Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The decision to go to Vietnam was when I read about Cu Chi tunnels in Vietnam (more about that later) sometime ago. I thought crawling through narrow, suffocating tunnels sounded fun and it came close to War Museum in Penang which I loved! The initial plan was only to visit Vietnam, but later I learnt about the Khmer Rouge regime and decided I wanted to learn about the genocide (whether or not it was a genocide is debatable) that killed more than two million Cambodians in the 1970s. Due to time constraints, we changed our itinerary a bit but we covered Phnom Penh (Cambodia) - Siem Reap - Chau Doc (Mekong Delta, Vietnam) - Can Tho - Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam).
We departed from Kuala Lumpur on 10th July and landed in Phnom Penh. Out of the few cities that we travelled to, Phnom Penh was the city that we liked least, no thanks to the deceiving tuk-tuk drivers we met. A few of them were okay, but most of them were not. Well, we only took 4-5 rides on tuk-tuks?
Nevertheless, this capital encapsulates what happened between 1975 and 1979 when screaming soldiers took over the city, mass deported peasants to the countryside and started the four-year Khmer Rouge regime. Over two million people were killed. The Khmer Rouge government arrested, tortured and eventually executed anyone suspected of belonging to its "enemies". Most of these "enemies", till their last breath, didn't even realise what they did wrong.
I was curious enough to buy a biography of Pol Pot, the mastermind behind Khmer Rouge (at just USD5, books in Cambodia and Vietnam are mad cheap! Even *fake* Lonely Planets!). Pol Pot, named Saloth Sar before he adopted his pseudonym, was a teacher and was said to be good-natured. I'm still halfway through the book, but the fact that people who knew him described him as a loving and gentle man, was unnerving. *shrugs* Nobody knows what he was thinking.
History lessons aside, we tried ourhands mouths on fried critters - spiders, grasshoppers, beetles, frogs and the likes. Oh, and not forgetting duck foetus too!
Grasshoppers were okay - provided that they are not huge! I swallowed the mini grasshopper without a second thought but the big one was… =S
Nick and I stared at the 5cm long grasshopper, back at each other simultaneously, then back onto the dead creature. In the end I decided to pluck the wing off, just to taste. Neither of us dared to bite into the abdomen. And following closely behind are the black-coated beetles. Again, I made the first move and this time - for the head! The head of the beetle was hard, much like chewing onto a piece of thin plastic. Not pleasant at all! But the worst of all was the tiny maggot which I immediately spitted out upon taking the first bite! Mr. Ng did not have the courage to feast on the big grasshopper and beetles, but he was heroic enough to actually swallow a whole maggot! Disgusting much!
The duck fetus, surprisingly, was more acceptable. It wasn't the disturbing kind you see on Nat Geo documentaries where you can visibly see the features of the fetus. The one we got, was only an embryo.
That meant, we couldn't exactly see the feathers. Plus, it was steamed before served. There was a little bit of meat in it, but most of it was yolk. We ate it with salt-pepper mix and lime which we find it a distinctive Cambodian taste.
Frankly speaking, it tasted like egg which is what it was! It was only the mental barrier that was stopping me from gobbling the egg. Nick liked it though, but he would never want to try it again. We both agreed that once is enough. D=
We were pleasantly surprised at the strong sense of community here. There was a park near the guesthouse we stayed in and every evening, regardless of the day of the week, there were always families, teens, children hanging out at the park. Or... people dancing to Para Para Sakura. Hehe.
Also in Phnom Penh, I lost USD50! =( That's close to RM150 AAAAHHHHHHHH! I don't know how, but apparently the fifty-dollar note disappeared from my wallet and was never seen again. Sigh. Sometimes I don't know why my head is so big when there's nothing inside. =.=
And so, we shall end this post with a minute of silence for my lost note.
Our lifesaver!
We departed from Kuala Lumpur on 10th July and landed in Phnom Penh. Out of the few cities that we travelled to, Phnom Penh was the city that we liked least, no thanks to the deceiving tuk-tuk drivers we met. A few of them were okay, but most of them were not. Well, we only took 4-5 rides on tuk-tuks?
On the tuk-tuk whom the driver blatantly asked for tips. Pfft!
Nevertheless, this capital encapsulates what happened between 1975 and 1979 when screaming soldiers took over the city, mass deported peasants to the countryside and started the four-year Khmer Rouge regime. Over two million people were killed. The Khmer Rouge government arrested, tortured and eventually executed anyone suspected of belonging to its "enemies". Most of these "enemies", till their last breath, didn't even realise what they did wrong.
The stupa at the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, in memorial of those who died under the Khmer Rouge regime.
Some 17,000 skulls are placed in the glass-covered stupa. This was just a mere representation as compared to the number who died. The skulls were categorized into their respective age groups, the youngest being 15 years old, oldest being 65.
Tuol Sleng Museum, also named S-21 Prison. It used to be a school until the Khmer Rouge government used it as a prison and an interrogation centre. Only 7 survived from this inhumane prison and 2 lived on to tell the story.
I was curious enough to buy a biography of Pol Pot, the mastermind behind Khmer Rouge (at just USD5, books in Cambodia and Vietnam are mad cheap! Even *fake* Lonely Planets!). Pol Pot, named Saloth Sar before he adopted his pseudonym, was a teacher and was said to be good-natured. I'm still halfway through the book, but the fact that people who knew him described him as a loving and gentle man, was unnerving. *shrugs* Nobody knows what he was thinking.
History lessons aside, we tried our
Spiders, frogs, snakes, grasshoppers, maggots... what to buy?!
Grasshoppers were okay - provided that they are not huge! I swallowed the mini grasshopper without a second thought but the big one was… =S
Getting ready for the huuuuge grasshopper!
Nick and I stared at the 5cm long grasshopper, back at each other simultaneously, then back onto the dead creature. In the end I decided to pluck the wing off, just to taste. Neither of us dared to bite into the abdomen. And following closely behind are the black-coated beetles. Again, I made the first move and this time - for the head! The head of the beetle was hard, much like chewing onto a piece of thin plastic. Not pleasant at all! But the worst of all was the tiny maggot which I immediately spitted out upon taking the first bite! Mr. Ng did not have the courage to feast on the big grasshopper and beetles, but he was heroic enough to actually swallow a whole maggot! Disgusting much!
The duck fetus, surprisingly, was more acceptable. It wasn't the disturbing kind you see on Nat Geo documentaries where you can visibly see the features of the fetus. The one we got, was only an embryo.
Braced myself for the egg!
That meant, we couldn't exactly see the feathers. Plus, it was steamed before served. There was a little bit of meat in it, but most of it was yolk. We ate it with salt-pepper mix and lime which we find it a distinctive Cambodian taste.
Frankly speaking, it tasted like egg which is what it was! It was only the mental barrier that was stopping me from gobbling the egg. Nick liked it though, but he would never want to try it again. We both agreed that once is enough. D=
We were pleasantly surprised at the strong sense of community here. There was a park near the guesthouse we stayed in and every evening, regardless of the day of the week, there were always families, teens, children hanging out at the park. Or... people dancing to Para Para Sakura. Hehe.
See the crazy amount of people in the park? How often do you get this in Malaysia/Singapore? On a weekday?!
Also in Phnom Penh, I lost USD50! =( That's close to RM150 AAAAHHHHHHHH! I don't know how, but apparently the fifty-dollar note disappeared from my wallet and was never seen again. Sigh. Sometimes I don't know why my head is so big when there's nothing inside. =.=
And so, we shall end this post with a minute of silence for my lost note.
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