Despair and hope in Cambodia

Cambodia, it's not all land mines and death! It's
still a lot of both, but they're cleaning up their act
and it's a nice place to visit, I gotta say. Siem
Reap and the temples of Angkor Wat were amazing. I
must say that the jungle temple of Ta Prohm was my
favorite. It is a truly magical place, with 800 year
old trees climbing forth from 1000 year old walls.
The jungle and temple have forged into one entity and
it is impossible to say where one begins and the other
ends. Just walking among those ruins and feeling the
history and power of the place was amazing.
After a great last night with Tom, Ben, Sean and I
boarded a 5 hour bus to the capitol, Phnom Penh. It's
a pretty scuzzy city where hawkers, beggars and
con-men abound, but it's growing on me. We got our
most depressing day out of the way yesterday and
visited the former Khmer Rouge torture center-turned
museum and the Killing Fields outside of town. There
isn't too much to elaborate on, man's inhumanity
towards man can be as horrific as it is predictable,
and I'm sure you have an idea. One thing that I must
mention (and stop reading if you want to enjoy the
rest of your day) is our visit to the Killing Fields.
Exhumed graves pock-mark the ground (88 so far found)
and a 12-story tower houses nothing but skulls.
However, as you walk the ground, your feet continue to
catch on protrusions which, upon closer inspection,
reveal themselves to be bones. This is disturbing
enough, but there is something about the antiseptic
whiteness of a bone that removes it from our physical
plane and places somewhere in the recesses of history;
less disturbing, more removed. Yet scraps of cloth
also revealed themselves, and that what hit me. You
realized these were the clothes of victims, yet to
break down as they were buried (if one could use that
word) less than 30 years ago. Gone was the disconnect
as I pictured T-shirts, trousers, skirts and, God have
mercy, baby clothes. It was a troubling, but I
believe necessary, visit, especially considering
America's implicit role in assisting the Khmer Rouge's
rise to power. Illegal US carpet bombing during the
Vietnam War did quite a bit to destabilize the region
and un-seat the standing government.
But I'm done preaching. On a happier note we're
volunteering at a local Christian orphanage here in
Phnom Penh. We're helping teach English and generally
entertain the kids with our most humorous asset: our
white skin and strange behaviour/appearance. The man
who started this organization was a orphan himself and
now operates 4 orphanages in and around Phnom Penh.
He's an inspiring character.
We'll, that's all for now. We'll be here a few more
days and then head over to Vietnam and Saigon.
Keep checking the blog,
http://www.asialog.blogspot.com/.
Ni hi (goodbye in Khmer, the Cambodian language)
Casey





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