Phnom Penh

After an uneventful (thank goodness) 5 hr air conditioned bus ride to Phnom Penh, we arrived at our hotel in the centre of the city, right by the Central Market. First order of business was to have lunch, so we ventured to a nearby restaurant and I had Cambodian pork noodle soup (keem tuk guay deow) and Eric had a seafood stir-fry and some delicious iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk. Nothing too special, but for under $3, we were quite satisfied.

We headed back to the hotel where I prepared myself to call my cousin, whom I have never met (or was too young to remember). I was excited to meet my Dad’s younger sister and her family, but for some reason, I was very nervous. First of all, there was going to be a huge language barrier, but most of all, I just didn’t know what to expect. Would they treat me differently because I had the luxury of growing up in Canada? Would they feel strange around the white guy? Only one way to find out, so I picked up the phone in our hotel room called my cousin Kheang.

It didn’t take long for the fears to melt away. We were able to communicate in English and arranged for a pick up after he finished work. Eric and I went to the Central Market to pick up some fresh fruits for my Aunt – oranges, mangosteens, lychees, and rambutans. In the evening, we were greeted in the lobby by a warm and smiling Kheang and his sister. My female cousin can only speak Khmer (the language of the Cambodian people) so there was a lot of smiling and nodding between us. They drove us to their parent’s home, about 15 minutes away and just down the street from the Russian Market. As we pulled up by their house, a female version of my Dad appeared and gave us a big excited hug. My Aunt is the cutest little woman who hides her age well and is most definitely my father's sister... down to the way she purses her lips.

We chatted and laughed and somehow managed to communicate quite well! My Aunt knows Khmer, Mandarin and Cheow Jow, I know English, Cantonese, and very broken Cheow Jow, and my cousin Kheang knows Khmer and some English. Between the 3 of us, we were able to get our points across but there was no way to verify whether they were interpreted correctly. It was quite funny really. Then my Aunt gave me a precious gift – the only surviving picture of her mother. The picture is of 5 people: my grandmother, her sister, and her 3 brothers. It was taken at my Aunt’s wedding in 1966. I protested about taking the original photo since we could easily have had it scanned but she assured me that I should take it since she has several copies, including a huge framed one. Unfortunately, there are no surviving pictures of my grandfather for me to see.

That evening, we went to a lovely Cambodian restaurant that overlooked the river. It was the best food we had in Cambodia: fresh fried whole fish from the river, crispy stir-fried corn (I didn’t know corn could taste so good), stir-fried morning glory with chicken livers, luc lac (cubes of medium rare beef over a bed of fresh veggies with a side of frites – French influence), and a Cambodian fish stew called mjoo keung. Fantastic!

The next morning, our tour group visited the Grand Palace (king lives there), Silver Pagoda, National Museum (lots of buddhas and lotus statues), and Wat Phnom (temple). It would have been much more interesting if we didn't have 3 different tour leaders who told us the same stories again and again for 4 hours. The best part of the morning were the monkeys hanging around Wat Phnom. We watched in awe as one monkey intently groomed another monkey's behind, including its scrotum. The Russian Market was also very cool. You know all that stuff that we get in Canada that's made in Cambodia? Well, they sell it here for a fraction of the price. Eric bought Columbia pants for $5 and I bought 2 Gap shirts for $5.

We had lunch at a really pretty garden restaurant full of blooming flowers and trees. It was fresh and mostly organic, but really, the atmosphere was better than the food. Across the street, we went to the Tuol Sleng Museum. It used to be a high school, but during the war, the Khmer Rouge turned it to a interrogation and torture centre during the Pol Pot regime. There was no sugar coating for our virgin western eyes here. There were photos of the tortured victims in the very rooms where it occurred, along with the orginal torture devices as seen in the photos. Next we went to the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, where the 17,000 prisoners from Tuol Sleng were executed in mass graves, which were really just pits dug by the prisoners themselves. There was a large tree on the property that the soldiers used to swing and kill babies against. It was hard to get our heads around the enormity of the crimes committed here, but we were constantly reminded since everywhere we walked, packed dirt beneath us were full of bone fragments and pieces of clothing. To think that this was one of hundreds of killing fields across the country was mind boggling.

Our next stop was at an orphanage where they taught traditional Cambodian dance, similar to the dancing at our Philly wedding. There were about 50 children who did a few shows for the 5 of us (it kind of felt like we were the ones on stage). When the show was over, they invited us to dance with them on stage. It was fun and we sucked in comparison, but they were really nice and so cute! My dance partner was a 9 yr old girl who was attached to me the whole time. Even as we were getting ready to leave and all the other children were sitting on stage, she held onto me. Her teacher tried to tell her several times to let go but she just smiled shyly and held me even tighter. It was difficult to have to leave her there. I wish I could have taken her home! She was really sweet.

After a long day, we had a great dinner at a place called Friends, which take in, train, and employ street children. They had a tapas style menu with a great selection of tasty dishes. The best was a Cambodian fish soup served in a coconut shell.

After dinner, Eric and I met up with my family again. They told me about life under the Pol Pot regime and they were happy to answer my questions. Even though the stories were awful, I really appreciated that they were willing to share it with us. That was one of the most fascinating things about the Cambodian people. Every single person we talked to who lived in Cambodia around 1975 was effected, from the tour guides to the tuk tuk drivers, yet they all seemed happy to share their story. Yet, the Cambodians in general seem very gentle and you don't get a sense of bitterness from them as you might expect -- I think they just don't want to fight anymore and have moved on, even though they suffered and are still suffering so much injustice.

I am so glad that we were able to finally meet my father's side of the family and I get the feeling it won't be the last time we see them :) They expressed how nice it was to meet us and how much they liked Eric. Besides being respectful, they appreciated how he tried to be involved in the conversation (by smiling and nodding) but I suspect they were also pleased with the way he could eat anything and everything. Early the next morning, we left Phnom Penh for a 7 hour bus ride to Saigon. Of course, we had problems leaving since the bus left 1/2 and hour earlier than expected, despite 3 confirmations and tickets stating otherwise. Oh Cambodia. As we got closer to Vietnam, the roads were paved and smooth. Weird! My family had given us some fruit so altogether we had 2 kilograms of mangosteens and 6 mangos, of which Eric ate 95%. This may have resulted in a bowel movement. Not weird!