Pitt, Jolie, and DeBauche (the most famous people to have visited the Kingdom of Cambodia)

There are certain binary emotions that do not naturally fit together. Love and hate, joy and sadness, freedom and suppression… and so forth. I have never in my life looked into my own heart and seen a kaleidoscope of muddied but strong emotions at one moment, I had never been to Cambodia. The gut-wrenching beauty (the mutually exclusive relationship alluded to above) of the place was deep and impacting, and my life will never be the same. Here is my Vietnam:

Day One:

I woke up at 5:30 AM to watch our ship travel down the Mekong (I think?) and into the harbor in Saigon (the official name is Ho Chi Minh; however, all the locals call it Saigon, and now I do too) after a few hours of this, I went back to sleep. The few hours would prove useful because I did not get much sleep in this port. I met my mom at about 9 am, and she traveled with me for the remainder of this port.

So, after getting off the ship I headed to the market in downtown with the ambition of getting a few cheap suits. What I ended up with was a couple of freaking sweet cheap suits. For my cashmere/wool blend 3 piece suits custom tailored to my body, I paid a whopping 160USD. I will be looking fly next semester in DC. We then got aboard a city bus and headed out to Cu Chi. In Cu Chi, we got hustled by a taxi pimp (he made our driver follow him and then took us the wrong way, so after we coerced our driver into not following him, our driver had to pay the guy like 10 USD to leave us alone), but eventually made our way to the tunnels. The Cu Chi tunnels were constructed from 1948 to the end of the American War in Vietnam. They were used by the VC in their wars against France and the United States. They were this underground system of hundreds of miles of tunnels, all about 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide (stinking tiny), that connected a series of rooms and wells and everything necessary to live. The soldiers would spend months at a time buried below ground, and would pop up every now and again to pwn some nubs. The tunnels were a striking remnant of the war, and without a doubt proved that they were way more prepared for us, than we were for them. After catching the last bus back in the evening, we had a nice meal and I bid my mom adieu for the evening.

This night I went out to a club called Apocalypse Now, and it was strange. Dozens of white men, with really young Vietnamese girls flooded the dance floor and bar area, their intimacy was nothing short of uncomfortable. I called it an early evening around midnight, and took a moped back to the ship.

Side Note:

Moped travel is a good choice because.

A) its cheap

B) its quick

Moped travel is a bad coice because.

a) you constantly think “I might die”

b) your driver is reckless, and doesn’t care if he might throw you off the back

c) the concept of yielding is foreign, and there are no stoplights whatsoever (which is really interesting, because its all based on merging, even 4 way street corners, people just honk, and go… in Phnom Pen (PP) we spent 30 minutes traversing one block due to the insane system for traffic they have built

The way the right of way works is based on size. Mopeds yield for cars and cars yield for trucks and so forth. However, when you cross the street… you just walk, and hope that everyone will go around you. You never stop; this is guaranteed to get you run over by a car. Hondas are the Rolls Royces of the Roads, on a Job application, they will ask you what kind of Moped you own, and if you own a Honda, then you are given the leg up for the Job… our tour guide says he knows 300 people and not one of them owns a car. Mopeds were freaking everywhere.

Day 2:

I woke up early this morning and got my suit fitted, and then hit the town. After a doughnut breakfast (where I met up with this Moped driver, who followed me for 30 minutes, and when I gave in, he charged me 50 cents for a ride… 1 hours work for 50 cents) I went to the “War Remnants Museum”. The reason this is in quotations is because the name has changed in the past 10 years multiple times. It started out as the “American war crimes museum”, and then became the “War atrocities museum” and now holds the name previously mentioned. The impact of the museum made me feel ashamed of where our country has been. I normally don’t go off on political tangents, but I will say that we were (in Vietnam) involved, and are now involved in unjust wars that contradict both the Christian and moral founding’s of our country. And that while some people can say that they fought hard against the war then, and rallied, and rose up; our generation (myself included) is sitting on our fat asses and not doing any real thing about it. We intellectually discuss just war and how much we hate Bush, but in reality, we (I) are/am sitting around and doing nothing. Our kids will one day be ashamed of us, as I am ashamed of what happened in Southeast Asia several decades ago.

After having a Pho lunch with a guy from Paris, I met back up with the group and hopped a plane to Phnom Penh (PP), Cambodia. This night was really not that eventful. We did a cruise on the Mekong (where we saw the floating shacks on the river, hundreds of meters away from the Royal Palace) and had an all you can eat dinner (which I found really awkward, seeing that we were in one of the poorest countries in the world), and checked in at our hotel.

