Day 3 of our trip has just passed, and I think if I returned tonight, I could do so satisfied that we’ve achieved what we were hoping to through this trip. If it wasn’t simply enough that I’m currently sitting on a porch in the rural countryside of Cambodia listening to dogs barking in the distance and a chorus of crickets, bullfrogs, lizards and various other night creatures, while typing out a blog, I’ve also been able to see my daughters, turn into intellectual sponges, soaking up the sights, sounds, history and culture of the Khmer in Cambodia as they live through a hands-on crash-course lesson of one of modern history’s worst episodes of political tyranny and human tragedy, and can see what is still an early but clear return from the ashes.
Our day started with a hectic race against the clock to pack up our 6 suitcases and several carry-on bags in time for our 6:00am cab ride to the airport. We bid farewell to David and Jing, and wished them well on their move to Shanghai (occurring only a few days after we left), and thanked them again for dealing with 4 cranky jet lagged people over the last couple days.
We reflected on our experience while we snaked our way through the hundreds of towering apartment complexes. Things we enjoyed, things we didn’t. The girls had a certain level of apprehension as we boarded a plan for a new foreign land. Juxtaposing the cosmopolitan cities, high end shopping, and luxury cars of Hong Kong, they knew we were headed for, what we in the west call, a “third world country.”
The US Dept. of State’s travel notes, provides many descriptions that give one pause before planning a trip here:
• “a developing country”
• “Land mines and unexploded ordnance are found in rural areas throughout Cambodia”
• “Medical Facilities in Cambodia do not meet international standards. “
On top of that as the girls have been saying for rmonths, “’Our crazy dad wants us to sleep in some Khmer house with a family out in the middle of the country where we will die from some crazy disease.” For awhile everyone had said they refused to go if that was part of the plan. After some discussion, and sharing some of my research with them, they dropped the argument without ever quite agreeing to the idea.
Before continuing, let me share a brief fact with you. You’ve probably heard of Pol Pot, and you probably know he and the Khmer Rouge were bad guys (you might have even know he led the group). Did you know that his forces murdered 2 million Cambodians when the entire population was only 8 million around 1979. That’s 25% of the country. One out of four. Can you imagine that. Take a look at your grade-school class picture. Now imagine a quarter of them being brutally murdered. Take a look at your family pictures from Christmas. Imagine one fourth being dumped in a mass grave. 2 million. If this piques your interest I encourage you to do at least a few moments of internet searching on the Khmer Rouge.
I knew that we’d be getting a chance to get to know some Khmer people due to the nature of our lodging, and I thought it important that the girls understand the extent of this atrocity to truly understand the people here. (As did I, myself, need this, not knowing much of any of this history until we began planning this trip.) Therefore, when we landed in Phnom Penh, we found our car and driver (Cambodia driving is similar to India in the level of relative “chaos” to what westerners are used to ,and therefore a driver is a necessity when renting a car) and quickly jumped into my to do list for Phnom Penh before heading to our homestay a couple hours away in Takeo.
Riding here in a car, is somewhat a “lite” version of riding in India. Minimal traffic rules, and the roads are cohabitated by a multitude of vehicles, including tons of motorcycles carrying 1-4 riders (often toddlers on the laps of mothers seated behind the father. Proper lane usage is a suggestion as opposed to a rule. When we pulled out of the aiport parking lot, their mouths all instantaneously dropped open and stayed that way. This was quite a shock for all three girls for quite a period of time, as dozens of vehicles weaved in and around us constantly.
We hit a couple basic tourist sites, unfortunately the King’s Royal Palace was closed due meetings related to an ASEAN conference occurring while we are here, and on top of that it started raining as soon as we started wandering.
After these sites, we headed to two key locations central to the story of the Khmer Rouge:
• Tuol Sleng: A school turned prison/processing center/torture chamber for the Khmer Rouge
• And Cheoung Ek, the final resting place of thousands killed by the brutal regime.
Tuol Sleng in particular provided a graphic lesson in the torture that occurred, and the human aspect of the period through hundreds of pictures of the victims-most from shortly before they were executed, but some from afterwards. The girls took this all in, reading many of the signs and Kalyssa had quite a few questions. To further reinforce how fresh all these scars still are, someone had placed a sprig of flowers on one of the pictures-clearly a relative.
Siphen pointed out her brother Peng was here who has lived in the US for 40 years in Cleveland, and plans to soon retire back to the Meas family plot of land. (It is cultulrally normal that a family will build their houses all near to each other and live together on the same land. Through some of the discussions, we asked about her and her husband’s family, and who lived on the ranch/community (struggling to find the appropriate term for the several homes occupied by the family members). I caught on to the way she referred to the size of her family. It was extremely subtle, but gave me goosebumps: “After the Khmer Rouge my mother had two sons.” Clearly the way it was stated was not unusual for people in this country---a similar marker in everyone’s life timeline that immediately reduced the branches in the family tree. I later found that indeed, Siphen had a 3rd brother who was executed by the Rouge.
