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| In front of the Khmer Magic Music Bus |
This morning we awoke to monks chanting in the temple across the street. Some students chose to venture across to visit the temple, while others chose to enjoy breakfast, and while Alex and Lucas enjoyed their nice sleep through the wake up call. After breakfast we went downstairs to meet our wonderful guide, who then led us through a moving tour of the Khmer Rouge prison. He enlightened us to the history of Cambodia, and why and how the country fell into communist power. Many of us had heard of the prison before, but seeing the horrors put the stories into perspective; we could still see the bloodstains on the floor. Throughout the prison we saw powerful images of tortured inmates and the faces of the innocent Cambodians who had been prisoner and tortured there. The metal shackles, the piles of skulls, and the makeshift prison cells where the suffering took place exposed the realities of the brutality of the Khmer Rouge.
At the end of our tour, we saw frightening photographs of hundreds of skulls that had been dug up by the Cambodian government after the reign ended. We were fortunate to then be able to talk to the two lone survivors from the prison, who were incredible strong, compassionate, forgiving, and welcoming people. We saw how their souls were so content despite the horrors they endured while being captive in the prison, and the love within them radiated out and touched all of our hearts. Many of us bought the books they had written about their life stories, for they were adamant about the importance of sharing their stories with the world. They wanted the books to be a way to show what a real life experience was like and how brutal the Khmer Rouge really was, and to make sure their stories were heard to honor those who had died. Many of us were shocked by what we had just witnessed and were surprised by how little we really knew; we felt grateful to hear the stories of the survivors and were able to reflect on big and out of our control the world really is.
After that intense experience, our kind tour guide, Chenseng, led us to the Russian markets. We were able to walk around and bargain for souvenirs for our friends and family back in the US. The juxtaposition between our morning and shopping experience made us reflect on trivial our materialism is that consumes us on an everyday scale. Then, we went to enjoy an authentic Cambodian lunch at a small cafe on the side of the road, as the rain started to fall. The authentic mean was followed by an authentic bathroom visit; the bathrooms shocked us and we waddled to the bus in discomfort.
The afternoon was filled with joy, a nice transition from the intense morning expiriences. WE traveled through the Cambodian countryside with our good friend Arn Chorn Pond, and he took us to see his village. We were greeted warmly by a musical performance by the Khmer Magic Music Bus performers who sang us a 60's folk song. 
Sweet Chenseng even joined in on the dance! Next, we continued to travel deep into the countryside, where we got to interact with kids who Arn informed us had never seen white people before, and who were expatiate to have visitors. As we walked through the village, we were able to see Arn's newly built house, which had an endless view of beautiful farmland and rice patties, which we traveled out to and met some local farm workers. Everyone was stunned by the beauty of the beauty and simplicity of the lifestyle and land of the Cambodian villagers.
It was the most peaceful and raw experiences that many of us had ever had, and we ended our walk feeling zen. Next we enjoyed some more performances in Arn's lovely home by the Khmer Magic Music Bus crew, and our very own Maya and Syd sang as well! Another dear friend, Peter, kindly donated his own violin to Cambodian Living Arts. The bond we shared over music was human and sincere. After saying our goodbyes, we headed back to Phnom Penh and enjoyed a traditional Cambodian dish: pancakes. Mango smoothies and coconut water paired with the delicious meal soothed us after an long and moving day.
--Lucy, Sydney and Natalie
We awoke this morning to Dr. Zellner knocking at our door, and a clock reading a few minutes passed 9:00. Alex and I were both panicked by the realization that we had slept in. To be fair, we never got the wake up call we were supposed to receive in our room a few hours earlier.
Anyway, we both stumbled out of our room dazed and rushed - somehow managing to get downstairs in under five minutes - and were greeted by the rest of our travel group waiting for us, some holding pieces of bread. Those things turned out to be our breakfasts.
We took our Peptobus (appellation earned with a bright pink paint job - naming credits to me, thank you very much) to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, an educational complex-cum-security prison-cum-historical exhibit that used to be home to one of the Khmer Rouge’s most prominent execution centers in the late 1970s.
To be honest, the site’s architecture appeared to me better suited for a prison than a high school. The area features a smallish green patch of grass area surrounded by tall, monolithic grey slabs of building on three sides, with a generous froth of barbed wire fence manning the fourth. The heat of the day radiated inwardly upon visitors, seemingly magnified by the structure’s presence.
The museum itself was, of course, horrific. To reiterate a somewhat hackneyed but nonetheless accurate thought, there's a difference between learning about a place, and actually being there. While reading walls plastered with the historical documentation of the torture and executions carried out at S21 ensures an intellectual understanding of the fact of such horrors’ existence, there is nothing like turning down to look at the now black stains left behind by countless victims beneath one’s feet to bring home the actuality of such history.
Next stop was a market, similar to the one we visited in Vietnam, but somewhat smaller and less chaotic. Or perhaps I was just more accustomed to such an experience the second time around. Having managed the impressive feat of bargaining down a purchase by all of $2 at the previous one, I entered this new market assuring myself that all I had to do was get a price down by more than 4%, and I’d be good. The mission was accomplished, so, to reward myself, I went and bought a bunch of other stuff for their (probably too-high) asking prices and quickly found I’d burned through far more cash than I should've in such little time. Oh well.
Lunch was spent with my dear friends Maya and Ian. I ate more food that sitting than I had on any other lunch on this trip, so again, progress. We discussed our family heritages, and in doing so got to know each other even better. Spontaneous extra-curricular student bonding, check.
By far the highlight of my day was the next and final activity - an immersive visit to Arn Chorn Pond’s village. There, his fellows at Cambodia Living Arts shared their culture’s music with us, and we reciprocated in similar fashion (shout out to Maya and Sydney for their amazing impromptu performances!). Our trek across the terrain Pond’s village overlooks was utterly breathtaking - easily the most visually striking landscape we’ve experienced yet on this trip. This was what I had imagined Cambodia would be like thinking forward to our trip over the many preceding months. Expectations were not only met but eventually surpassed. Unfortunately, it was at this point I realized I'd also forgotten to pack extra memory cards with me during the mad rush of the morning, and so I took my last few hundred pictures my SLR could still accommodate before resorting to a more conventional point and shoot, and even my iPhone. Neither were able to do the area’s natural beauty justice, but then again, neither could the SLR, really. Perhaps no piece of technology can. --Lucas and Alex