This evening I did the following:

Had a massage (which was really really awkward… she got “all up in my business” and it only stopped when I told her I had a wife)

Went to the Elephant Bar (and had an elephant beer)

Shared a bottle of wine with 4 friends directly outside the US embassy ( I was almost assailed by the guard, because I went up to the gate and tried to get

Inside, and then took pictures of it)

Day 3:

This morning was the was poignant part of my voyage thus far. I cannot believe I was ignorant of the information I received this morning up to this point… I had a bit of knowledge, but I was blown out of the water.

About 30 years ago their was mass genocide in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge took control of the government and conducted a terrible and comprehensive genocide of the people. They killed MILLIONS, and these millions were the educated, the intellectuals, and the people who could have risen up and done something. These people were the YOU and the ME. They would take them to prisons, and house them like dogs, feeding them vitually nothing, letting them starve to death or detiorate. Then, they would torture them for information, of which… they had none. For there was no real combatency, just an oppressive faction that destroyed its own people. They would then take them out to the Killing Fields and beat them to death. Shooting them required money for bullets, and was too easy. Today, I went to one of these prisons, and went to the killing fields. Some time inbetween seeing a stack of 10,000 skulls, a mass grave of 450 people (with the clothes they were wearing coming out of the sand) and sitting in a jail cell where someone was housed; I had 2 thoughts.

1) how on earth did I not know about this until weeks ago

2) I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS GOING ON IN THE WORLD, right now, AND I CANT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT… and we as a world aren’t…

I cant really portray this well with words, lets just say… I know the holocaust remnants are striking, but this has to be up there.

After this, we went to the Russian Market, which provided for the most insane shopping experience of my life. The thing is here, unlike China, you don’t really have to barter because the stuff is freaking cheap to start out with. I bought a few ties, a Cambodian soccer jersey, a hammock and a lot of other useless crap. After munch and another market, we went to the Royal Palace. I could say a million things about it… but I will only mention one thing. They have a room, a massive room, with a silver floor. Solid metal silver floor, and a 90kg solid gold statue of Buddha, and on this statue were 2000 diamonds, and a couple of them were 25 carats a piece, and behind this was a solid emerald Buddha statue, and surrounding this were hundreds of solid gold and diamond statues. The room was housed with millions upon millions of dollars in the most precious metals and stones in the world. And outside the gates, were dozens of people, the deformed, the children, the retarded… begging.

After the National Museum (where I met a monk named Sophan, who is my new pen pal (my mom asked him if he wore underwear, and he said no) and paid no attention to art whatsoever) we hopped on a flight to Siem Reap.

After dinner (at another buffet (each meal I felt guiltier and guiltier)) and a cultural dance show (the women were beautiful, and afterwards people went up and took pictures with them… one SAS guy acted like he was kissing one of them on the cheek, and she was so offended she shed tears).

We went back to our beautiful hotel (which was funny, because SR was a very poor town, but had probably a dozen massive and gorgeous hotels) where I went smimming. Met up with a few friends, and hit the town. We got in a Tuc Tuc (motorized cart) where the driver took us to his favorite massage parlor. One hour and 6 dollars later (we were all in the same room, and the massage was really just them beating the shit out of us for an hour) we hopped back in our buddies Tuc Tuc and went to the club street. We went to Angkor What? (the temple in town is Angkor Wat) and the temple club, and soaked in the whore/hooker/street lady vibe atmosphere… before getting back in the same guys Tuc Tuc and heading to Zone ONE. This was the strangest place I have ever been in my life. Let me paint this picture. Have one eye closed for visual effect.

Dark room.

400 people or so packed in like sardines.

200 of them are “women of the night”

200 of them are dudes dancing together.

A few lazers.

SLOW MUSIC, for half an hour.

Zone one was the intersection of a JR. high dance, a Cher marathon, and a gay club.

The music sped up after a while, and sure, my desire to stay there was strange… but I got the hell out of dodge within the hour. After hopping in the same motor carriage (our bill was running all evening), we got 4^th meal at the shaddiest restraint in town (a cart with a few tables) and went back to the hotel. For 5 hours or waiting and driving, our Tuc Tuc driver requested like 12 bucks.

Day 4:

By now, I have written more than any other country; I have two days left… bear with me.

After 2 hours of sleep, I woke up for sunrise at Angkor Wat (AW). It was lovely.

After meeting all the slackers at the hotel, we went to Ta Prohm. Which is the place where they filmed Tomb Raider; you know the place, with the mossy temples with massive trees growing out of them, Google the pictures, it was freaking amazing.

We then wandered around Angkor Wat for a few hours, I cant really describe the place other than beautiful and big. Apparently, it’s the largest religious structure in the world. And I rocked climbed on it, followed a monkey for about 15 minutes, and played hide and go seek. It… to me… was the largest play ground in the world.