At one point in the evening, I met the brother from Cleveland. I found that he works in Healthcare (as do I) and talked for 10-15 minutes or so. As I got up, relishing the new connection on the other side of the planet, I walked over and noticed Kalyssa as well had already started building her own relationships. She was standing in a circle with about 20 Khmer school kids around her age, playing games to help them learn English. Soon Allie came over and was playing as well. All of them laughing and playing as if they’d all known each other for years. At one point they were playing the Telephone game, in English. When it came to Allie and Kalyssa’s turn, the girl next to them said to make it harder for them, they’d change one word from English to Khmer, so they would also have the challenge. Afterwards, Kalyssa raved about how awesome all the kids were, and Alexandra as well came back to the house beaming from all the fun she just had. I sat and watched the entire interaction, took some pictures and video, and just sat in astonishment as the purpose of this trip played out before me, better than I could have ever hoped.
Shortly after I headed back to our house, Peng wandered over and talked for a bit more. Directly in front of our house is a large square pond. The Meas family did not need to dig out this pond. An American B52 took care of that for them with a bomb meant for a missile launcher or something that was placed a couple hundred feet away in the woods during the Vietnam war. No one in the Meas family had been injured as they had evacuated earlier to Phnom Penh. After the war was over, they decided to turn the B52 crater into a pond. As we discussed a little more about the Khmer Rouge, Siphen recommended that I talk more to her brother about his experience. She explained that he had been captured by the Rouge, and made a “one in a million” chance escape. She recommended that, if I have the time, that I spend it with Peng tomorrow and hear the story, as it will give me the perspective that no written account of the story can.
I said that I would appreciate that more than anything….
Later in the evening, dinner was served by Siphen and Mach and included several dishes buffet style chicken dishes, fish, shrimp, eggrolls and a veggie dish, and a desert which I don’t even know how to explain. It was always very good. We returned to our house, and retired for the evening with a small oscillating fan keeping us cool overhead, and a lizard that snuck in and was watching us from the ceiling ensuring that any mosquitoes that came in with us in don’t bother us.
Our day started with a hectic race against the clock to pack up our 6 suitcases and several carry-on bags in time for our 6:00am cab ride to the airport. We bid farewell to David and Jing, and wished them well on their move to Shanghai (occurring only a few days after we left), and thanked them again for dealing with 4 cranky jet lagged people over the last couple days.
 |
| Luggage Train |
We reflected on our experience while we snaked our way through the hundreds of towering apartment complexes. Things we enjoyed, things we didn’t. The girls had a certain level of apprehension as we boarded a plan for a new foreign land. Juxtaposing the cosmopolitan cities, high end shopping, and luxury cars of Hong Kong, they knew we were headed for, what we in the west call, a “third world country.”
The US Dept. of State’s travel notes, provides many descriptions that give one pause before planning a trip here:
• “a developing country”
• “Land mines and unexploded ordnance are found in rural areas throughout Cambodia”
• “Medical Facilities in Cambodia do not meet international standards. “
On top of that as the girls have been saying for rmonths, “’Our crazy dad wants us to sleep in some Khmer house with a family out in the middle of the country where we will die from some crazy disease.” For awhile everyone had said they refused to go if that was part of the plan. After some discussion, and sharing some of my research with them, they dropped the argument without ever quite agreeing to the idea.
Before continuing, let me share a brief fact with you. You’ve probably heard of Pol Pot, and you probably know he and the Khmer Rouge were bad guys (you might have even know he led the group). Did you know that his forces murdered 2 million Cambodians when the entire population was only 8 million around 1979. That’s 25% of the country. One out of four. Can you imagine that. Take a look at your grade-school class picture. Now imagine a quarter of them being brutally murdered. Take a look at your family pictures from Christmas. Imagine one fourth being dumped in a mass grave. 2 million. If this piques your interest I encourage you to do at least a few moments of internet searching on the Khmer Rouge.
I knew that we’d be getting a chance to get to know some Khmer people due to the nature of our lodging, and I thought it important that the girls understand the extent of this atrocity to truly understand the people here. (As did I, myself, need this, not knowing much of any of this history until we began planning this trip.) Therefore, when we landed in Phnom Penh, we found our car and driver (Cambodia driving is similar to India in the level of relative “chaos” to what westerners are used to ,and therefore a driver is a necessity when renting a car) and quickly jumped into my to do list for Phnom Penh before heading to our homestay a couple hours away in Takeo.
