Thailand Trail Monday 23rd January Genocide

 

I have visited several places where man's inhumanity to man is starkly demonstrated in horrific and very moving circumstances. The Holocaust extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, The Human Rights Museum in Santiago,  Chile and the Hiroshima Memorial Museum are examples. Tuol Sleng or S21 was a torture and interrogation centre in Phnom Penh during the time the Khmer Rouge were ruling Cambodia from 1975 until 1979. This was one of 189 such centres presently known about. 

Ironically these premises were formerly a High School which adds to the poignancy of its later usage. Firstly a word about the Khmer Rouge. They operated from 1951 until 1999 as the Communist Party of Kampuchea. Most of this time they were an insurgency but the Genocide took place when they were in power. Between 1,5 and 2 million people were slaughtered, about 25% of the population. They were extreme left wing, trying to create a purely agrarian society. Untrained in agriculture people forced out of the city couldn't survive. Famine was widespread. There was no use for intellectuals (anyone who wore glasses), they were all murdered as were all racial minorities. 

Let's move on into the Museum. We had an audio guide so we learnt the whole story in every grizzly detail. 

                 

Block A, the main torture block. The leaders of the regime were paranoid about treachery consequently anyone could be tortured until they "confessed" then executed. S21 was reserved for the hierarchy of the regime. With the efficiency of Nazi Germany everything was documented including mug shots of the detainees. Much of documentary evidence is retained on the premises. Of all the people arrested and imprisoned here over 3 years only 12 survived (more on this later). In front of us you can see the graves of the last 14 people to die before the Vietnamese liberated the city. The total detained here was approaching 20,000.

The perimeter fence. See how close it is to the centre of the city, mind you the city was largely depopulated in1975.

The first of the torture rooms. Torture took many forms, application of electricity, water immersion including water boarding, beating with various instruments, insertion of dangerous insects in various orifices. I think that's enough. Prisoners were manacled and shackled to the bed. The ammunition box was the toilet facility. Spillages resulted in having to lick the floor clean. 

A summary of the rules that were impossible to follow. 

A second torture room. All block A consisted of these. 

This was called the gallows. It wasn't where people were hanged, that would be too quick, rather people were hung by the wrists with their arms behind their backs. When they passed out, they were stuffed head first into the full water jars below. When this was a school it was a play area with climbing ropes attached to the beam.

Time for a break and a little peace and contemplation in the gardens. 

Block B mainly contains the photographic records. You can see the inmates, the cadres who were the warders and torturers, and the leaders of the regime. The upper of the two pictures is of top leader Pol Pot. Incredibly Pol Pot died in his sleep in 1998 whist serving a life sentence imposed on him by his own Khmer Rouge. It wasn't until 2014 that 2 other leaders were tried by the UN for crimes against humanity. 

Block C consists mainly small cells roughly built within what was originally a classroom. They were built so poorly that that  jerry-built iron frameworks were needed to hold them up. 

There were iron staples in the floor to which prisoners were shackled. 

Difficult shot, this one. Victims of the regime. All these sculls have been forensically examined and all the deaths where the result of blows to the head by a blunt weapon. The victims then fell into a trench where their throats were cut, like you would a pig. This created mass graves and saved on the cost of ammunition. 

Another tranquil garden with memorials. Some more thoughts on the insane and paranoid world of the Khmer Rouge. They were autocratic,  totalitarian and repressive. Its insistence on absolute self-sufficiency, including the use of medicines led to the death of thousands from treatable diseases like malaria.  For three years they banned money but salt, rice and gold were still used as currency. 

I mentioned that there are believed to be only 12 survivors from amongst the inmates. This is one of them! He was a 14 year old boy when Phnom Penh and consequently the prison fell to the Vietnamese. His name is Nomg Chan Phal. You can see him with a copy of his book which he is about to present to Helen. 

Thailand Trail aka Cambodian Caper, South to Phnom Penh

 If you remember the bus company that we are using is called Giant Ibis and we are with them again for the 6 hour journey south to Phnom Penh. I have learnt that a group of ibises is called a congregation, so we are about to join the congregation. 

Lunch break at the service area off the main road to Phnom Penh. Driving in this country is rather like India without the cows. You can overtake on any side and drive against the flow of traffic, anything goes, size is what really counts. 

