Cambodia and Vietnam

Word to describe the these countries: intense. In so many ways.

 

To start off, ever since India, we have been going going going. The max break between the countries is 3 days all the way until Japan. So, it has been hard to get our bearings in one country and then jump into a new country.

 

When I chose to my trip to go to Cambodia, I really had no background of its history. When I arrived and experienced the country for three days, I quickly became aware of the horrors that occurred there. When I left, I felt a great desire to learn so much more.

 

Let's start off during the Vietnam War. The Cambodian government during this time adopted an official policy of neutrality. Nevertheless, the U.S. launched a bombing campaign on Cambodia during 1969 and invaded in 1970. One of our professors on the ship fought in the Vietnam War but when his brigade received orders to invade Cambodia, he objected. Although he considered the severe consequences that could have resulted from his disobedience of the order, he stood his ground. Through a long story, Professor Wager left the army without his record being tarnished. As he said, sometimes a large organization does not want to risk its reputation at the cost of just one person. He said that the order to invade Cambodia was illegal and there was no approval from Congress.

 

Up until 1975, the communist Khmer Rouge had been gradually gaining power in Cambodia. In 1975, their control over Cambodia was official with Pol Pot as leader. Under his reign, he massacred one third of the population of Cambodia, somewhere around 2 million people. The targets were intellectuals, religious people, disabled people, ethnic minorities, and so many more. There was little cause behind this genocide. Some people think that Pol Pot was worse than any other leader in history. One of his proverbs was, "To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss." Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge stayed in power until 1979, when Vietnam invaded and defeated Cambodia.

 

So, while I was in Cambodia, I first flew to Phnom Penh, the capital city. There, we went to Tuol Sleng, a high school which was converted to a prison during the Khmer Rouge era. Near 16,000 people went through this particular prison, and there were only 7 survivors. The punishments and killings were brutal, and it was quite horrendous to know that I was walking through a place that people were dying in just 30 years ago.

 

In addition to that prison, we visited one of the killing fields. It was where the Khmer Rouge killed and disposed of even more people. There was still bone and clothes in the ground. I thought, "wouldn't the clothes have disintegrated?" Then I remembered that it only occurred 30 years ago. It is hard to put into words what I felt, but there was certainly a lot of anger. Most of us were also surprised that we had never even heard of Pol Pot previously.

 

We also visited an orphanage while we were in Phnom Penh. I met some great kids and then some of them had an impromptu jam session for us, with their guitars, drums, and keyboard. As every day passes on this voyage, I am internalizing more and more how fortunate I am to have so many opportunities. At first it was surreal, but now as it is coming near the end (only a little more than a month left!), it is all starting to hit me.

 

Back to Cambodia. After Phnom Penh, we flew to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples and ruins. It was incredible. I liked it almost more than the Taj Mahal, for some reason. Both were beautiful, but Angkor Wat was beautiful in a different way, due to its massive size and the sandstone structure. From what I have heard, Tomb Raider was filmed in some of the temples that we visited. To go along with the theme of intensity of the trip, Cambodia was probably the hottest place that I have ever been to. The sun and heat was beating down on us as we were exploring the ruins. Definitely over one hundred degrees and sweat was just gushing out of our pores. In addition, in many of these recent countries that we have been to, there is very conservative dress. So, it was not like we could wear tank tops and shorts and gallivant across the country.

 

After the three days in Cambodia, I had two days remaining in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. It was nice to just explore the city and feel safe walking around by myself or with a couple other people. In some of the previous countries, we didn't have that opportunity. This was also the place to spend my US Dollar bills. They love them. In fact, US Dollar bills come out of the ATM machines there. Inflation is at a 13-year high, with consumer prices increasing almost 20% year on year. As a result, they would rather hold the relatively stable US Dollar compared to their Vietnamese Dong. Right now, the exchange rate is about 15,000 Dong to every US Dollar.

 

SAS students went crazy in Vietnam with their US Dollars. They loved bargaining for tons of cheap purses, luggage, backpacks, t-shirts, sunglasses, DVDs, chopsticks, and other handicrafts. I failed though. I hate bargaining, and I am not really a fan of all the fake items. But anyways, a lot of people had success and kudos to them!

 

While Allyson and I were exploring, we met so many interesting people. That was probably the best part of the day. Just hearing the stories and learning so much from these worldly people. I hope to be more outgoing in my future travel so I can have these unique encounters with people from around the world.

 

The finale to my trip (Mom would be proud) was taking a motorbike from downtown Saigon back to the ship – probably at least a 30-minute ride. Allyson, Connor, and I each got our own motor bike. As you can see by the pictures, it is definitely an experience driving around the city.

 

Overall, Vietnam and Cambodia were great – definitely near the top of my list.

 

Here is a link to more pictures from the trip: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050264&l=64a2d&id=704151

 

Next stop: Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai…