Good Moooorning Vietnam!!!

It's been a somber past couple of days in Phnom Penh.  On Sat, we went to Tuol Sleng, a school that was later converted during the Khmer Rouge regime into a security center, infamously known as "S-21".  It was the largest security detention center in Cambodia and was where suspected enemies of the state were held, interrogated, and tortured.  And if they survived long enough, they were subsequently hauled off to Choeng Ek, The Killing Fields, where they were summarily executed and buried in mass graves.  I took some photos, but need a little more time to work on them before I post.  The past two days have been a grim reminder of how fortunate we all are to live in the society that we do.  It's hard to understand how human beings have the capability of such cruelty but it is critical to understand if such atrocities are to prevented in the future.  Then again, such tragic human acts seem to have a way of slipping under the radar of most developed nations until after it's too late.  I've only just started to delve into the details of what's happened but if you're interested in knowing more, the Wikipedia entry is a pretty good start: Khmer Rouge.

Yesterday morning, Sylvie headed off for Koh Chang off the coast of Thailand.  In the early afternoon, Markus headed off to Sihanoukville.  The rest of us are are headed to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.  Right now, Tim, Laura, Sara, Martin, and I are waiting outside our hotel for the bus.  BTW, if you come to Phnom Penh, try to do a better job than us at finding a decent place to stay.  The place we stayed at was called the Angkor International Hotel.  It was...okay.  According to Tim and Laura, it was far better than the place they stayed on their first night.  This is hard for me to imagine, because I would classify this hotel as shady at best. But the location was good so we stayed.  With my notebook computer and photography equipment, I never left my 25 lb backpack in the room though which meant I was pretty much drenched in sweat the entire time we were here.  Oh well, I needed the exercise anyhow.  I'm guessing the fruit shakes are around one million calories each (half of it is sweetened condensed milk) and I've been drinking like two a day.  *burp*

Phnom Penh in general is more expensive than Siem Reap which is surprising because Siem Reap is a lot more touristy.  It was more expensive to stay here than my posh accomodations in SR at Motherhome Guesthouse, which honestly, was like a 5-star hotel by comparison.  Food is also more expensive here.  And really I couldn't find much more to see than the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng.  Enjoyed my time here, but it's high time to leave.  I'm looking forward to getting some Vietnamese food too.  I'll write more when I get there.  See you on the flip side.