The Mekong River divides Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital into two. As it is so wide it is expensive to bridge, consequently there aren't many of them. This is the view from the bedroom of our hotel. 

We paid a tuc-tuc driver $15 for the use of his knowledge and vehicle for the afternoon so we could see Phnom Penh's highlights. The first sight we went to was Wat Phnom. Free to locals but $1 for foreigners. It is built on top of a man-made hill and gives you a good idea of how an active Buddhist temple functions.  Here we look back down the hill while we get our breath back. 

These cages contain a lot of tiny finch type birds. People come along and pay to be given a couple of birds into their cupped hands which they can then open and hence release the birds to freedom, I'm sure that this is a very symbolic Buddhist thing to do and deeply meaningful, however it is also a great money spinner. Buddhism is all about the cycle of life and this is certainly a cycle, catch 'em, release 'em, catch 'em, release 'em, catch 'em, release 'em and so on ad infinitum. Just had a thought, perhaps they are homing finches so we could cut out the middleman. Now I know why the caged bird sings.

Looks a bit like a thriving market place, and it is but the purchases are not for consumption by the people. They will all be left at one of the shrines for Buddha's midnight feast. This will ensure good luck for the believers. To me its a bit like leaving that glass of sherry out for Father Christmas. 

Here it is all happening, Buddha presiding over his gifts and devotees. 

We moved on to the National Museum which had a lot of ancient bronze sculptures, but no photography allowed. It also sold some excellent coffee in an attractive garden. Next it was either on to the Royal Palace or the S21 Genocide Museum as both had a last entry in about an hour. There was no contest. The Genocide Museum is so serious and of such importance to the whole world that I am going to devote a discreet blog to it. Meanwhile here are some of the other sites that we took in with our tuc-tuc. 

This is the large park which was decorated to celebrate the very recent Chinese New Year. I hope you can spot that this year is the Year of the rabbit. 

Here we are in Independence Square and it's monument. I never did ask, "Independence from whom?" The French? The Kymer Rouge? The Vietnamese? or The USA? Take your pick I suppose. 

A final photo for the night. We got back to our hotel bedroom after a visit to the night market where photographs were not reccomended for reasons of personal security so this is the same view I posted earlier but this time with the lights reflecting in the Mekong. 

Thailand Trail Saturday 21st January Angkor Wat

A lot of people will have heard of Angkor Wat, it is after all the world's biggest religious monument and on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list since it started. The complex occupies 164 hectares and consists of many temples and a fortified city. The name Angkor Wat means the Capital of Temples and is the temple which we will visit first. We have booked into a tour with a guide. The group consists of just 3 of us, Helen and myself and a Californian called Miguel. Our guide's name is Lucky and our driver is called Naro. Both Lucky and Naro were really excellent all day. The tour only cost $22 each and there is an entry fee of $35 to the whole site. Below is the site map at the ticket office. If you can read it, you may be able to see Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, Bayon and Angkor Thom. These are today's targets. 

 This is the classic shot of the reflected temple. The water is the protecting moat. This temple was originally built as a Hindu one dedicated to Vishnu. It was King Suryavarman ll who orders its construction in CE 1122 and it took only 28 years to complete. The King died in 1150 and work stopped. 

Lucky is also something of a photographer so you will see both Helen and me appearing in several of the pictures. Before Covid Angkor Wat was attracting 2 million visitors per year. Numbers completely collapsed and Lucky ended up working on a building site for $5 a day. There was no government help. 

I didn't realise that my phone camera could do this,  a vertical panoramic view. 

The entire building is covered with these bas relief carvings. They are absolutely fascinating. They record history, tell the stories of the gods and record day to day living. Below we can see Queens being looked after. 

The monkey god hanuman is around to protect 

Symmetry rules in Angkor Wat. It was built planned on rotational symmetry order four, so it has a centre point where the four axes meet, and between our heads is it. 

Construction methods here are totally different from stone constructions in the West. There blocks of stone are dressed then mortared together. Windows and doors are built around a former, stone by stone. Here blocks of stone are locked together with polished surfaces to ensure a tight fit. Any window or door is then carved out from the existing wall. This requires very precise work and no second chance if it goes wrong. The same can be said of the bas relief carvings. So the window and door frames were made of wood, but the rest one solid mass of stone. This limestone was quarried several kilometres away and transported by water. 

