HOME :)
and very excited to sleep for days.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Cambodge.
Well I got back last night from a long weekend in Cambodia. Talk about culture shock. It made Thailand look as wealthy as America when in reality, Thailand and Cambodia are both 3rd world countries.
First, we (Kasey and I) went to Phnom Penh. We stayed at a really cool guesthouse (hostel) right in the heart of the city and very close to a tourist restaurant/bar strip. I assumed that since Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia that it would be more developed than the other cities, but I thought wrong. Of course they had some really nice hotels for tourists and beautiful temples, but other than that, it was very poor.
On Saturday, we spent the day at the Killing Fields and then went to the Toul Slang Prison (also known as S21). The Killing Fields, which I'm sure most of you have read about, is one of the many places that Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge took Khmer people to be executed. They murdered anyone that had higher education, taught as a profession, spoke against the regime, or showed any signs of Westernization. These killing fields were the grave of over 20,000 people. And even worse--they murdered the families of the people they aimed to kill because they feared that they would one day seek revenge... babies, children, mothers, fathers, grandparents. They beheaded people, beat them to death, slit their throats, and they killed babies/children by holding them by their legs and slamming them against a tree. It was horrifying to stand on the same ground that these acts took place.
Afterward, we toured the Toul Slang Prison which is where they kept the 'prisoners' for days, weeks, or even months before transporting them to the killing field. The Khmer Rouge took over a high school in Phnom Penh and then transformed it into this prison. We saw the rooms they used for interrogation (the rooms they would torture people in for hours until they confessed to something they didn't do) and the cells that they kept them chained in. In one of the buildings, they had giant displays of the photographs of each of the prisoners--the Rouge photographed each person before imprisoning them, and even took pictures of those that didn't survive the interrogations. Those photographs, of the slaughtered and tortured people, almost made me sick to my stomach right then and there. Needless to say, Kasey and I were speechless for several hours after we toured these places.
The next day we left for Siem Reap early in the morning. It only cost $4 to take a bus between the 2 cities, a 6 hour trip. We drove through the heart of Cambodia which gave me the most immense culture shock I've felt since I've been in Asia. Our idea of a 'house' doesn't exist in Cambodia--everyone lives in stilted wooden huts with roofs made of banana leaves and hay. The people dig through trash to find food to eat and rarely have enough clothing for all of their children.
Siem Reap was a strange place. It was full of tourists coming to see Angkor Wat and fancy hotels on every street corner. White people are viewed as walking wallets, basically. Everyone wants your money and they'll do anything to get it. I can't even count how many times we were harassed by vendors or tuk tuk drivers. Every exchange of money became a moral debate for Kasey and I... we knew they were charging us too much, but at the same time we knew they needed the money. The children were the most depressing, though. Every tourist guidebook or pamphlet about Cambodia tells you to never give money or food to the children because they're most likely (9 out of 10 times) forced to beg by adults that abuse them physically, sexually, and emotionally. If you've seen Slumdog Millionaire, it isn't too different from how the children were treated in the movie. So basically, by not giving the children money or food, you're actually helping them. The more you give them, the longer the abuse will take place.
Angkor Wat was phenomenal, though. I think my favorite places around Thailand have been the ruins, and this rivaled them all. It was HUGE and beautiful. It amazes how much detail the Angkorian people put into every stone they built the temple with. I have over a hundred pictures, so those will be on Facebook sometime this week.
Okay, now I'm running out of time because I have to write a paper due tomorrow. First real homework of the entire semester! But to wrap this up--basically, Cambodia was a serious eye-opener, the epitome of an emotional roller coaster. I'm not sure I could ever bear to visit again, but I'm very glad I had the opportunity to do so while I could.
(Also: the title, "Cambodge", is actually how they spell "Cambodia" in Cambodia... The G sounds like a Y, so it's pronounced CAM-BODE-YA.)
First, we (Kasey and I) went to Phnom Penh. We stayed at a really cool guesthouse (hostel) right in the heart of the city and very close to a tourist restaurant/bar strip. I assumed that since Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia that it would be more developed than the other cities, but I thought wrong. Of course they had some really nice hotels for tourists and beautiful temples, but other than that, it was very poor.
