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It may seem odd to the reader that I haven't written anything to date about the Khmer Rouge. We visited S-21 (security prison 21) over a month ago. The prison, a high school before the Khmer Rouge came to power, is now a musem. At the time, we were both affected by what we saw. The prison has been preserved in tact since the Vietnamese liberators arrived there in
1979. The curation of the site is incredibly powerful, in particular, room after room of inmate photographs (the Khmer Rouge documented everything thoroughly) have a profound impact on the visitor - grim black and white mug-shots of some of the estimated 
20,000 men, women and children who were killed here ; you can see in their eyes that they already know what their fate will be. We didn't manage to take too many photographs during our visit, hopefully these give you an impression of how truly disturbing this place is - of note, the Khmer Rouge used water-boarding (right) as well as many other horrendous torture methods to extract confessions.
Although the visit to S-21, the subsequent reading I did, and the media coverage of the current Khmer Rouge tribunal really got me thinking about genocide and justice, for some reason I couldn't find a way to write about it. I tried hard to put my thoughts together but I just couldn't get it right. It was somehow too academic, and maybe deep down I felt that as an outsider it isn't something I should comment on. Today, unexpectedly, we got talking to a Khmer Rouge survivor about their experiences and I think this is why I have managed to write this post. Out of respect for them and their story I don't want to share the details. Suffice to say that even 30 years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge they couldn't talk about what happened without a faltering voice and a tear in the eye, and their story was striking not just for the events of the Khmer Rouge period (1975-1979), but the impact on their life of the extended troubles through the civil war prior to the rise of the KR, and the decade after their fall when many people feared to return to the country and lived in refugee camps overseas. It affected me deeply.
This is the first time i've been able to talk to someone directly about what happened to them, it was obviously terribly painful for them to relate even now and I know everyone in Cambodia over a certain age has similar stories. It's sometimes easy to forget how troubled the past of this country is, going about your daily life in Phnom Penh. Younger generations of Cambodian's have been poorly informed about the countries turbulent past. Although their parents have told them their stories, many children don't believe it and incredibly the school curriculum doesn't currently require history teaching of the period. However, to end on a postive note, the Cambodia Daily reported today that the Documentation Centre of Cambodia has now distributed 25,000 copies out of a total 175,000 of the school text book "A History of Democratic Kampuchea". Apparently, the book contains a stark account of the period. Although it will make for hard reading, and i'm unsure how many people will react, it seems to me to be important that young Cambodians know what happened here.
[Fruit Picking Update]
On our way home last night, Bruty ran up the stairs to catch us and give us a bag of the fruit they were picking yesterday. As far as I can make out it is called Kop Preeng. He also gave us a small tub of mixed salt, pepper & spices which I thought was strange at first. I have to say I don't know if we're going to finish the bag. They taste a little like very sour plums or cherries. Adding the spice mix does offset the sourness, but the real problem for me is the texture - the stone is quite large and the fruit has that quality that sticks to the top of your mouth. Still, it was very generous of him to share the bumper crop with us.
I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to geography and related fields, so i've been looking forward to the arrival of monsoon season. I was secretly hoping that monsoon would arrive in a single day, the months of stifling dry season heat suddenly broken by a dramatic thunderstorm and torrential downpour which would be repeated every day at 3pm in the afternoon like clockwork for the next 3 months. The reality of course is a little different. There were some unseasonally early rains in Phnom Penh in April, and it has rained on and off at different times of the day and night for the past few weeks. Out in the provinces things are green and lush, the rice crop has gone in and there is little doubt that the 'wet' season has arrived from a farmers perspective. Anyway, after a few days straight of heavy afternoon rains in Phnom Penh, i'm going to call it - monsoon has arrived !
