Day 213 - No Place for Old Men

There are few old ladies in Phnom Penh. There are even fewer old men. It is a viceral reminder of the genocide of less than 30 years ago.

This morning we visited Choeng Ek Genocidal Center, better known as The Killing Fields. This the place where more than 10,000 Khmer men, women, and children were executed and thrown into mass graves. Strangely, and like S-21, the area is very peaceful. Grass and flowers have grown over the pits of the excavated graves, and butterflies swarm over the place.

There are more that 300 known 'killing fields' in Cambodia, Choeng Ek is just the most famous because its victims are the best documented, having been the elite of the capital city. Surely there are even more sites that have not been uncovered, let alone documented.

In order to save bullets, victims were usually bludgeoned with bamboo rods, hoes, or other farm implements. Others had their throats cut by machete or were suffocated with plastic bags. Frequently they were merely unconscious when whey were thrown into the pits, and were buried alive. Because the families were told that the people being taken away were being taken for 'reeducation', they did not know that they were being taken for execution until they still hadn't returned many years later. Many burial and execution sites were left undiscovered because they were frequently in remote wooded areas. Choeng Ek was in a forest that had once been a Chinese cemetery. It was only discovered in 1980 because the smell from the shallowly and improperly buried bodies became to strong to ignore.

At least 10,000 bodies were uncovered. In 1988 a memorial was built in their honour. Every time it rains, more clothing and bones rise to the surface. These bones and garments are gathered and attempts are made to give them a respectful resting place, but often they wind up simply piled at the bases of trees. As we walked between rhe excavated pits, bits of clothing scattered the path, and smooth bones showed under a fine layer of dust. Even treading carefully, it was impossible not to avoid stepping on them entirely. Perhaps most disturbing was single human tooth lying in the middle of one of the paths like just another pebble.

When Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge swept through Phnom Penh, it obliterated the educated classes. Besides the immediate impact, it slammed the brakes on Cambodia's development. As of 1980, there were no universities in Cambodia, and only 20 high schools for the entire population. Well into the 80's people were afraid to get an education, because the memories of what had happened to the other educated people were still too fresh. Even had they wished to study, there were no professors with which to staff the universities. To this day, the majority of Cambodians over the age of 25 only have an 8th grade or lower education.

Eventually, professors from France, many of them Cambodians who had been living in in Europe, returned to their home country to rebuild the education system. Today, young Cambodians go to school, frequently through college. Nearly all begin studying English between ages five and seven, as their parents believe it the path to a brighter future. The government encourages students with scholarships to study in Australia, France, and even occasionally the USA.

The country is on the upswing, but there are still major hurdles to its development. Corruption is rife within the government, with personal gain often winning out over public good in the allocation of funds. NGO's are a big business in Cambodia. Certainly they are doing some good in the country, and arguably the country would be much worse off without their support, but the upper level employees enjoy a standard of living higher even than that of most Americans. In a country where the US dollar is worth 4000 of the local currency, it is not hard to imaging how much better off the place would be should those dollars be directed into development programs, rather than bankrolling a five-star lifestyle. Tourism, perhaps the biggest potential source of income for Cambodia - none of her neighbors can boasts ruins of more renown than the temples of Angkor - could be a lifeblood for the country. Unfortunately, most of the national treasures are privately owned, and the bulk of their revenue goes to line the pockets of the corporations and individuals who control them.

It is hard to believe such recent and ongoing political turmoil in such a friendly and apparently peaceful country. The area around Choeng Ek is surrounded by new houses, and lush floodplains where homes on stilts perch to avoid the annual floods. Children wave from doorways, and everyone who speaks English is excited to try conversation with a foreigner.

Perhaps nowhere is the entrepreneurial spirit more evident than at The Russian Market, so called because it is where the Russians went shopping the late 80's. Today it half tourist souvenir junk store, and half working marketplace selling everything from tires to fruits. In between the 'junk stores' and the working market, food and drink vendors dish up meals for pennies. We feasted on noodles and spring rolls, and for 75 cents, left the market with a big bag of Rambutan, one of my favourite fruits that usually cost about $6 per pound at home.

On the way back to our guesthouse, we stopped at an internet cafe to catch up on the blog and e-mails. The larger Cambodian cities are remarkably well 'wired' with far faster and more reliable connections than even India, the supposed IT capitol of the world. This connectivity is a relatively new development. In the 1990's, there were few internet cafes, and these charged up to $10 and hour. Today, there seems to be an internet connection every other block, and cost less than 50 cents and hour.

Back at the the guesthouse, we took a little break to cool off before hiring a tuk-tuk out to the National Museum for sunset. According to my guidebook, the roof of the museum is home to the largest population of bats in a man made structure in the world. We had hoped to witness the spectacle of thousands of bats streaming out of the elegant building. Unfortunately, between the time of my book's publication and our arrival in Cambodia, the director of the museum had put anti-bat measures in place, and the eaves were woefully bat-free. I hope they found a nice new home.

Thwarted, we returned to the guest house where the receptionist was giving an impromptu magic show. She even tried to teach us how to do a few of the simpler tricks...all but one of which proved beyond my capability. Among the audience was an American girl on vacation from teaching English in China. She and two of her friends, also teacher in China, were planning to have dinner at Friends, a training restaurant that both raises money for causes around the city and trains Cambodian street kids in the restaurant and hotel industry. Cz and I had wanted to dine there too during our stay in Cambodia, so we joined up and made a jolly night of it. It sort of blew our food budget for the day (we have gotten very spoiled on 1.50 street eats), but we figured why not splash out a little on a good meal for a good cause.