Mekong River – Growing With Leala

Still in the city of Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

I am in a semi-big city again. I figure it would be a good time to try my luck again at finding yoga pants for my upcoming yoga retreat. I wander around town by foot trying to use maps.me and using up my precious data for google maps to find a place to shop. I end up at a high end mall in the basement of a casino where I STILL CANNOT FIND YOGA PANTS. But the place is air conditioned and a nice place to use the bathroom. I give up on the yoga pants. Maybe some place in Bali should have some I can buy??

*Trigger Warning : Genocide

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

I won’t go into a history lesson but if you aren’t familiar with the Khmer Rouge and the 1970s please google it. It wasn’t widely discussed in my school. I am just familiar with it because as an adult I am a curious reader and read the book First They Killed My Father. From the book I was curious to learn more so I watched history programs and read things on the internet.

Basically during the late 1970’s the Communist Party of Kampuchea government under the direction of Pol Pot systematically killed close to 2 million people. Many were killed in what is called “The killing fields” (there is a famous movie by the same name which I also saw a long time ago). As a visitor you can visit the killing fields and I heard it is very emotional. I chose not to visit because I did not feel comfortable going there. I did however visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the former jail where many prisoners were held, questioned and tortured.

I took audio tour with very detailed stories. It was sad and very painful to listen to.

The final rooms of the tour contain pictures of those detained and tortured in the facility (I took no photos of these).

I think the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is an important visit in Phnom Penh not to glamorize the location but for us as humans to understand what horrors can happen if tyrannical governments are left unchecked. The 1970’s were not too long ago in the grand scheme of time.

Cambodia River Cruise

To lighten up the end of my trip I booked a sunset river cruise along the area where the Mekong meets the Tonle Sap River.

It is a nice a peaceful way to end my trip to Cambodia. There is of course so much I didn’t see so I hope some day to return.

Today I head to the Mekong river delta. Today is just a short visit. A van picks me up at my hotel and we drive out to a launch area.

On the way we stop to see a bunch of Buddhas at Vinh Trang Pagoda.

We arrive at the boat launching site. We are shown a map to see the areas we plan to visit today.

First we stop at a honey bee farm. We learn about honey and royal jelly. We get the hard sell on the wonders of royal jelly. We get to enjoy a honey tea.

We try some local fruits: Mango, Papaya, persimmon, dragonfruit, jackfruit.

While we sample fruits we experience a musical performance. Singers sing local songs and we hear instruments I have never seen before.

video

It is now time to catch a ride to where we leave for our boat rides.

Apparently it is too far to walk or I would have walked it if I could. The transportation to the boat is a horse drawn carriage. Most people probably think that is quaint but I have vowed to not use animals for transportation like that anymore. When asked if we would like alternative transportation I and one other ask for something else. The other mode is an electric golf cart. Apparently it is a big deal because the guide keeps trying to talk me out of it. I know I am sort of being “difficult” about it but I am going to trust my gut this time. If there is an alternative mode of transport then I am taking it. There is a long wait but the cart finally arrive for us difficult ones. The distance doesn’t seem too far. I probably could have walked it.

It gets pretty crowded at the a launch site. Lots of boats are being filled with tourists such as ourselves. Eventually it settles down a bit.

We stop at a coconut candy factory. We get to see how the candies are produced. After sampling the candies I buy some to snack on during my travels. Unfortunately they don’t get too far since ants in my hotel room later in Siem Reap chow down on them instead 😦

We also get to sample some coconut liquor. I try a little bit, but not the type that is fermented with snakes, yuk.

We have another boat ride, this one motorized, to where we are to eat lunch. There are less boats in this area so besides the motors, it is very peaceful.

It is time for lunch. Look at those fried fish!

After eating I take advantage of one of the bikes they have to take a short ride around. There are fish, fruit and random animals around the property to look at.