Part Two: Cambodia

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries on Earth. Life expectance is under 60. We got to see a different world during our time here. We experience equal parts beauty/horror in what we saw.

Getting around Cambodia is a lot of fun. They don't have taxis there, everyone rides in a Tuk-Tuk, which is a scooter that pulls a sort of carriage on the back. Once a driver finds you (they are very cutthroat) he wants to be your driver for the entirety of your stay. Here's a view of the pandemonium that you see every time you get in one.

The Killing Fields

In Phnom Penh we learned about an amazing atrocity that is still very recent. Pol Pot tried to exterminate most of the population of Cambodia on the grounds that they were slipping into western ideals. They had to be cleansed. He killed 21% of the Cambodian population from 1976-1979. In 1979 an astonishing amount of mass graves were found, as well as an appropriated school that was used for torture and abuse.

This building was erected in 1998 to house all of the bones and clothing that were found on the site now known as The Killing Fields. Beth and I agreed that it's a very appropriate monument for such a horrific event.

Inside, the bones are arranged by body part. Skulls, legs, arms, etc. are all grouped together.

If you didn't know any better, you'd think the grounds were a sort of wildlife refuge. The grass is green and lush, there are beautiful birds flying around. You can see the indentions in the ground in the picture below. Each one of those were mass graves. One of them was designated only for bodies that had been decapitated.

After The Killing Fields, we went to S1, the compound that Pol Pot used for detaining and torturing prisoners. It was a harrowing example of what a sick mind can create. How someone can justify what we saw there is incomprehensible.

We were in Phnom Penh for a few days before heading to Siem Reap, the major tourist destination for anyone visiting Cambodia. This is because Angkor Watt, one of the wonders of the world, is located. This is an ancient civilization that some Spaniard found just walking around one day. The site is massive and contains dozens of temples. It was quite a spectacle, and I compared it to the Grand Canyon because it's one of those places that you'll see pictures of for your whole life, but seeing it in person blows what you already know away.

Here are a few more pictures that we took along the way. The flooding was sad to see, we were lucky that none of the roads we traveled on were washed out. If we would have arrived 2 weeks earlier our trip would have been very different.

We ate frog legs. I know it's cliche, but they really do taste like chicken.

We did not eat crickets. If Jacob or Jeremy were with us I probably would have.

Part One: Vietnam

Our most recent exploits took us to Vietnam and Cambodia. I'll break this trip into two separate posts since both Countries were unique in their own ways.

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh (formerly, and still know to many as Saigon) to a pretty deserted airport. You can see a picture of HCM above, taken in the post office. Our taxi driver took us to our hostel and upon our arrival presented us with our first task: crossing the street. Scooters are EVERYWHERE, and they stop for no one. Luckily our friend had given us advice before we left...just walk. The tide of bikes will shift with you. Check out all the bikes at this moderately sized intersection:

Seemingly everyone has a scooter, and one of the interesting things was how they all use them to relax. On any given sidewalk you'd see a character like this, propped up on his bike like it's a recliner or something.

Another form of transportation are these bicycle things. A guy sits behind you, pedaling and tooling you around town. We didn't take one because we'd heard they are notorious for scamming you, but we saw them everywhere.

Our main focus of the trip was to see the Cu Chi tunnels that the Vietcong built during the Vietnam war. It was really fascinating to see these small tunnels that the Vietnamese built without shovels or machines. It was also sad to see that war essentially forced these people to live like ants.

We were shown all of the torturous tactics that the Vietnamese used against the Americans (in the propaganda video they called them "angry white devils"), anything from boards with nails in them to elaborate booby traps in the ground. We were able to slide into some of the holes they stayed in waiting to ambush the enemy. Here's one of the guys in our group going into the hole. Once you were in they covered you up completely.

We also crawled through one of the tunnels, which was really unsettling. Once you were down there, you couldn't see any daylight. You just crawled until you found a way out on your hands and knees.

There was also an area where you could shoot a multitude of different guns. You just had to buy a magazine and then you could go blast the side of a mountain. It didn't seem very appropriate to do, but I watched another guy.

Ho Chi Minh was fast paced, crowded, and a little dirty. The food was incredible. The markets were beautiful and the people friendly. One of the best parts though was that everything was cheap!