but I am sure it wasn’t the plushy life that a King and his family usually get.

We got to go into the coronation hall of the complex and it was breathtaking. The outside pillars were made with imported Italian marble and the walls and ceilings inside were painted like European churches, except the story was different; instead of Jesus it was about Buddha. We saw the “throne” chair where the King sits only once in his life and that is when he is crowned. The king does still live on the compound grounds and he was actually in residence while we were visiting. We asked Vuttha if he could arrange for us to have tea with the King but I think even that was a request above and beyond. When the King is in residence, the flag flies high, just like Britain.

Leaving the Royal Palace we are back into the Phnom Penh traffic. I really have to give it up for Sawath because he can maneuver in and out of traffic better than anyone I have ever seen. Of course the driving here is anything goes and that is just something I am not used to back home. I am thinking I might try to shoot some video tomorrow just to remember what traffic is like here. Anyway, we are heading to the infamous S-21 prison camp and then the Killing Fields.

On 12 April 1975, the Khmer Rouge took over the government of Cambodia and what ensued was one of the bloodiest annihilations of people that Cambodia had ever seen. Before it was all over, some 3 million people would loose their lives at the hands of this ruthless government. The Khmer Rouge took their cue from the WWII concentration camps and set up over 150 detention camps around Cambodia. I say detention camps because no one ever stayed longer that 8-9 months. Pol Pot was a paranoid and no one was safe from possibly going to jail and probably being killed either from hard work in a labor camp, torture or plain ol’ execution. One of the most notorious prison camps was S-21.

S-21 was a former secondary school called Toul Sieng. When the Khmer Rouge came into power, they cleared the city of Phnom Penh in order start fresh or as they called it Year Zero. The walls of the school, where once children played and learned, tells a terrifying and sickening story of acts against humanity that are so ruthless, even the most hardened are weakened. There were some 20,000 men, women and children killed at S-21. When I asked why the children, Vuttha tells us that Pol Pot did not want the children of slain parents to grow up and later retaliate against him. There is one building on the grounds where the pictures of all those that came through S-21, even the children. I could relate more stories of the atrocities committed here but it is just too upsetting. I will never ever understand how people can be so cruel to each other, especially children.


Once a prisoner was through with S-21, he/she was taken to the Killing Fields about 15K outside of Phnom Penh. After the downfall of the Khmer Rouge, the fields were discovered and the bodies of over 8,000 men, women and children were discovered. The remains were excavated and housed in a wooden building as a memorial to those that lost their lives. On the 10th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge downfall, the Cambodian government built a beautiful glass pagoda that houses the remains and clothing of those they found in the surrounding fields. It is a stunning memorial and a just reminder of what happened to these people during this bloody regime. It is very quiet here and yet somehow peaceful. All around is a reminder of the terror that must have lived here and yet there is a peacefulness that says we are here and we forgive.

WOW. It was a tough day! At one point during my visit at S-21 I had to leave the buildings because the emotions were overwhelming. I think it is good that we remind ourselves of how in an instant, life can change and how wars can make people do unthinkable acts. Like the Holocaust museums and camps, it is good to go back and try to learn and understand. Janie finished “First They Killed My Father” just as we entered Phnom Penh and she said it helped to put the S-21 and Killing Fields experience into perspective. I have not yet begun but will as soon as I can stay up later that 8:30 p.m.!

Janie and I washed off the Khmer Rouge experience with a long walk to the central market. Oh, the streets of Phnom Penh are so crowded! Sidewalks, we determined, were just another parking space for motorcycles, bicycles and some cars. Janie was looking for another long sleeved shirt she could wear while riding. The afternoon sun is just merciless and on mountain bikes we are not moving nearly as fast. Not that we could anyway with the road conditions as they are here. At the Central Market we found where all the Nike clothes are being made because you could buy anything for $4. A shirt that would cost us at least $30 at home was $4. The biggest stumbling block was the size issue. Asian women are much, much smaller than we Amazon USA women. Poor Janie was checking out 2XL and I know she was crying inside. Actually she swore me to secrecy that she bought the 2XL. I told her to cut the label out and her secret was safe with me! Don’t tell!

On our way back to the hotel, right in the midst of all the Phnom Penh traffic came walking an elephant. Yes, you heard me right, an elephant. And no one was even concerned. Like it was a normal occurrence. Of course you quickly spotted all the tourists because we had our cameras out and were pointing! Call me a tourist but it is not everyday I get to see an elephant walking down the street.

Our dinner was at a lovely restaurant called, “Friends”. It is a restaurant owned by the Mith Samlanh charity. All the staff are ex-street kids or orphans who are being trained so that they might find full time, meaningful jobs that will keep them off the streets. It is a big problem in Cambodia because there is not enough work and the families cannot afford to feed their children. There is a lot of death due to starvation here. Luckily, organizations such as this and The Goldstone School of Hope, another charity started by the parents of one of our friends at Pactimo in Colorado, that are working as NGOs (non-government organizations) to help the youth of Cambodia. It is believed that it will take at least two generations to begin the upswing of prosperity for the Cambodian people. Next to the school and restaurant is a shop where we had the opportunity to purchase products made by the students of the school. It was money well spent.

Tomorrow we say good-bye to our friends, Vuttha and Sawath. At first we were very skeptical of their abilities and another lesson to be learned, patience and understanding. Vuttha turned out to be a fabulous guide as he told us stories of his beloved Cambodia. You could tell it in his voice that he has such a love for his country despite all the problems in the government. Sawath was a fabulous driver and always ready with a bottle of water, fruit and a most welcomed wet towel at the end of the ride. I really did not want to say good-bye to them and I yet knew that I wanted to see Viet Nam, too. Can’t I have both?!

Time to call it a night and get ready for an early start tomorrow. 106K to the Viet Nam border.

Ride On....

Link to today’s photos

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