No doubt I will be proved wrong by the fickle weather, but the regularity and intensity of the rains align with my expectations, and Em's Khmer work colleagues work seem to think we're there too. So, what's it like ? Well, the morning's invariably start out sunny and fine. By midday the cloud is starting to build (isolated Cumulus drifting overhead, towering Cumulo-Nimbus on the horizon to the west) and it's usually hot with high humidity . The sky gets dark around 3pm-4pm as the clouds roll in, the wind suddenly picks up and gusts strongly (a good indicator that it's time to find some cover), the skies open up and sheets of rain come down. It typically lasts for anywhere between 1-3 hrs and can be accompanied by some impressive thunder and lightning. The timing and the warning signs actually make it pretty easy to avoid as long as you don't have to be somewhere at a certain time. In case we do get caught out, Em & I have taken to carrying around these disposable rain coats. Before you collapse on the floor laughing, everyone wears these here, and if you didn't have one the rain would drench you to the skin in seconds. Coincidentally, mine is blue and Em's is yellow. If I get down to the gym to tone up a bit and practise my blue steel pose we might be able to model these for you in person.Anyway, I wasn't too clear on what causes monsoon and why they are so regular so I did a little internet research. Rather than paraphrasing i'm just going to link to wikipedia, if you're even remotely interested check out the link below. So, that's us for the next 3 months, no need to check the weather forecast I guess - hot and wet. In September, we have the 'cool wet' season to look forward to, apparently it can get as low as a frigid 20c...brrr
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MonsoonMonsoons are caused by the larger amplitude of the seasonal cycle of land temperature compared to that of nearby oceans. This differential warming happens because heat in the ocean is mixed vertically through a "mixed layer" that may be fifty meters deep, through the action of wind and buoyancy-generated turbulence, whereas the land surface conducts heat slowly, with the seasonal signal penetrating perhaps a meter or so. Additionally, the specific heat capacity of liquid water is significantly higher than that of most materials that make up land. Together, these factors mean that the heat capacity of the layer participating in the seasonal cycle is much larger over the oceans than over land, with the consequence that the air over the land warms faster and reaches a higher temperature than the air over the ocean. Heating of the air over the land reduces the air's density, creating an area of low pressure. This produces a wind blowing toward the land, bringing moist near-surface air from over the ocean. Rainfall is caused by the moist ocean air being lifted upwards by mountains, surface heating, convergence at the surface, divergence aloft, or from storm-produced outflows at the surface. However the lifting occurs, the air cools due to expansion, which in turn produces condensation.
This was the view from our balcony this morning. The clip shows our guard Vuthy and his family harvesting fruit from the big tree in the front courtyard. The process involves a couple of guys climbing the tree without ropes or harnesses and shaking the branches, whilst the rest of the family hold a large tarp below to catch the berries as they fall. I reckon they must be 20 metres up - no OH&S here ! I've no idea what fruit this is, i'll try to find out and report back.
A new deli has just opened in Phnom Penh. Auskhmer, previously only selling wholesale to restaurants now has a shop front - the AK food pantry. The pantry stocks a great selection of deli products, imported wine and beer. On the beer front, this is easily the best place in town to pick up Aussie Mega-swill such as VB or Crown. Although, why you would want to buy expensive imported lager with no flavour when the local stuff is cheaper and better i'm not sure. However, there were a few gems available on the beer shelves which I haven't seen available anywhere else. James Squire Amber Ale & Golden Ale are both tasty boutique brews for a mass market beer. Even better, the German Erdinger Weissbier (wheat beer) in both original and dunkel (dark) variants are excellent beers. I remember drinking these many years ago on a climbing trip to Europe and enjoying them very much. The food pantry also sell ten packs of Birds Eye fishfingers. I've been on the receiving end of a lot of ridicule over the years for my love of fishfingers, so I consider the stocking of them by such a high quality deli to be a vindication of my secret pleasure !
AK the food pantry are at #125, St. 105, Boeng Keng Kang 3.
Ps. The best way to eat fish fingers is on a whole-grain bread sandwich. Grill them to a nice crispy golden brown, and make up the sandwich with lashings of good quality mayonaisse. Go on, try it, no one ever has to know ;-)
We had a couple of object lessons in the Cambodian modus operandi whilst in Angkor. Neither of these events was a big deal, but I think they illustrate the differences in the way things are done between Cambodia and Western countries, and also why Western visitors can fall in love with, and be frustrated by South East Asia in roughly equal measure.