More bas relief carvings, this time you can see everybody pulling on a rope or beam. This is a much used symbol of togetherness and cooperation. Something we could do with a bit more of in the UK. The minutiae of life and death in C12 is recorded by the carvers in fascinating detail. This is reminiscent of the medieval wood carving on the choir stalls in Boston stump or, for those who know it the Bayeux Tapestry. 

We have now moved on to the next temple called Ta Prohm. Unfortunately this 800 year old building which spent much of its life "lost" in the jungle is now better known because of a 2001 film and everybody refers to it as the "Tomb Raiders" Temple. The way the undergrowth appears to be encasing the building is fascinating and very photogenic. Above us is a silver cotton tree. 

Something equally dramatic, we are sitting under a Parasite tree. This tree will use another different species to climb up to the light and to gain sustenance. This will eventually lead to the death of the host tree. 

Many people see a snake in this tree. Me, I can see snakes everywhere 

 More silver cotton trees but not a Lara Croft in sight!

Time to break for lunch and you have the chance to meet Miguel. He is a care worker who is employed privately and is currently taking a break to travel.  The meal that he is eating is a kind of fish stew served up in a hollowed out coconut so it looks like a chowder. I made the same choice. 

This is the gate to the city of Angkor Thom. In 1177 Angkor Wat and its city was sacked by the Chams, traditional enemies of the Khmer. In late C12/early C13 the empire was restored by a new King, Jayavarman Vll and he built Angkor Thom and his temple Bayon. This one was dedicated to Buddha because the Hindu gods had clearly failed him. 

It's the serenely smiling faces of Buddha facing in four directions that are the constant and enlightening feature. 

This is another bas relief carving telling the story of how the temple came into being. You can see the King on his elephant and his troops as they march into battle against the Chams. By the C12 the Chams had adopted Islam as their religion. The different ethnic groupings are clearly discernible in the carvings. 

Finally the three punters and Lucky together. Although this is the only picture of Lucky on the blog, I hope that he sees it and reads this special thanks for providing us with such an enjoyable and informative day. This blog I dedicate to you, Lucky and to you Miguel, enjoy Lucky's luck for the rest of your travels. 

Thailand Trail Friday Friday 20th January. On the road to Siem Reap

 Time to move south east to Cambodia. It's a 9 hour journey by coach with the Cambodian border roughly half way. The coach departure is at 7-45 am,  but the departure point is some distance from our hotel. We need to make a 45 minute taxi ride to get there, moreover the morning rush hour in Bangkok is horrendous. 

The night before departure I speak to the hotel staff to arrange for them to organise a taxi to be at the hotel for a 6-15 leave. This should give us plenty of time to get the coach. What can go wrong?..........

Well, when we come down to the lobby no-one had arranged the taxi. The staff seemed to think that it was a bit of a joke! They phoned for a "grab" taxi (like Uber) which appears to be 10 minutes away.  Fifteen minutes later the taxi is still 10 minutes away and we are getting very concerned. 6-45 we decide to walk to the main street and hail a taxi ourselves. This we do successfully three times,  but each time the driver either doesn't understand the address in English or just doesn't fancy it. 

Back at the hotel now 7 o'clock and our chances looking slim, I get the hotel to phone the coach company to say we may be late. They allow us 10 minutes grace and will then leave. 

We have a taxi and it's 7-15. This is going to be touch and (probably not) go! We have been here before, remember Bartumi to catch the only train to Tbilisi? A nail biting journey with a thousand red traffic lights. You daren't look at your watch. We reached the bus station at two minutes to 8am, 13 minutes after the coach should have left. The coach is still there!! What a nice coach! What a beautiful coach! It's the best coach we've ever seen.

They have saved us the front seats and have croissants and cold coffee for us. We are going to get to Siem Reap.

The beautiful coach with the flexible leaving time and below we are actually on the road. 

Border crossing time and we must get out of the coach and walk over, previously we stopped at the Cambodian embassy to pay our tourist tax, ie $35 for a visa. 

The Cambodian border control had six desks available to check immigration but today only two were manned. There were, of course at least six more uniformed officials keeping an eye on things but not apparently working. It took more than an hour to get through and back to the bus. Then we waited another half hour for a couple who seemed to get further delayed at the crossing. Below probably the most modern services that we stopped at. This was still in Thailand and part of the Amazon Cafe group. 