On Saturday, we spent the day at the Killing Fields and then went to the Toul Slang Prison (also known as S21). The Killing Fields, which I'm sure most of you have read about, is one of the many places that Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge took Khmer people to be executed. They murdered anyone that had higher education, taught as a profession, spoke against the regime, or showed any signs of Westernization. These killing fields were the grave of over 20,000 people. And even worse--they murdered the families of the people they aimed to kill because they feared that they would one day seek revenge... babies, children, mothers, fathers, grandparents. They beheaded people, beat them to death, slit their throats, and they killed babies/children by holding them by their legs and slamming them against a tree. It was horrifying to stand on the same ground that these acts took place.
Afterward, we toured the Toul Slang Prison which is where they kept the 'prisoners' for days, weeks, or even months before transporting them to the killing field. The Khmer Rouge took over a high school in Phnom Penh and then transformed it into this prison. We saw the rooms they used for interrogation (the rooms they would torture people in for hours until they confessed to something they didn't do) and the cells that they kept them chained in. In one of the buildings, they had giant displays of the photographs of each of the prisoners--the Rouge photographed each person before imprisoning them, and even took pictures of those that didn't survive the interrogations. Those photographs, of the slaughtered and tortured people, almost made me sick to my stomach right then and there. Needless to say, Kasey and I were speechless for several hours after we toured these places.
The next day we left for Siem Reap early in the morning. It only cost $4 to take a bus between the 2 cities, a 6 hour trip. We drove through the heart of Cambodia which gave me the most immense culture shock I've felt since I've been in Asia. Our idea of a 'house' doesn't exist in Cambodia--everyone lives in stilted wooden huts with roofs made of banana leaves and hay. The people dig through trash to find food to eat and rarely have enough clothing for all of their children.
Siem Reap was a strange place. It was full of tourists coming to see Angkor Wat and fancy hotels on every street corner. White people are viewed as walking wallets, basically. Everyone wants your money and they'll do anything to get it. I can't even count how many times we were harassed by vendors or tuk tuk drivers. Every exchange of money became a moral debate for Kasey and I... we knew they were charging us too much, but at the same time we knew they needed the money. The children were the most depressing, though. Every tourist guidebook or pamphlet about Cambodia tells you to never give money or food to the children because they're most likely (9 out of 10 times) forced to beg by adults that abuse them physically, sexually, and emotionally. If you've seen Slumdog Millionaire, it isn't too different from how the children were treated in the movie. So basically, by not giving the children money or food, you're actually helping them. The more you give them, the longer the abuse will take place.
Angkor Wat was phenomenal, though. I think my favorite places around Thailand have been the ruins, and this rivaled them all. It was HUGE and beautiful. It amazes how much detail the Angkorian people put into every stone they built the temple with. I have over a hundred pictures, so those will be on Facebook sometime this week.
Okay, now I'm running out of time because I have to write a paper due tomorrow. First real homework of the entire semester! But to wrap this up--basically, Cambodia was a serious eye-opener, the epitome of an emotional roller coaster. I'm not sure I could ever bear to visit again, but I'm very glad I had the opportunity to do so while I could.
(Also: the title, "Cambodge", is actually how they spell "Cambodia" in Cambodia... The G sounds like a Y, so it's pronounced CAM-BODE-YA.)
Sunday, November 22, 2009
The countdown has begun. I'll be home in 20 days!
The weather has become amazingly beautiful. It's been in the high 70s and low 80s with a nice, cool breeze all the time. Of course it gets like this 3 weeks before leaving. If only the weather had been like this the whole time, I think it would have made a huuuge difference on my perspective here. That sounds weird, but honestly--when you are always soaked in sweat as we were the first 2 months, the uncomfortableness gets in the way of enjoying things to the fullest extent. Not to say that I haven't enjoyed everything--of course I have--but never feeling clean got annoying.
It's actually almost cold here today/tonight. I'm in jeans and a sweatshirt! It's strange that 75 degrees feels "cold"... Winter in Baltimore is probably going to be very hard to get used to.
