Day 44-56 on November 28th we looked at a former Khmer Rouge prison. This prison, S-21, was very well known for the brutality and torture that was carried out there. As already mentioned, the Khmer Rouge drove all the residents of the city (in their ideology "new people") into the countryside (to the farmers, the "old people"). Any intellectuals (this included anyone who wore glasses) were shot or taken to one of over 200 secret prisons. The Khmer Rouge were also apparently paranoid, thinking that an intellectual was a CIA or KGB spy. Entire families were brought to S-21 because the Khmer Rouge believed that evil had to be eliminated at the root. And these are the children of intellectuals. S-21 used to be a school. Walls were pulled down and cells removed from the former classrooms. In one building there were rooms for torture. In fact, the guards had to be careful not to accidentally kill the prisoner during the torture. Otherwise the guard would end up in a cell himself. In fact, many guards later became prisoners. S-21. When someone couldn't stand the torture anymore and committed suicide by jumping from the second floor, barbed wire was put up in front of the balustrades. A total of 7 people survived S-21. They had a special status because they had useful skills. For example, two were painters and one was a mechanic and had to repair the typewriters. Before Phnom Penh was liberated, the guards killed the last inmates to destroy witnesses. The liberators took photos of the killed inmates. They hung out in the rooms. In these graves rest the inmates who were killed before the conquest of Phnom Penh and found by the liberators. On the left is the building where torture took place.
The 7 survivors were taken away and were able to escape.
The place was very depressing. With our audio guide we went from room to room and listened to the stories.
On November 29th we drove on. First we had to pick up our scooters. They were completely dusty and were expertly tapped with a cloth by the parking lot person. We drove out of Phnom Penh. But we didn't want to use the same big road as on the way there. Too many trucks! We decided to drive along the right bank of the Mekong along country roads. We drove to Kampong Cham. We found cheap accommodation here. In the evening we ate at a night market. Since Kampong Cham is not very touristy, we were looked at a lot, greeted and smiled at. In Kampong Cham we looked at two temples that stand next to each other on a hill. One temple dedicated to men and one temple to women. According to legend, there was a competition to see who had to propose marriage. The men and women should each build a mountain until the morning star rises. Whoever has the highest mountain by the next morning wins. From then on, the losers have to propose. Both men and women worked hard. The clever women hung a lamp high in a tree. The men mistook the lamp for the morning star and went to sleep. Meanwhile, the women continued to build. The next morning it was clear: the women have the highest mountain. The temple for the women was then built on it and the men have had to propose marriage since then. The stairs lead up to the Temple of Women There are a few rectangular ponds between the hills. There are hammocks and drink stands next to it. Sounds nice at first, except for the fact that this area was once a so-called killing field. So a field where the Khmer Rouge shot people. That's why the ponds are rectangular: mass graves filled with water.
This shows how different Cambodians approach history. On the one hand, things are being dealt with, but since the majority of Cambodians are Buddhists, they let the past rest and move on.
Later we went to another temple. This temple has an old part from the 11th century and new buildings were built right next to it.
We also drove to the bamboo bridge. This leads from the mainland to the island of Koh Pen. It used to be the only bridge, but today there is also a concrete bridge.
The bamboo bridge is washed away by the water every year during the rainy season and is rebuilt every year during the dry season. When we were there, the bridge was still being built. It's a shame! We sat on the sand on the banks of the Mekong for a while until the rain drove us away (due to the dry season!!!). We had to go to the photocopy shop anyway because our e-visa for Vietnam had been confirmed and we had to bring a printed copy of this confirmation with us to the border crossing should. On December 1st we then drove to the border. This time we only had to show our passports three times! Wow! The Cambodian border officials gave us the exit stamp and looked at our scooters. They asked us whether we had been issued with a paper when we entered the country. Um, no! Funny, they said, that we even managed to cross the border. Well, they let us go on to the Vietnamese border officials. There I had to go to customs and show the scooter documents. The border officer spoke on the phone for a bit and shortly afterwards said OK. So go ahead and get the entry stamp! The border officer couldn't find the e-visas at first! Oh oh! One more border officer, a few phone calls and an increasingly long queue behind us later, our e-visas were finally found in the system. Phew! Now we can officially stay in Vietnam until 2/28/24! Our first stop was Tân Châu. We stayed in a kind of motel. One evening we went out to dinner. While I studied the menu with the translation app, Ivar looked at the photos of the food hanging on the wall. In general, we like to go to restaurants that have pictures of the food. Then you can tap on an image and nod. Everyone understands.This time Ivar accidentally ordered a dish without knowing it! We also ordered a dish together from another waiter. First we got a hot pot, vegetables and rice paper. We looked at each other confused. Once again we had to be shown how to do it. There was something in the pot that at first looked like mushrooms. But according to research, we accidentally ordered tripe! If you don't know what that is: it's rumen. Cow udder or forestomach. Overall it's actually delicious! Dish number 1: Tripe with vegetables and rice paper Then the dish we actually ordered came: meat with vegetables. To do this, coal was put into a hole in our table. It was like grilling, but right at the table! Dish number 2: Steaks with vegetables On December 3rd, 2023 we drove on and stayed overnight in a hotel on the road. We went for a little more walk. There were trees next to the hotel. These were scratched and a bowl caught a white liquid. We saw something like that several times along the way. We researched and came to the conclusion that it was rubber! Aha! We walked through the absolutely untouristy village. When we passed a Christian church, we stopped in the churchyard. A man stood under the bell tower and pulled the rope of the bell. When he finished and came downstairs, he saw us. He pointed his finger at us, shouted something and everyone in the churchyard looked at us. Whoops, hello!!
So it went on: we greeted many people along the way and at some point ate an excellent soup!
