Phnom Phen, Killing Fields and Ho Chi Mihn City (Saigon)

Pa mandagmorgon kakade vi frukost med en av vara nyfunna vanner, Dale, medan Catherine var ute och shoppade det sista innan de skulle tillbaka hem till AU.
Vi sa adjo till dem och sen akte Emily, Sally, A-M och jag med taxi till Phnom Phen.
Bilresan dit var gastkramande. A-M satt dar fram och pratade lite med chaufforen for att se hur mycket engelska han kunde. Mycket lite…
Efter ca 10 minuters bilfard stannar han, bakluckan oppnas och vi flyger ut ur bilen. Tva man star och sliter i en liten ryggsack och jag forsoker att reda ut om den tillhor Emily eller Sally. Maennen skriker mer och mer at varandra och ingen av dem slapper ryggsacken. den visar sig inte tillhora nagon av oss, och chaufforen pekar mot bilen att vi ska satta oss i den igen, sa det gor vi.
Chockade sitter vi dar och undrar vad som precis hande och varfor. Olustiga till mods sager vi till chaufforen att han ska kora darifran innan det hander varre grejer.
Resten av resan gick bra, trots manga galna omkorningar.

En bisarr syn i Kambodja ar hur de fraktar bade levande och slaktade grisar. Levande grisar ser man i sma korg-burar och slaktade grisar ligger ibland t.o.m tva stycken pa rygg pa pakethallaren pa mopeden. Det ar inga sma grisar vi pratar om heller…
Det jag ocksa reagerade pa var att pa ena sidan vagen var det ett valdigt exklusvt villa-omrade och pa andra sidan var det skjul vid floden som knappt holl ihop.

Phnom Phen ar huvudstad i Kambodja och det ar en stor och stokig stad.
De ar inte sa vana vid vasterlanningar som de andra landerna vi besokt, och vi blev varnade for att ga ut nar det var morkt, och speciellt skulle vi inte ha med oss vaska ut.
Personalen pa Two Dragons hade redan hjalpt oss med att boka hotell och det blev ett dubbelrum med TV, varm-dusch och flakt. TV ar vi inte bortskamda med. 🙂
Vi gick ner till restaurangen pa forsta vaningen och at en snabb middag och sen fick jag och A-M ga ut och branna cd. Jag hade fyllt alla mina minneskort vid Angkor Wat.
Vi hittade en fotostudio dar vi kunde lana en dator. Jag fick fixa det sjalv och det kanns alltid lite tryggare, for jag ar sa radd att de ska radera mina bilder…
Under en och en halvtimme stod 2 fnittrande killar bakom oss och fragade oss saker pa sin knaggliga engelska. Vi forstod inte ens halften, men de forsokte iaf. 🙂
Resten av kvallen blev det zappande pa TV:n.

Pa tisdagmorgon (28/6) akte Sally, A-M och jag till Vietnamesiska ambassaden for att ansoka om visum.
Nar jag fyllt i lappen och lamnade over den till personen i lckan, tittade han pa den och sen pa mitt pass.
Han lamnade tillbaka det och sa ”Swedish passport, no need visa.”
Vi hade hort ryktas om att man inte behovde visa om man ska stanna 15 dagar eller kortare, men trodde att man behovde en biljett ut ut landet.
Sa var det tydligen inte, sa da slapp man betala de dar $35.

Kl 11 akte vi 4 ut till Killing Fields som ligger ca 15 km utanfor Phnom Phen.
Det var har som massor med folk blev avrattade under 70-talet under Pol Pots makt.
Det star ett monument dar doskallar, skelettdelar och rester av klader fran de avrattade ar samlade.
Vid sidan om fanns aven en del utgravda massgravar och aven dar fanns rester av skelett och klader.
Jag gick omkring dar i tystnad och tankte pa att detta faktiskt hant under min livstid…

I tron om att det inte kunde bli varre syner den dagen, akte vi vidare till det gamla fangelset S-21.
Dessa 4 byggnader hade varit en skola innan det 1976 inrattades som fangelse med celler, forhorsrum, tortyrrrum m.m.
Har satt maen, kvinnor och barn och dar fanns manga 10-15 ariga fangvaktare som blev de mest fruktade fangelsevakterna med grymma tortyrmetoder…
Efter den forsta byggnaden med celler dar sangar, tortyr-redskap samt bilder pa de som legat dar fanns, kande jag en starkt illamaende kansla. Jag var inte saker pa att jag skulle kunna fortsatta. Efter lite vatten och en paus, gick jag igenom de andra 3 byggnaderna dar det bl.a fanns en utstallning om offer samt drabbade fran denna tiden, samt foton pa dem och fangvaktare i de roda khmererna.
Det var en tung dag och man ar annu mer tacksam for hur bra man har det efter detta…

Pa onsdagen lamnade vi da Kambodia och kom till Ho Chi Min City (Saigon).
Det var en bussresa som startade vid 8 och vi kom fram vid 5-tiden.
Emily och A-M gick och ordnade boende i ett litet familjehotell som kostade $4,5 per natt. Aven dar hade vi TV, sa det borjar bi en liten vana. 🙂
Pa torsdag blev det en dagstur pa Mekong-floden dar vi fick se nagra oar. Det blev lunch pa en av dem, och var guide blev nastan lite pa lyran av banan-spriten han bjod pa (det var mest han som drack :p).
HCMC ar en ganska harlig stad, men dock en storstad, sa vi beslot oss for att aka vidare fortast mojligt.
Vi har ju bara till den 14:e har i Vietnam, sen maste vi ut ur landet.
Pa fredagmorgon gick resan vidare till Mui Nei, men dar osregnade det, och dar finns mest strander att engagera sig i, sa vi akte direkt vidare till Nha Trang.
Den historien kommer i nasta dagbok.

