Phnom Penh, Tuol Sleng Prison, and the Russian Market

Cambodia was one of the toughest countries for me to visit due to the blatant poverty.  However, once you start to look into the history a little, especially what has happened in the last 50 years, it is easier to understand how and why the country has remained impoverished.  If you get a chance, due a bit of research on the Khmer Rogue, Tuol Sleng Prison (S-21), or The Killing Fields.  I am not quite sure why I was never taught any of this in school, but it is a sad period of time for humanity.  

Here are a few photos from Phnom Penh and its surrounding points of interest:

(Wat Phnom Penh) 

(Inside the temple)

(A different view with the statue.  I really enjoyed how colorful the ceiling was.)

 (A few miniature statues and or figurines with money underneath)

(View of the temple from the bottom of the steps.  It is located on the top of a hill.)

(Stop sign - the simple things in life)

(A guy hanging out by the side of the road charging his phone.  I'm not quite sure if this was his living quarters as well...)

(The Royal Palace of Cambodia)

(I believe this building housed the Cambodian Emerald Buddha.  So, I am not quite sure which country had the Emerald Buddha first or how it started, but there was one here as well.  There was a nice little garden, too.)

(Everybody could use a little protection)

(The big man's house - home to the King and the place he holds his royal banquets.  Unfortunately, since they were having a banquet that evening, we couldn't get too close.)

(Looks like they rolled out the red carpet for me...)

(A few Buddha statues...)

(A few masks...)

 (The thing that sits on top of an elephant where the king sits)

(Perhaps the saddest part of the trip for me was when I visited S-21 or Tuol Sleng Prison and the Killing Fields.  Both of them opened my eyes to the Khmer Rogue and a part of Cambodian history I have never known before...)

 (One of the hallways outside the rooms where prisoners would be kept)

 (When the Vietnamese liberated the country and the city they found 12 people dead upon entering the prison.  Hundreds were killed but the final 12 now have grave sites, which you can see here, located at the prison.)

(Room with a urinal/toilet)

(The rules - if you click on the picture, they are much easier to read.  While the translation isn't exactly the best, you get the idea...)

(Here you get an idea of how large each unit was and I believe there were 3 other similar units on the premises...)

 (The tubs below would be filled with excrement and someone would be hung by his or her feet and dunked in the filth until they were unconscious.  Then, they would be shocked back into a state of awareness and the whole process would start over again.  This prison was famous for forcing false confessions and torturing people until they confessed and named accomplices.)

(A few of the guards and prisoners)

(They used children as guards because it was easier to indoctrinate them and they were more willing to follow orders without questioning)

 (A single cell.  Unfortunately, since it was raining, I did not get any pictures of the killing fields, a place where thousands were murdered.  There were graves of women, children, babies, who were killed by smashing their heads against a tree, men, and a group of decapitated men, who were believed to be former soldiers.  It was mind boggling...)

(Russian Market)

(More from the Russian Market...)

 (A nick knack shop)

(Chicken delivery man...)

The Floating Village Outside Siem Reap and Tonle Sap

I had a lot of mixed emotions regarding Cambodia.  It was a very poor country to say the least, and just like everywhere else, there were some great people we met and some who were not very good.  In the end, I would go back again.  The history of Cambodia, if you ever get a chance to read it, is extremely sad.  After going to Angkor Wat we went to a floating village and a few other temples a bit outside the city.  The temples were included in our pass but we had to pay $20 extra I believe to see the floating village.  It was a peaceful day and not nearly as many people as there were at Angkor Wat.  So, here are the photos...

(Our tuk tuk driver for the day.  Ask around at restaurants, either a brother or family member drives a tuk tuk and you can usually get a decent deal.  I think we paid $7 and the hostel we were at wanted $15 for the exact same trip.  Plus, this guy was super friendly!)

(A house, where someone actually lives)

 (A man in a field working)

 (This family was doing quite well considering the cows they had in their yard)

 (Floating temple)

(School house - most of the year, students can walk, however, during the rainy season, the kids have to take a boat.  If you look in the lower left you can see kids getting off the boat to go to school.)

(A few houses, like many in the village, on stilts and made with straw or hay)

(Tin was another popular option for roofing and siding)

(A few boys hanging out for the day)

(The village temple)

(Row homes in a floating village.  All the people we saw seemed to be pretty happy here.)

 (Another option for living - on a boat.  This was something I was not accustomed to and saw it far more often than I even have in my life.)

(A girl rowing somewhere)

(Some more kids hanging out)

 (I actually liked the temples in this grouping a bit better than Angkor Wat because it wasn't so crowded and they just seemed to have a different vibe.)

 (A statue built into the side of one of the buildings)

(These ones weren't in great shape either which is why you can see work being done in the first picture of the group.  I think they have a long way to go.)

(Some rice fields on our way to the next temple.  Cambodia was a beautiful country.)

(This was a quick stop but I met my favorite girls of the trip here)

(Cows must have been really important because they made quite a few statues of them)

 (These two girls were shy but continued to follow us around and giggle.  Throughout the whole trip, I only ever gave money to these two.  They were so cute and adorable.)

 (Boom, that's me in front of one of the buildings)

(The girls playing.  They kept saying something but we couldn't understand them.  I am guessing they were asking for money.)

(This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip and just reminds me of how lucky and thankful I should be)

(This is at a different temple and more kids were playing.  Parents believe it's better for the family to have children beg for money instead of going to school.  Plus, after the Khmer Rouge, there's not a high emphasis placed on education.  So, this is what some kids do most of the day.  I did also see other kids walking to school along the road.)

 (It breaks your heart...)

 (I believe this temple had elephants on the corners)

(To the left here you can see 'minefield victims,' another result of the Khmer Rogue/Vietnam War/US intervention in Cambodia.  They play music as you walk past.)

(That's me at the top of the temple pictured above)

 (This is the shot from the top back towards the musicians)