After a bicycle tour of Vientiane Monday morning, Brooke and I parted ways with NZ Nick and Skye for their flight to Vietnam and other travels. We had a blast with the crew from NZ and sorry to see the last of them go - but we made tentative plans to someday, one day, go to New Zealand.
The bicycle tour brought us through the Presidential Palace, a stop at the Cambodian embassy for a visa (and a meeting with the rudest Cambodian met thus far), the Laos Victory Monument (or a copy of the Arc de Triumph built with USA concrete intended for a runway) and That Luang (the holiest temple in Laos). Along the way we encountered several police convoys escorting bike race participants for the SEA games down the busiest thoroughfare in Laos - strange that this race would not be held on a closed course as the bicyclists were dodging traffic and breathing car exhaust. While waiting for the bus to Cambodia we noticed half the city walking to the National Stadium near our hotel where the Laos soccer team was to play Indonesia later that night. The people love their team.
We killed time by walking around the stadium (a little larger than a high school football stadium) watching the first half on tv with locals. The television coverage of the event was hilarius - think second rate amateur camera-man from a local news team covering a highschool football game and divide by two. We nearly missed a goal as the camera was showing random fan shots for thirty second while Laos was unloading on the Indonesian goalie.
When we got to our overnight bus I was encouraged until I noticed that the sleeping beds were designed for five-foot Lao persons and my particular bunk had an enclosed foot compartment so I basically did not fit or I could lay in the fettle position with have my body hanging in the walkway. 3 sleeping pills and an 12 hour bumpy winding road later we arrived in Pakse - total sleep time maybe 10 minutes. Without a doubt the worst 12 hours yet.
Then onto the local bus through the Laos-Cambodia border and 14 hour journey to Phnom Phen the capital city of Cambodia. Crossing the border you are immediately aware that this country does not care about their environment as the hills were clear-cut and fields and streets are littered with garbage. The Cambodians are extremely aggressive in trying to sell anything and everything to tourists and Phnow Phen is like a wild west / Mexico town with traffic and people everywhere.
Today we toured the killing fields Choeng Ek, the S-21 interrogation museum and the Royal Palace - and saw a random elephant walking through the streets. The kiling fields of Choeng Elk are were the prisoners of the Khmer Rouge were brought from the S-21 prison to be executed. over 10,000 people were killed (I believe more like 20,000) in this camp and the remanents of the three year ordeal was very depressing - a seven story tower filled with skulls and bones from the excavated mass burial sites and were no excavation has occured, human bones and old clothes from victims protrude from the ground. I nearly stubbed my toe on what appeared to be a femur sticking through the earth on a path. Depressing, humbling, anger - lots of emotion is felt in such a place.
The bicycle tour brought us through the Presidential Palace, a stop at the Cambodian embassy for a visa (and a meeting with the rudest Cambodian met thus far), the Laos Victory Monument (or a copy of the Arc de Triumph built with USA concrete intended for a runway) and That Luang (the holiest temple in Laos). Along the way we encountered several police convoys escorting bike race participants for the SEA games down the busiest thoroughfare in Laos - strange that this race would not be held on a closed course as the bicyclists were dodging traffic and breathing car exhaust. While waiting for the bus to Cambodia we noticed half the city walking to the National Stadium near our hotel where the Laos soccer team was to play Indonesia later that night. The people love their team.
We killed time by walking around the stadium (a little larger than a high school football stadium) watching the first half on tv with locals. The television coverage of the event was hilarius - think second rate amateur camera-man from a local news team covering a highschool football game and divide by two. We nearly missed a goal as the camera was showing random fan shots for thirty second while Laos was unloading on the Indonesian goalie.
When we got to our overnight bus I was encouraged until I noticed that the sleeping beds were designed for five-foot Lao persons and my particular bunk had an enclosed foot compartment so I basically did not fit or I could lay in the fettle position with have my body hanging in the walkway. 3 sleeping pills and an 12 hour bumpy winding road later we arrived in Pakse - total sleep time maybe 10 minutes. Without a doubt the worst 12 hours yet.
Then onto the local bus through the Laos-Cambodia border and 14 hour journey to Phnom Phen the capital city of Cambodia. Crossing the border you are immediately aware that this country does not care about their environment as the hills were clear-cut and fields and streets are littered with garbage. The Cambodians are extremely aggressive in trying to sell anything and everything to tourists and Phnow Phen is like a wild west / Mexico town with traffic and people everywhere.
Today we toured the killing fields Choeng Ek, the S-21 interrogation museum and the Royal Palace - and saw a random elephant walking through the streets. The kiling fields of Choeng Elk are were the prisoners of the Khmer Rouge were brought from the S-21 prison to be executed. over 10,000 people were killed (I believe more like 20,000) in this camp and the remanents of the three year ordeal was very depressing - a seven story tower filled with skulls and bones from the excavated mass burial sites and were no excavation has occured, human bones and old clothes from victims protrude from the ground. I nearly stubbed my toe on what appeared to be a femur sticking through the earth on a path. Depressing, humbling, anger - lots of emotion is felt in such a place.
The S-21 interrogation museum was a former schoolhouse turned torture chamber by the Khmers in their campaign of terror. Each cell featured a photo of the exact state it was found when the Vietnam backed troops finally beat the Khmer - complete with body parts, blood and death from the final interogattees. Only seven people were left alive from the thousands that walked through the gates.
The Royal Palace was a huge garden-like campus in the middle of the Tijuana-like pits of Phnom Phen. A great oasis in the city.
Internet is slow and I need to change flight home and figure out the rest of the trip in Cambodia so will load pictures later this evening....
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