Outside the gates, I found the most depressing display of children I had seen yet. There was a mass of kids, all selling the same stuff, just yelling and groping and hoping that you would buy the useless goods they had. One boy, asked me where I was from. I said Texas, he said “Capital is Austin, largest city is Houston, borders Mexico, second largest state in the union, big for oil”… and he could do this for every stinking state. That’s probably all he knows, that’s probably all he does. You could see his parents (and allt he parents for that matter) standing close by looking on. They send their kids to do the dirty work; like pimps. Some kids just wanted the plastic bottles, none… none just wanted to talk. We are their lifeline. And no matter how many ones I had, or cookies (I handed packs out, and kids would rip them from my hands) the change I could make would be micro scale at best. This was in the same scene as one of the prettiest places I had ever been. Gut… Wrenching… Beauty.

After lunch, we went to the face temple. You know, the one where all the faces are in the rocks. Stinking massive 15 foot faces in rock, at a gigantic temple. It was sweet. After some more climbing, and more hide and go seek. I walked away thinking the temples of Cambodia were special because they were raw. They were for the most part not renovated, and not protected… you could touch, smell, and climb… Cambodia was hands on and special, not like an artifact that you see from behind glass, but more like a dead opossum in the road. You cant miss, or forget very soon, that its there.

Flight back to Saigon.

Night in Saigon:

I hit the town alone tonight, and did the following. Went to a Jazz Club (where a couple friends from the ship were playing), walked down a side street where I ran into my good friend Brian. They were going bowling, so I tagged. After 30 minutes or so I got bored and did some more wandering. Passing “notre dame” where people were worshiping outside on their hands and knees, and a park where hundreds of people were making out, sitting on the seats of their motor bikes, and eventually winding up in this earths homiest internet café. The women was cooking dinner (midnight), and some kid was playing world of warcraft, and their were about 10 computers, none built after 1985. I did some work, and paid my 25 cents for one hour. I wound up in a park, reading the book of Isiah around 1am. Rats running around my feet, and men constantly berating me to obtain one of their women proved that this was not Zilker park, but rather, downtown Saigon for sure. I talked to dava on the phone, and called it a night.

Day 5:

I woke up early 7AM, and did the Mekong Delta Day trip. Our first stop on the trip was a Cao Dai temple (the religion says there are 4 evolutions of religion… animism, ancestor worship, the religions of the world, and them. They combine the religions of the world under one spirit, Jesus is one of their founding fathers. It does not work, and heres why. Jesus proposed a mutually exclusive religion from any other in existence. You cannot take Jesus as a good moral teacher or even a good guy, because he was neither. He was a radical lunatic, or a liar (CS Lewis calls this liar the Devil of Hell)… if you do not believe he was the son of God. Because saying the things he said, aside from his divinity, he was insane, the divinity and purpose of his incarnation make him worthy or worship. Cao Dai does not work, and neither does any brand that denies his divinity), the second stop on the trip was the delta itself. It was awesome. We took boats on the river, stopped in a Mangrove ish place for some fruit, a coconut candy factory, held a gigantic python, and took tiny tiny boats down a small river in the jungle. I could not help but to think about soldiers crawling through the mud, and how they would raid and pillage the small villages I saw. After this, we hopped back on the big boat, and went into Saigon. I got my suits, had dinner at the nicest restraint in Saigon. (Btw, here’s a list of the things I ate on this day. Fish Tacos, prawns, crab soup, squid, clam, (one day I had eel), soft shell crab and carp) My food arsenal is growing, and I have developed a “if its placed in front of me I will eat it mentality”. After departing from my mom, I went back to the MV exploder and departed for Bangkok Thailand.

HERE ARE MY OVERARCHING THOUGHTS.

Life in Cambodia is simple, and necessity based. I think there are lessons to be learned from this, but what I found most striking was that they are still infected by the junk that happened 30 years ago. The reminders are found in more places than in the bullet holes in almost every random building, they are found in the reeling faces of the people on the street. The population is young, and the children are naive. Children deserve better than to work all day and night, and to make a buck… and draw that buck out to survive. I hope that I can sustain a conviction to come back and do something… anything. Vietnams socialism was present in the form of street gasoline venders, who put a brick out on the street with some paper on the top to let people know they are in business. If someone stops, the fill them up quickly, take their cash and run… getting caught is no good. Capitalism flourishes, but both in the socialist republic of Vietnam and the Kingdom of Cambodia, their was a feeling that the people are complacent, not ambitious. I hope I can learn the difference between these two, and perhaps find a happy medium. Being content would be nice. I met this guy names Vigor in the PP airport and he says its really easy to get a job teaching in a SE Asian country, if you have any sort of college degree. I will be looking into that.

The world is not small. Its very big, and exploring every corner is very difficult. I feel that while I am seeing a lot, that there is so much more, and I cant rest until I have seen it all. God never ceases to shove his wonderful creation in my face, and daily I wake up and think that what I will see today cannot possibly be as pretty as what he showed me yesterday… but beauty increases daily, and so does he.

I hope you enjoyed,

I love you all,

Tal