So, to story number one - the "love" story ! After a long day looking around temples, we had found a good spot to watch the sunset on the steps of an old library at Angkor Wat. We'd run out of water and it was about time for a beer, but we still had half an hour to wait until sunset and there were no vendors to be seen. From out of nowhere a teenage kid on a small red bike rides up and asks me if I want a beer. An angel sent from heaven. After replying that i'd love a beer, off he rides. Five minutes later he's back with an ice-cold can of Angkor (my country, my beer) which he sells to me for a buck. He probably bought it for seventy cents, a tidy little profit and a great example of Cambodian entrepeneurialism. This stuff is going on everywhere here, if you're not sure if you can do something, or how to do something, just ask around. The chances are someone has thought of exactly that before, and is making their livelihood doing just what you need. I love Cambodia.
Story number two...the "mindless bureacracy" story ! The next morning Emma & I are riding out to the Temples for the day in our Tuk-Tuk. We stop at the ticket booths to have our ticket stamped. When Em unzips her bag to take out her ticket, the zip snags the corner and tears off a very small piece of the ticket. The missing portion doesn't contain any serial numbers or important information. No big deal, right ? Wrong. After carefully examining the ticket, the inspector calls over a supervisor. Lots of discussion ensues. Disbelieving but concerned that we may have to pay another $40 to replace the ticket, we tease out the ripped portion from the zipper and hand it over, explaining what has happened. More discussion ensues. By now there are 5 Sokimex staff standing around our Tuk-Tuk. After more careful consideration, the supervisor tells Emma she won't have to pay for another pass (lucky as I don't think Em was even remotely considering paying and was preparing to spark up), but she will have to walk over to the ticket booths where the staff will selotape the corner back onto the ticket. It was a good repair job, but really not necessary. Excessive red tape and bureaucracy are a legacy of the colonial era here and are to be found pretty much any time you need to make more formal transactions, deal with the government etc. In this case the colonial villains are the French, although the English have left a similar legacy in former colonies such as India, so I guess we really only have ourselves to blame. Patience and good humour are the way to deal with these obstacles, but it can be hard to keep your cool. If all else fails, a bribe will usually get you out of trouble.
Now i've written it, I really feel as though I should have finished this post with the beer story as the bureaucratic headaches, although painful, are infrequent...and that kid on the small red bike riding up out of the setting sun offering me an ice cold beer...ah happy days !
The Temples of Angkor really are remarkable. I'm not sure that there are enough superlatives to describe this place, needless to say if you haven't been I strongly recommend it. The Khmer people are rightly very proud of their heritage - the temples cover a vast area, the workmanship on many of the temples is really exquisite and the state of preservation is quite incredible given that some are over a thousand years old. We took three days to look around which depending on your interests will either be about right, or nowhere near long enough. We cycled on day one which was hot work but fun, and caught a tuk-tuk for the remaining days to allow us to see some of the outlying temples.
The highlight for Em was the beautiful Bas-reliefs at the Bayon and Angkor Wat, the carvings are stunning and very detailed and tell stories of land & sea battles, gods and daily life. Surprisingly, the highlight for me was actually not a temple at all. On our last day we decided to walk around Angkor Wat just before sunset (on the narrow strip of land between the outer wall, and the moat). It's 5.5km around and we didn't see a soul other than a few locals picking lotus flowers in the moat using inner tubes to paddle themselves around (the same ones they sell to posh hotels to leave on your pillow), some monkeys and some fat cows (by Cambodian standards) enjoying the lush grass. The walk is thoroughly recommended if you find yourself at Angkor and want a break from the Temples.
Without further ado, here is a small selection of our photographs from the trip, and a link at the end to the rest of the shots if you want to share our 'temple fatigue'.