Riding here in a car, is somewhat a “lite” version of riding in India. Minimal traffic rules, and the roads are cohabitated by a multitude of vehicles, including tons of motorcycles carrying 1-4 riders (often toddlers on the laps of mothers seated behind the father. Proper lane usage is a suggestion as opposed to a rule. When we pulled out of the aiport parking lot, their mouths all instantaneously dropped open and stayed that way. This was quite a shock for all three girls for quite a period of time, as dozens of vehicles weaved in and around us constantly.
We hit a couple basic tourist sites, unfortunately the King’s Royal Palace was closed due meetings related to an ASEAN conference occurring while we are here, and on top of that it started raining as soon as we started wandering.
 |
| Royal Palace-Phnom Penh |
 |
| Wat Ounalom |
After these sites, we headed to two key locations central to the story of the Khmer Rouge:
• Tuol Sleng: A school turned prison/processing center/torture chamber for the Khmer Rouge
• And Cheoung Ek, the final resting place of thousands killed by the brutal regime.
 |
| Tuol Sleng |
 |
| Pictures taken by Khmer Rouge before Execution |
| ||
| Cheoung Ek Memorial at "The Killing Fields" filled with Skulls of Victims |
After this immersion in brutality, we headed through the country side to a place a few miles outside of Takeo, Cambodia, and turned down a looooong dirt road to a series of houses. When we arrived at the Meas Family Homestay we were immediately greeted by Mach and Siphen who welcomed us, provided some snacks and some tea, and gave us a brief overview. The Homestay is their “second” job, and usually has only a few visitors now and then. This week however, they had some family that surprised them and a few additional guests that booked after we did. So they said it has suddenly become a very busy few days for them.
 |
| Our Home for 2 Days (Bomb Crater Pond in front) |
Siphen pointed out her brother Peng was here who has lived in the US for 40 years in Cleveland, and plans to soon retire back to the Meas family plot of land. (It is cultulrally normal that a family will build their houses all near to each other and live together on the same land. Through some of the discussions, we asked about her and her husband’s family, and who lived on the ranch/community (struggling to find the appropriate term for the several homes occupied by the family members). I caught on to the way she referred to the size of her family. It was extremely subtle, but gave me goosebumps: “After the Khmer Rouge my mother had two sons.” Clearly the way it was stated was not unusual for people in this country---a similar marker in everyone’s life timeline that immediately reduced the branches in the family tree. I later found that indeed, Siphen had a 3rd brother who was executed by the Rouge.
At one point in the evening, I met the brother from Cleveland. I found that he works in Healthcare (as do I) and talked for 10-15 minutes or so. As I got up, relishing the new connection on the other side of the planet, I walked over and noticed Kalyssa as well had already started building her own relationships. She was standing in a circle with about 20 Khmer school kids around her age, playing games to help them learn English. Soon Allie came over and was playing as well. All of them laughing and playing as if they’d all known each other for years. At one point they were playing the Telephone game, in English. When it came to Allie and Kalyssa’s turn, the girl next to them said to make it harder for them, they’d change one word from English to Khmer, so they would also have the challenge. Afterwards, Kalyssa raved about how awesome all the kids were, and Alexandra as well came back to the house beaming from all the fun she just had. I sat and watched the entire interaction, took some pictures and video, and just sat in astonishment as the purpose of this trip played out before me, better than I could have ever hoped.
 |
| Games with English Students |
Shortly after I headed back to our house, Peng wandered over and talked for a bit more. Directly in front of our house is a large square pond. The Meas family did not need to dig out this pond. An American B52 took care of that for them with a bomb meant for a missile launcher or something that was placed a couple hundred feet away in the woods during the Vietnam war. No one in the Meas family had been injured as they had evacuated earlier to Phnom Penh. After the war was over, they decided to turn the B52 crater into a pond. As we discussed a little more about the Khmer Rouge, Siphen recommended that I talk more to her brother about his experience. She explained that he had been captured by the Rouge, and made a “one in a million” chance escape. She recommended that, if I have the time, that I spend it with Peng tomorrow and hear the story, as it will give me the perspective that no written account of the story can.
I said that I would appreciate that more than anything….
 |
| Dinner |
Later in the evening, dinner was served by Siphen and Mach and included several dishes buffet style chicken dishes, fish, shrimp, eggrolls and a veggie dish, and a desert which I don’t even know how to explain. It was always very good. We returned to our house, and retired for the evening with a small oscillating fan keeping us cool overhead, and a lizard that snuck in and was watching us from the ceiling ensuring that any mosquitoes that came in with us in don’t bother us.
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