Phoddicted: Lazy in Koh Lanta

I haven't been keeping up with posting for the past several days, which mirrors the same recent change in pace of our trip.

Cambodia was mentally exhausting. The main tourist attractions there are memorials related to the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh and Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. If you're like I was a couple of weeks ago, you probably don't know much about either of these things (except for maybe the tidbit on Angkor Wat that I previously posted). So let me help by giving a very abbreviated overview. Cambodia is about the size (geographically) as Washington state with a population of about 8 million. Most of the country is extremely rural with the vast majority of the land being untouched forests or farmland (mostly rice) with very minimal, rustic housing. During the second half of the 20th century, they had unstable governance and were experiencing side effects of the Vietnam War, including bombing by the US. In 1975 the Khmer Rouge overthrew the prior government (remember I am sparing the details here), which was initially celebrated by the locals who thought the Khmer Rouge would be a positive upswing for the country. However things quickly took a very dark turn. The Khmer Rouge believed that what was best for Cambodia was for everyone to live the simple life and become rice farmers in the countryside. They renounced any and all religion, education and luxuries. They forced everyone out of the cities and into slave labor or joining the Khmer Rouge as combatants, prison guards, etc. Temples and schools were destroyed or turned into prisons. Anyone who had too much education or was suspected of being a traitor of the KR was tortured and killed or just killed. So was everyone else in their family, including children and babies, to prevent them from seeking revenge in the future. Many people starved or were worked to death. In 1975 there were 8 million people in the country and when Vietnam freed Cambodia from the KR in 1979, there were 6 million. That means that one in four Cambodians died during a 4 year period. Needless to say, it was a huge and devastating crime against humanity. The leaders of the KR have yet to be prosecuted, they are still awaiting trial over 30 years later. What's even more appalling is that after the mass killings ended in 1979, the US was just so terrified of communism that we (or, can I separate myself from this since I wasn't even born yet?) still recognized and supported the KR as the political leaders of the Cambodia. Sorry for this very crude overview, but I know you all know how to learn more about it if you want to.

Of course the aftermath of such travesty is immeasurable but they seem to be doing pretty well now. Phnom Penh and Siem Reap both had infrastructure that was on par with the bigger cities we saw in Vietnam, the food is delicious, the temples whimsical and incredible, Khmer physiology lends itself to the most beautiful smiles and the people are playful and seem happy. We did see a lot more begging in Cambodia than in Vietnam (partly because in Vietnam we really didn't see any), but there also seemed to be more disparities in wealth among the locals in Cambodia than in Vietnam. The people begging were targeting locals and tourists alike. But it's hard and exhausting to say 'no' to young mothers, to people missing limbs from either mines or KR torture, to children selling 4 bracelets for a dollar outside Angkor Wat at 11am on a Tuesday when they should be in school and to tuk tuk drivers all day long. And that's being on the easy side of the exchange.

After Siem Reap, we took a bus to Bangkok, spent about 28 hours there and then took another overnight bus (but this one was very different - no bunked sleeper beds and it was full of European tourists heading to the full moon party on Koh Phangan) from Bangkok down south to meet up with Jessica (Anson's prior coworker from ChefStable) and her sister, Shaina, in Koh Lanta. Seeing other countries in SE Asia puts Thailand into more perspective. The infrastructure here is so much more established and I don't feel like nearly every young woman in Thailand is pregnant (unlike the last two countries). Remember the 383 mile 18 hour bus ride we took in Vietnam? It took 11 hours to go 411 miles in Thailand. Amazing what some well-paved, multilane freeways can do for your average MPH. We were really ready to relax when we got here and after we got upgraded from what was supposed to be a tiny one-room bungalow into a two story one with a full kitchen, family room and pool side patio, we extended our stay on Koh Lanta from 2 nights to 5. It's low season and the island is full of empty bungalow resorts and closed bars but we are having lots of fun with Jessica and Shaina. We have found some good beaches and yummy food and we are enjoying cooking our own breakfast, spending lots of time in the water, playing with the frogs that emerge around the pool at night and staying put... for a little while, at least.

A small spattering of pics below.

Children selling eggs on ferry ride on the way to Phnom Penh

Eating at night market in Phnom Penh (this was right after the daily night market opened that day, later in the eveing, it would fill up with mostly locals and some tourists)

Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh

Monkeys and Monk Feet, Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh

Cambria, inadvertently dressed as a Monk at the Silver Pagoda

Khmer food and Khmer text, Phnom Penh

Cat sleeping cutely, Koh Lanta. (I took this one for you, Bridget - the owner of our hotel in Koh Lanta has 5 cats, tonight one of them was sleeping on the seat of the motorbike when we got back from dinner)