1. North side of the Phimeanakas ("Aerial Palace").
2. Crooked window in one of the twelve Prasat Suor Prat ("Towers of the Cord Dancers")
3. View of the North-East corner of the Bayon.
4. Bas-relief detail from the East Gallery of the Bayon.
5. Carving detail from the South-East corner pavilion of the Bayon.
6. Carving detail from the Entry Tower at Angkor Wat.
7. Em & Pete selfie at Angkor Wat.
8. Walking around the moat at Angkor Wat.
9. Carving detail from fallen pillar on the walk around the moat at Angkor Wat.
10. Angkor Wat at sunset.
11. Looking up inside the Central Sanctuary of East Mebon.
12. Buddha inside the Central Sanctuary of East Mebon.
The rest of our photo's are published here : http://gallery.me.com/pete.andrews#100054
Although we only had a few days in Siem Reap to see the Temples of Angkor, we still managed to squeeze in some night-life. Siem Reap is crammed with bars, but if you're looking for a decent cocktail i'd recommend against the many "2 for 1" happy hour offers. Em ordered this Mojito at one particular backpacker haunt. Suffice to say the barman was very generous with the greenery (including roots with soil still attached). We decided it should be called a "Mekong" as it's very reminiscent of the large clumps of weed you see floating down the Mekong at this time of year, and that brings me to another great cocktail named after a river - the "Yarra" ! The "Yarra's" main ingredient is apple juice which starts out a lovely vibrant green but after a few minutes turns a turgid brown colour, just like it's Melbourne namesake. Fortunately, the "Yarra" still tastes great despite the colour. If you're keen to try one, the recipe is below, reproduced by kind permission of it's creator and our good friend Pia...
How to make a Yarra:
- Take a bag (say 8-10) of granny smith apples, and juice them in a juicer.
- Add 1 part Bacardi to 4 parts apple juice (including any froth).
- Wait.
Cheers!
Em & I have just arrived back from Siem Reap where we had a fantastic few days touring temples and enjoying our wonderful hotel. Our 5 year anniversary was back in February, but we were too busy deconstructing our life in Melbourne to celebrate, so we decided to indulge in a little five star hotel action in Siem Reap at the Hotel de la Paix. Not only did we get a great deal due to the recession, but we were also lucky enough to get upgraded...woohoo ! The highlight of our trip though, was without a doubt the magnificent temples of Angkor, truly a wonder of the world. I'll post some more photo's and highlights later, but for now here is a video of Emma & I riding through the Victory Gate of Angkor Thom.
Today's edition of the Phnom Penh Post has helped me to make sense of yesterday's Royal Ploughing Ceremony. The chap being carried on the golden litter in the first video I posted yesterday was Supreme Court President Dith Munty. It seems as though the role of driving the oxen and sowing the seed is rotated amongst the great and the good of Cambodia, this year it was the Supreme Court President's turn to drive the oxen as the sdech neak, and his wife performed the mae hua role sowing the seed behing him. The king, meanwhile, presided over the whole ceremony (I understand the Prime Minister Hun Sen has performed this function in some previous years). The Phnom Phen Post has a good shot below of the oxen tucking into their favoured snack. This year, the Royal Oxen chose Soya Beans, Green Beans and Corn, and the Royal Astrologer Kang Ken interpreted this in the ceremony as being a good year for beans and corn but not so good for rice. Interestingly, he back-tracked on this later when talking to the press and said the rice yield would be up 30%. Em was talking to a work colleague yesterday who said he didn't believe in any of the predictions, but reading the article below it seems as though there are a significant number of farmers who hold a lot of stock in what the Soothsayers predict. If the predictions affect the behaviour of farmers, I guess this is potentially political dynamite for a government which is trying to increase rice yields year on year. Oh, and I have one correction to make to yesterday's piece, apparently the 7th bowl contains wine (not whisky). Drinking the water or wine, indicates flood or war respectively so really this years prediction has to be a good result I think.
