Delving a Little Deeper

After visiting the prison, formerly a high school, where the Khmer Rouge tortured- before killing- just under 20,000 people Charlie and I were seeping into a mellow state of sadness for this country. Then we visited the place of execution. The main 'tourist sights' in Phnom Penh are a) Tuolslen Genocide Museum and b) Choeung Ek Memorial, also known as the Killing Fields. The first is the place where the Khmer Rouge imprisoned and tortured many innocent people, and the second is the place they took these people to kill them with axes, garden tools and anything else that was a low-cost weapon (of which bullets are not). The impact that 9,000 skulls make on a person is great. These 9,000 excavated skulls (that were able to be found whole) are contained in a monument placed over one of the mass graves in the killing fields. They are separated by age- 10-15 yrs old, 15-20 yrs old, 20-45 yrs old and over 45 yrs old. There are 12 stories surrounded by glass, showcasing the young to old, low to high. The clothes of those 'excavated' lay under the youngest skulls on the bottom. It is a very chilling sight. After a day like that, you either want to drink alot or wander aimlessly- both of which we did.
Today we wandered even more, taking Tuk-Tuk's to different parts of the city and eating and drinking and talking with the steet people and Tuk-Tuk drivers. They especially love Charlie, he has a way with them. First they love his name, and then his jokes and then his willingness, and want, to stop and chat for as long as they like. Almost every Taxi driver, Moto Driver or Tuk-Tuk driver has given a shortened version of his life story and shared a few jokes with Charlie before we move on. Everyone is very friendly, but many tourists tend to stare straight at the sidewalk and don't answer anyone when they ask, again and again every two feet, "Tuk-Tuk Madame? Moto Sir? Where are you going? Can I assist you?"
It can be overwhelming, but we are adjusting nicely. The trick is, as Charlie discovered, to just make friends with everyone. To smile, and joke, try to sell them something back, or just ask them how they are, where they are going etc. They find it quite funny. So today we just wandered Phnom Penh, making friends and eating local fruits and drinking local beer- which is cheap, by the way.
In the morning we leave for Siem Reap, and to see the famous Angkor Wat. Then, we have decided to leave for Vietnam a few days after that. We are reaching the half-way point in our trip, and we have one more month before we head back to Thailand for the last month of beach-status in the South.
We will post a bit more when we have things to report. For now we are just living.
Much Love