If these trees could talk....

I wonder, if this tree could talk, what would it say? I am sure most of you are familiar with the children's book "The Giving Tree." It always makes me cry when I read it to my niece. I thought of that sad tree today as I was walking through the killing fields of Choeun Ek, outside of Phnom Penh. It's really hard to imagine the complete toture that the Cambodian people went through in the last days, weeks, and months of their lives here. The Khmer Rouge implemented one of the most radical and brutal restructurings of a society ever attempted in April of 1975, and it lasted almost four years, until January of 1979. It seems that their goal was to wipe out all intellectuals - having glasses was reason enough to be killed. The leader was Pol Pot, and it is estimated that over 3 million people were killed under his command. The population of Cambodia at that time was 7 million. Most of the people that were brought to the prisons were executed, and all of them that were brought to the killing fields were brutally killed almost immediately. This tree was one of the methods they used to kill children - banging them against it. I know this is awful, but I wanted to relay the truth to you. There are still teeth and bones visible as you walk around, as they keep surfacing with the rains. The place could actually be considered a peaceful place, as evidenced by the chirping birds and butterflies. However, to imagine the history of this place makes it very much otherwise. Here, part of the memorial that houses some 8,000 skulls of the victims:

I also visited the Tuol Sleng Museum, also known as S-21. It used to be a high school until it was turned into a torture chamber. We learned about many of the ways they tortured their victims. Only 7 of the prisoners were alive when the Vietnamese army liberated Phnom Penh in January of 1979, all of whom had used their skills of painting and photography to stay alive. The guide we had there was tortured, along with her family, at several of the prisons around southern Cambodia. It was hard to understand her English most of the time, but I believe most of her family died, and she had several small children at the time. Very appropriately, I am currently reading the book "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung, and I encourage you all to read it as well, if for nothing more than to go through the sadness that was her life with me.

I am sorry to dwell on sad things. I will talk briefly about Phnom Penh. Honestly it really is too hot here to do most anything! Yesterday, after arriving at and settling in to my new hostel, I attempted to wander around to some sights that were close by, as I usually do in most towns. I only made it as far as a temple and a market before realizing that I had no energy left. I checked my travel alarm clock, which conveniently has the tempurature on it - 97.5 degrees. No wonder I was so lethargic! I spent most of the rest of the afternoon at the local internet cafe, as well as most of this afternoon. This I hope you all can appreciate, as I can finally say I am caught up on posting pictures to picasa! Man does that take a lot of time! I have tried a few local meals, and so far I can say that Cambodian food is pretty good. It seems to be similar to Vietnamese food in many ways, and I still maintain that I will not be eating rice or noodle soup for a very long time after leaving SE Asia! Phnom Penh seems a bit expensive, though, so I am looking forward to getting out of the big city. Tomorrow I will head to Sihanoukville (in the Southwest) and a surrounding island for some relaxation time, which I am very much looking forward to! It takes 4 hours by bus, and I am hoping the buses here are as tolerable as the ones inVietnam. Once I get there, I will schedule a boat ride out to an island where I can hopefully find some budget accomodations - wish me luck! I have seen pictures of the beaches there, and they look secluded and wonderful. Of note, relaxation will also be nice because I seem to have injured my left ankle (not the one I sprained in Kenya) - that whole leg from my hip to my foot has a very mild ache, but mostly I just keep noticing that my ankle is swollen after a day of walking on it. The other night, I wrapped it with an ACE bandage and the swelling went down by morning. It isn't anything  feel I need to get treatment for at this time, but it's strange nonetheless.

Thought I would leave you with a sample of Cambodian writing! Until next time, please keep up the comments and emails!

And Happy 86th Birthday, Grandma Cox! I miss you and love you!