Romantic, but much more primitive this was the stopping place in Cambodia, halfway to Siem Reap. 

The hotel in Siem Reap was quite modern with a heavy teak wood influence. 

.....and a rather inviting swimming pool. Tomorrow we  have the Angkor Wat tour organised. 

Thailand Trail Wednesday 18th January A day on the river

 There is an overhead metro line about 5 minutes walk from our hotel which gives us access to the southern most pier which the hop on hop off tourist boat calls at. A £1.50 day pass ticket gives us use of the system until the early evening. There are at least four different lines of boats, each colour coded according to price, frequency and which piers they call at. Add to this the little ferries that just cross in lieu of a bridge and the private hire long tailed boats The results of all this is one very busy river, especially around the piers. The boats are in and out of the piers within a few seconds. Don't forget the commercial traffic, like the huge barges you can see in one of the photographs later which add the dumplings to soup of floaters. 

One of the first eye-catching buildings we see is the Catholic Church of the Holy Rosary. 

The next very striking building is the Bangkok River Park Condominium. Who dumped the White House on the top of this skyscraper? I'm not sure that this mix of architectural styles really works for me. 

The Wichai Prasit Fort. This was one of the first defence points constructed around 1780, though much altered. It was to defend the first site of the capital at Thornburi on the west side of the river. Now it's owned by the Thai Navy and is the equivalent of our Dartmouth Royal Naval College. 

One of Bangkok's classic sites, the Buddhist temple of Arun Wat. Built initially in the mid C16 it is dedicated to the Hindu god Aruna who is god of dawn. The central spire was built in the mid C19. It is very busy with tourists, pilgrims and local visitors. There are many girls here dressed in traditional silk embroidered kimono type dresses who look quite stunning whilst posing for their selfies. 

The external murals make the strongest impression. They are constructed from broken pieces of porcelain from China which was dumped by the Chinese junks having served its purpose as ballast. 

Have a closer look. This shot involved climbing up a couple of very steep sets of stairs which I found pretty daunting but was out of the question for Helen. The whole enterprise is a splendid example of recycling twice over. 

What I have named the clock temple. This side temple at Arun Wat contains six longcase clocks and two wall clocks. They are all late C19 but more or less telling the right time. This is also the Ordination Hall where monks are ordained. In the background you can see the beautiful murals and a painting of the Niramitr Buddha. 

Back across the river heading for a Amulet Market. This sells all sorts of religious ornaments and jewellery. Most of it is modern, reproduction and low quality. Buddhists tend to be very fatalistic and all these charms are important to them. Some of the stalls do sell genuine antiques. We bought a marble pig and a metal Buddha to cover all bases. 

Some huge barges being towed up river with a tug front and rear. 

Alongside the Amulet Market are the traditional medicine stalls which thrive despite or maybe because of modern science based medicines. 

Here we are at a UNESCO World Heritage temple complex called Wat Pho. It is first on the list of six temples in Thailand classed as the highest grade of first class Royal temples. It contains the largest collection of Buddha images in the country including this 42 metre long reclining Buddha. I knew that it was going to be big, but I was staggered by the sheer size. The Buddha is reclining because he has reached the state of Nirvana. We could do with a bit of nirvana, so at least we know where to come. 

It really is very difficult to photograph this statue and succeed in capturing the true scale it.

These are the bottom of his feet, or perhaps I should say the soles of his flip-flops. 

The temple was particularly dressed up today because of the imminent Chinese New Year. Watch out for rabbits. 

That was the last landing of our river trip apart from back to the pier and train for home. We still had time for an early evening walk out to the park and as the Lumphini Park, Bangkok's green lung is close to our hotel, it was the obvious choice. Named after the birth place of Buddha, the park is a great place for exercise. There are masses of park runners as well as more organised dance aerobics classes 

Swan Lake?

The park is also home to these Asian water monitor lizards. This chap is about 4 feet long but they can grow up to a couple of metres. The are completely wild but have not as far as I can gather been known to have attacked a human being. 

You certainly should be okay if you have left some of your lunch for the Buddha under the banyan tree.

A final good night from the park and skyline.