Guns, Go-Karts, and Genocide
That sums up my day here in Phnom Penh. Ani, my driver, picked me up at 9am and took me to the shooting range. I didn’t kill any livestock, but it was fun to shoot an AK-47. At a dollar a bullet, I didn’t stay long and I’m pretty sure that’s about the fastest way to spend money in Asia. Afterwards, we headed to the Go-Kart track where the karts were unusually fast and you have to pay extra for safety. Both were a lot of fun, relatively expensive for over here, and rang of the exploitation of a poverty-stricken nation.
I’ve decided to stay the night and catch the early bus instead of dirt biking down to Kampot. I’ve heard a couple stories of police harassment once you get out of Phnom Penh, and I’ll be traveling solo, and Bangkok is the closest decent hospital. So I’ll wait until I get down there to rent a bike. This decision freed up the afternoon to knock out all the cultural stuff so I don’t have to come back here on my way back to Siem Reap. Although riding around during the day changed my perspective a bit on this Cambodian capital, it’s still a dirty place that I’d rather not come back to.
After the go-karts, Ani took me to the killing fields, an execution camp outside of Phnom Penh where 10,000 Cambodians were murdered and buried in mass graves. And then to S-21, a school that was turned into a prison and concentration camp. Pol Pot almost everyone in this country that had any sort of education or skill, even his own soldiers. If you were educated, upper-class, and Cambodian in the late 1970’s then you were executed. If you wore glasses, you were viewed as intelligent or rich enough to afford them so you were killed. I’m glad I went to the range and track earlier in the day because I don’t think I would have wanted to after the genocide tour. Ani was telling me that is why Cambodia is so young, because they killed a whole generation. Afterwards he dropped me off at the Royal Palace/Silver Pagoda where I paid and thanked him. He was a good driver who didn’t push drugs or hookers which is unusual for those guys. From the Palace I walked to the National Museum. On the way, a monk shook me down for a dollar and my e-mail for some reason, I guess we’ll see about that. On the whole, a full day with a little bit of everything. Except the Girls and Ganja.
I was thinking about the Tech guy today. He had this crazy look in his eye like his mind had been blown a long time ago. I guess two years in this mess will do that to you, who knows but I don’t think I could go back to being a normal, functioning member of society after spending that much time over here. There was seriously a “Heart of Darkness” look about him. I guess over-stimulation can be scarring. Friends don’t let friends disappear in Asia.
I’m looking forward to getting down south where it is a little bit more chill, this city is too crazy to be sticking around for New Year’s Eve. I feel like I’ve seen enough crazy stuff for a while, Cambodia will do that to you (quickly).
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