Murphy and O'Leary: Cambodia

We left Chau Doc on the Vietnam Cambodia border and traveled up the Mekong river into Cambodia. Imagining a romantic cruise up the Mekong delta we were sadly disappointed. The hot stuffy boat roared its way up the delta, no air conditioning and the engine heat and petrol fumes did not help. Even the Wellie Wagon had AC and was a luxury compared to this. The border control area is on the delta itself. We first had to get off the boat in Vietnam while we "exited" and then had to get back on the boat, travel 100 yards and get off again on the Cambodia side. The difference in the two countries was immediately evident with the Cambodian side lacking any waiting facilities or amenities. After a while we were back on the boat roaring up the Mekong to Cambodia.

Having read some horror stories of people getting fleeced by the Cambodian mafia on the Web we decided to opt for the more expensive hotel option. Everything in Cambodia is conduced in US dollars if it involves tourists. And given that there are not many tourist facilities, it is ending up being quite a bit more expensive than Vietnam.

After a short tuk tuk ride through town we arrived at our Oasis hotel. Here we are in our lovely new cool bedroom with silk pillows and crisply ironed cotton sheets. It feels like the pollution and poverty are another world away.

95% of Cambodia practices Theravada Buddhism which is considered one of the oldest and most conservative forms of Buddhism. There are temples (Wats), stupas and Buddhas everywhere. The most ornate one I came across was at the Royal Palace, commissioned in 1904 it contains 60K of gold and has 2,086 diamonds inset in the gold. The largest diamond is 25 carats. There was almost no security guarding it.

The royal palace - at least one of the many ones they have honored themselves with.

Lotus flower adorning a Stupa

All the dead kings have their own stupas to house their ashes in the Silver Palace. This one was to King Norodom (1834-1904)

The royal seat carried on the back of an Elephant to mark the coronation of the king.

The contrast between the opulence of the palace and the poverty outside the gates couldn't be more pronounced.

We went to the Genocide museum and the "Killing Fields" to view the death and destruction carried out by Phol Pot between 1975 and 1978. In three years over 2 million Cambodians were killed in the process of purifying society and creating a classless society.

Phol Pot carefully photographed and labeled every prisoner that went through S-21 interrigation center in Phnom Penh. Ironically it was a converted school that was used.
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