In other news. Kasey and I are traveling to Cambodia next weekend. We decided to go a weekend before the rest of our program friends go because we don't want to deal with an entire group of people trying to travel together. Far too stressful by our standards. Besides, we're going to spend the extra money and fly to and from Cambodia, rather than take a bus or train. We heard that the buses and trains are very unsafe--no thank you. We'll be flying into Phnom Penh, staying there for 1-2 days, then taking a boat to Siem Reap and staying there for 2 days and flying out of there with a different airline.
I'm extremely excited to finally see Angkor Wat. We're also going to see the famous killing fields in Phnom Penh--called Choeung Ek--where almost 20,000 people were killed during the late 1970s due to genocide.
The weather has become amazingly beautiful. It's been in the high 70s and low 80s with a nice, cool breeze all the time. Of course it gets like this 3 weeks before leaving. If only the weather had been like this the whole time, I think it would have made a huuuge difference on my perspective here. That sounds weird, but honestly--when you are always soaked in sweat as we were the first 2 months, the uncomfortableness gets in the way of enjoying things to the fullest extent. Not to say that I haven't enjoyed everything--of course I have--but never feeling clean got annoying.
It's actually almost cold here today/tonight. I'm in jeans and a sweatshirt! It's strange that 75 degrees feels "cold"... Winter in Baltimore is probably going to be very hard to get used to.
In other news. Kasey and I are traveling to Cambodia next weekend. We decided to go a weekend before the rest of our program friends go because we don't want to deal with an entire group of people trying to travel together. Far too stressful by our standards. Besides, we're going to spend the extra money and fly to and from Cambodia, rather than take a bus or train. We heard that the buses and trains are very unsafe--no thank you. We'll be flying into Phnom Penh, staying there for 1-2 days, then taking a boat to Siem Reap and staying there for 2 days and flying out of there with a different airline.
I'm extremely excited to finally see Angkor Wat. We're also going to see the famous killing fields in Phnom Penh--called Choeung Ek--where almost 20,000 people were killed during the late 1970s due to genocide.
Friday, November 13, 2009
I'm sitting in the "Executive Loung" at the Millenium Hilton in Bangkok. Since dad is traveling around the southern part of Thailand this week, he let my friends and I stay in the hotel for a few nights. It's been really nice since we've been living very sparingly the past few months (at least, sparing compared to our lives at home).
Today we (Colin, Kasey, and I) treated ourselves to a MONSTROUS breakfast. We had so much food, it was unreal. Omelet, bacon, 2 orders of hasbrowns, 2 pain de chocolats, 3 croissants, 2 farm's rolls, 4 slices of bread, 2 English muffins, 2 banana muffins, a plate of pineapple, a plate of papaya, a plate of different seasonal fruits, 2 pots of coffee, 1 pot of hot chocolate, 2 pitchers of orange juice, a bowl of oatmeal, a bowl of cereal, 5 differents kinds of jelly, honey, salted and unsalted butter... and that's all I can't remember. I think there were a few more things. The best part is that we ate every single bite. It took us a good hour and a half of lengthy breaks in between, but we don't eat much western food, yet alone breakfast food, so we were in absolute heaven!
They are about to leave to go back to our apartment in Pathum Thani but I decided to stay here by myself for a night before dad gets back. They have a service at the hotel where they come draw a bath for you, and fill it with all sorts of essential oils and bath salts for only 400 Baht (which is about $12 or so)... so I've decided that I'm going to treat myself to a really nice bath, haha.
Yesterday we went to Bangkok's Chinatown for a few hours and walked around for a while. It was really overwhelming so we got very exhausted very fast. Afterwards, we went to Wat Traimit, the temple that houses the world's largest pure gold Buddha. Our travel book warned us that would be "particularly underwhelming", which it was, but I'm glad we at least took the time to see it. We also treated ourselves to a nice Italian dinner. Usually any kind of Western food doesn't taste so great in Thailand, but this dinner was delicious. It was well worth the expenses--about 190 Baht per dish, and we usually pay about 40 Baht (but 190 Baht is only $6 anyway!). Afterward, we went to one of our favorite Bangkok brew pubs called The Londoner. We found out that every Friday night when you order a glass of wine, you get another glass free, so Kasey and I ordered some expensive Sauvignon Blanc so we both got a glass.
That said, it's been a good week/weekend! And we're going to Cambodia next weekend!