With the imminent arrival of the monsoon, the rice growing season is here. Rice is an incredibly important crop in Cambodia and this morning I got up early to go and see the annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony which was a real spectacle. The ceremony involves sacred oxen pulling a plough, followed by court Brahmins who sow rice seed. After the ploughing, the oxen are offered plates of various food - rice, corn, green beans, sesame, fresh-cut grass, water and rice whisky. Court soothsayers make a prediction on the coming growing season based on what the oxen choose to eat, apparently the oxen have a good nose for predicting the harvest.
The ceremony was held just outside the National Museum next to the Royal Palace and the entrance was lined with school-children waving pictures of the King. Just before the King's arrival an MP told me to take my hat off. They really love and respect the royal family here. There was an honour guard toting ceremonial AK-47's and a brass band. Before the ploughing started there was a lot of chanting (presumably prayer), and one of the priests got on all fours and crawled around the food which was to be offered to the oxen. I'm not sure why, the oxen were nowhere to be seen at this point so it wasn't a demonstration to make sure they understood their role. The ploughing ensued with lots of music and drums, and the oxen did quite a few laps of the square pulling their ploughs. After watching three laps, the lack of coffee was taking it's toll and I headed home to watch the rest on TV. I'm really not sure what the outcome of the ceremony was (whether the season will be bountiful, and whether the oxen preferred whisky or rice), i'll try to pick it up in the newspaper tomorrow and report back. Meanwhile, here are a few photo's of the ceremony...
...and some video's...
We had our first visitor in Phnom Penh this weekend - Em's sister Tamara. It was wonderful to see her even though she could only squeeze in a couple of days before a business trip to Bangkok. We had a very relaxing time, cruising around our hood and catching up. Here's a shot of Em & Tobie sharing a drink at our local bar.
A fellow beer lover I met on the weekend mentioned a bottle shop in Phnom Penh which stocks Belgian beer - Leffe Blonde & Brune, Hoegaarden & Hoegaarden Grand Cru. As with most alcohol here, they're incredibly cheap especially for premium beer ($1.40 a bottle). Lucky Drink is at 127 Blvd Preah Monivong. I also discovered a new supermarket just a few doors down (Thai Huot Supermarket, 99 - 105 Blvd Preah Monivong) which specialises in French delicacies. I picked up a delicious Saucisson for a few bucks. Alas, I still haven't found any imported English Bitter or Ale, but these beers are a very decent drop all the same.
It's way too easy to live a sedentary life in South-East Asia. The pervasive heat and humidity make exercise hard, and the cheap alcohol and good food mean you can let it slip very quickly. In Phnom Penh, there are some good gyms but they are expensive. It's also possible to use hotel swimming pools but generally speaking they're not very good for laps (being more designed for lounging and occasionally ordering a cocktail from a passing waitress). Although we've taken to cycling around, I doubt the exercise value of cycling due to the terrible traffic and our rickety single speed bikes. So, to avoid our slide into lard-land, Em & I have been trying to go for a run at our local park (Independence Monument) 2 - 3 times per week. It's about a kilometre lap, and i'm up to 5 laps which generally leaves me over-heated, and absolutely soaked with sweat. I figure the exercise value in this heat must be very good however. The best thing about the park is that in the evening it comes alive with locals walking, stretching, playing badminton and hack but with an odd shuttlecock - beanbag hybrid. There aren't many joggers and I frequently get laughed at, especially as my face looks like a tomato in the heat. It's a great spot for people watching as well as exercise, and best of all it's free !
1979. The curation of the site is incredibly powerful, in particular, room after room of inmate photographs (the Khmer Rouge documented everything thoroughly) have a profound impact on the visitor - grim black and white mug-shots of some of the estimated 
20,000 men, women and children who were killed here ; you can see in their eyes that they already know what their fate will be. We didn't manage to take too many photographs during our visit, hopefully these give you an impression of how truly disturbing this place is - of note, the Khmer Rouge used water-boarding (right) as well as many other horrendous torture methods to extract confessions.
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