Kram pa er alla!

English version
( sorry for all spelling- and grammar-errors as usual :p)

On Monday-morning we had breakfast with one of our newfound friends, Dale, while Catherine were out shopping the last stuff before going back home to Australia.
We said goodbye to them and then Emily, Sally, A-M and me went with taxi to Phnom Phen.
The trip there was kind of scary. A-M sat in the front and talked to the driver to see how his English was. Almost non-existing…

After about 10 minutes ride he stopped, the trunk opened and we flew out of the car. Two men are standing screaming at eachother and pulling a small backpack between them. I tried to figure out if the backpack belonged to Emily or Sally and the men shouts more and more.
None of them will let go of the backpack, and after I found out that the backpack doesn’t belong to any of us, we go back in to the car.
We are sitting there in shock and wondering what just happened and why…
Unplesant by the situation we ask the driver to drive off from there before something worse happens.
The rest of the trip went well, despite lots of crazy overtakes.

A bizarr sight in Camboda is the way they freight both live and dead pigs. Live pigs you can see in small baskets and the dead ones you can see, sometimes two, on the back of the moped.
This is not small pigs I am talking about, but big grown up ones…
What I also reacted on was that on one side there could be a luxurious villa-area and on the other side there was sheds at the riverside, which almost fell apart.

Phon Phen is the captial of Cambodia and it’s a big and messy city.
They are not that used to westerns as the toher countries we visited, and we were warned not to go out when it was dark, and we shouldn’t bring any bags with us.
The personel at Two Dragons helped us with bookin a hotel and we got doublerooms with TV hot shower and fan. We are not spoiled with having TV in the room. 🙂
We went down to the restaurant and had a quick dinner, and then A-M and me had to go and burn cd with our photos. I filled all my memorycards at Angkor Wat.
We found a photo-studio where we could borrow a computer. I got to fix this myself, which always feels a bit better, because I am afraid that they will erase my cards by mistake…

During about one and a half hour 2 giggling Cambodian guys stood behind us and asked us things with their rough English. We didnt even get half of it, but at least they tried. 🙂
The rest of the evening we did some zapping on the TV.

On Tuesday morning (28/6) Sally, A-M and I went to the Vietnamese Embassy to apply for visa.
After filling in the paper and leaving it to the person in the office, he looked at it and returned the stuff saying ”Swedish passport, no need visa”.
We heard rumours that if you stay 15 days or less, you don’t need visa, but we thought we needed a ticket out of Vietnam for it to work. Obviosuly not, so we saved $35.

At 11 all 4 of us went ou to Killing Fields, which is 15 km outside of Phnom Phen.
This is the place where lots of people were executed during the 70s under the power of Pol Pot.
There is a monument where skulls, skelettonparts and parts of clothes from the executed people are gathered.
Just next to it they have dug out a few mass-graves and there was also parts of skelletons and clothes.
I went around there in silence, thnking of the fact that this happened during my lifetime…

Believing we couldnt see worse things that day, we went to the old prison S-21.
These 4 buildings was a school berfore it 1976 was turnd in to a prison with cells, interigationrooms, torturerooms and so on.
At this place men, women and children sat and there where many 10-15 year old prisonguards that became evil people with awful torturmethods.
After the first building where there were cells with beds, torturweapons and pictures of the people lying there, I felt a strong feeling of nauseous and wasnt sure I could go on.
After some water and a brak I went throgh the other 3 buildings, with an excibition amongst other things.
It was a heavy day and I am now more thankful for the life I had and have…

On Wednesday we left Cambodia and arrived in Ho Chi Mihn City (Saigon).
The busride started at 8 in the mornng and ended at about 5 in the afternoon.
Emily and A-M went and fixed us a place to stay at. It was a small familyhotel with a doubleroom for $4,5 per night. There was also a TV, so it’s becoming a habbit. 🙂

On Thursday we went on a daytour on the Mekong-river where we got to visit some Islands.
We had lunch on one of them and our guide became a bit tipsy from the banana-booze he offered us (he was the one drinking most of it :p).

HCMC is a quite nice city, but still a big city, so we decided to leave as soon as possible.
We only hav until the 14th here in Vetnam, and then we have to leave the country.
On Fridaymorning the trip went further to Mue Nei, but it was raining a lot there. It’s mostly beaches there so we decided to go with the bus to Nha Trang directly instead.
That story will be in the next diary.

Hugs to you all!