Today we (Colin, Kasey, and I) treated ourselves to a MONSTROUS breakfast. We had so much food, it was unreal. Omelet, bacon, 2 orders of hasbrowns, 2 pain de chocolats, 3 croissants, 2 farm's rolls, 4 slices of bread, 2 English muffins, 2 banana muffins, a plate of pineapple, a plate of papaya, a plate of different seasonal fruits, 2 pots of coffee, 1 pot of hot chocolate, 2 pitchers of orange juice, a bowl of oatmeal, a bowl of cereal, 5 differents kinds of jelly, honey, salted and unsalted butter... and that's all I can't remember. I think there were a few more things. The best part is that we ate every single bite. It took us a good hour and a half of lengthy breaks in between, but we don't eat much western food, yet alone breakfast food, so we were in absolute heaven!
They are about to leave to go back to our apartment in Pathum Thani but I decided to stay here by myself for a night before dad gets back. They have a service at the hotel where they come draw a bath for you, and fill it with all sorts of essential oils and bath salts for only 400 Baht (which is about $12 or so)... so I've decided that I'm going to treat myself to a really nice bath, haha.
Yesterday we went to Bangkok's Chinatown for a few hours and walked around for a while. It was really overwhelming so we got very exhausted very fast. Afterwards, we went to Wat Traimit, the temple that houses the world's largest pure gold Buddha. Our travel book warned us that would be "particularly underwhelming", which it was, but I'm glad we at least took the time to see it. We also treated ourselves to a nice Italian dinner. Usually any kind of Western food doesn't taste so great in Thailand, but this dinner was delicious. It was well worth the expenses--about 190 Baht per dish, and we usually pay about 40 Baht (but 190 Baht is only $6 anyway!). Afterward, we went to one of our favorite Bangkok brew pubs called The Londoner. We found out that every Friday night when you order a glass of wine, you get another glass free, so Kasey and I ordered some expensive Sauvignon Blanc so we both got a glass.
That said, it's been a good week/weekend! And we're going to Cambodia next weekend!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Today we went to see Wat Pho, one of (if not THE) largest reclining Buddhas in the world. It was huuuge! I have a lot of pictures of it--I'll most likely upload them this coming week.
We also saw Wat Arun, one of the coolest looking old temples I've ever seen. The entire thing was made of mosaic tiles, small ones, so it was glistening in the sun and extremely colorful. Unfortunately my camera was dead at that part of the trip, though...
'Wat' means 'temple', in case you were curious.
My friends and I are planning a trip to Cambodia. All of our passports expire December 3rd, but we don't leave Thailand until December 13th. In order to get our passports stamped again, for another 30 days, we need to leave the country.
We plan on going to Siem Reap, Cambodia where Angkor Wat is. If you've never heard of it, then you should read about it. It's this crazy old temple (hundreds of years!) that's all overgrown with trees and monkeys and stuff. It's one of top ten most traveled locations, I believe. One of those things you can't miss. The city of Siem Reap also has a lot to offer, or so I've read. Tons of hostels for travelers, historical French neighborhood, etc... I'm really excited!
Okay, we're leaving for dinner soon so I'm gonna go. The restaurant has Thai dancers! It should be fun.
We also saw Wat Arun, one of the coolest looking old temples I've ever seen. The entire thing was made of mosaic tiles, small ones, so it was glistening in the sun and extremely colorful. Unfortunately my camera was dead at that part of the trip, though...
'Wat' means 'temple', in case you were curious.
My friends and I are planning a trip to Cambodia. All of our passports expire December 3rd, but we don't leave Thailand until December 13th. In order to get our passports stamped again, for another 30 days, we need to leave the country.
We plan on going to Siem Reap, Cambodia where Angkor Wat is. If you've never heard of it, then you should read about it. It's this crazy old temple (hundreds of years!) that's all overgrown with trees and monkeys and stuff. It's one of top ten most traveled locations, I believe. One of those things you can't miss. The city of Siem Reap also has a lot to offer, or so I've read. Tons of hostels for travelers, historical French neighborhood, etc... I'm really excited!
Okay, we're leaving for dinner soon so I'm gonna go. The restaurant has Thai dancers! It should be fun.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)