Give Peace a Chance

We left Siem Reap on an uneventful (if you can believe it) 3 hour bus ride with only locals to a city called Battambang, though I thought it was called battenberg and got excited imagining a entire city made out of delicious pink and yellow checkered sponge cake delicately wrapped in a think layer of marzipan. Unfortunately, the city is made of buildings and motorbikes whiz by at top speeds. We arrived in undramatic fashion and were escorted to a nearby hotel by an eager young man and we decided to stay there instead of searching around like we usually do for a cheaper rate, as we are leaving for Phnom Pehn tomorrow to celebrate the water festival in the capitol city. Since we would only be in Battambang for 1 day, we decided to pay for an escorted tour on the back of motorbikes with 2 local best friends as guides. My guide was Sam and Alex's was Dollar (yes, that is his real name). They are between the ages of 24-28, as they are not quite sure what years they were born in, but we would venture a guess closer to the 24 range due to their overall maturity...bless them though. They were honestly very sweet and knowledgeable and they took us all around for $7 so we cannot complain. They also took us to ride on a bamboo train, which is a very interesting and bumpy train ride through some rural Cambodian land between two villages. Seriously, it is hidden in the depths of these communities and hard to find. We got a whole train to ourselves and rode it for about 25 minutes before reaching the next village and then rode it straight back to our starting off point. It was bumpy and loud and some of the local cows decided to hang out on the tracks, which caused a minor delay. Some bits of the train tracks (especially the ones over a stream of water or a large drop down) were very sparsely populated with timber so that was a bit un-nerving, but overall an awesome experience that we both thoroughly enjoyed. The Killing Caves were something a bit more emotive than the Bamboo Train. They are situated on top of a hill where there are a number of temples, mostly destroyed by the Khmer Rouge, but currently being rebuilt. More impressive, however, is the cave in which many children, women and men were tortured and killed by the Khmer Rouge. The bones and skulls were collected by monks who exhibited them in a cage as a monument. Thousands of innocent people (an estimated 10,000) fell to their deaths here after being tortured as described below:
"People were tied up and a hook placed up their nostrils. Then they were hung high enough whilst the Khmer Rouge removed lungs and liver through a vertical slit in the chest cavity. The Khmer Rouge ate these organs and drank the blood mixed with wine to make them stronger soldiers. To see the dried blood on the cave walls where the bodies bounced off, to see the pieces of skull and bone lying on the ground, to see scattered pieces of clothes, all adds to the gruesome picture. Many of the victims could not be identified. But as most of them only had one set of clothing, it was possible to see who they were by the clothes left." Other unspeakable atrocities and acts of violence occurred in these caves and our young guides found it difficult to talk about towards the end of our tour. We can only imagine that the Killing Fields, which we will visit in a couple of days will have the same if not a greater impact on us as these killing caves did. It is so hard to relate to or even imagine what the Cambodian people suffered through during Pol Pot's regime of terror and the Khmer Rouge. We have done some research and the Khmer Rouge wanted to rid Cambodia of anyone suspected of supporting capitalism or involved in "free market activities." This meant that families were spilt up and children brainwashed to socialism and taught various methods of torture. Professionals, urban dwellers and almost everyone with an education were suspected of capitalism and either put to death, tortured or forced to work in the fields. The malnourishment, ritual killings, torture led to the loss of about 30% of Cambodian;s total population in the 1970s. It is surreal to actually be here and step on this soil where these horrors took place...it really puts all those years of taking history classes at school and learning from books right there into your face and makes you think and makes you feel. I think this is the best way to learn about history...and we both felt the same way when we visited the Land Mine Museums. The people are so peaceful after all the bombings and genocide and loss they have endured, there is still a smile on their faces and in their hearts. We have not felt any anti-UK or anti-USA sentiment, though I think any ill will would be more focussed on Americans, but just look at those two little girls in the picture...so young and innocent and sweet reminding us all to give peace a chance and just let people live and be free.