Hey guys, sorry for the lack of posts. I have a heap of stuff to put up but have been very lazy. :)
For the first time in almost 3 years I feel relaxed. Not just a "on holiday" relaxed but a deep inside relaxed. I have been studying the work of English philosopher Alan Watts for the last month and the insights he has given me have helped me come to terms with details of my own life.
The last few of years have been a emotional rollercoaster ride for me with the breakup of my family, death of my parents and general unhappiness with the direction of my life (sob sob, poor simon) . Now I feel I can see the other side, or at least a possible other side which is good.
Anyway, lots of stuff coming soon just have to get the monkeys to give me back my camera (more on this later)
Mucho aroha
Si
Friday, March 7, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
Le bum gun
Not normally a big fan of squirting water up my bum.
However, after some extended time spent on the royal throne lately I'm definitely coming round to the Cambodian way of doing things.
No toilet paper needed so good for the generally rudimentary sewerage systems here plus "things" get really, really clean.
What more could a young man ask for?
However, after some extended time spent on the royal throne lately I'm definitely coming round to the Cambodian way of doing things.
 |
| Le Bum Gun |
No toilet paper needed so good for the generally rudimentary sewerage systems here plus "things" get really, really clean.
What more could a young man ask for?
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Update
I've been a bit sick for the last few days, hence the lack of posts. Had the start of the flu before I left NZ and then almost immediately on arrival got a dodgy belly. Thankfully all on the mend now and starting to hit my stride.
Tomorrow I head down to Sihanoukville on the coast for a couple of weeks and a bit of beach time. There are several national parks close by which I'm very much looking forward to visiting.
Tomorrow I head down to Sihanoukville on the coast for a couple of weeks and a bit of beach time. There are several national parks close by which I'm very much looking forward to visiting.
Toul Sleng
Toul Sleng prison was the main detention center for political prisoners in the Khmer Rouge (KR) reign from 1975 to 1979. Formerly a primary school it was converted to a prison and torture center after the KR had depopulated Phnom Penh in 1975. Over 20,000 people were detained, tortured and made to confess here before being taken a short distance out of town and killed.
Prior to coming here I was hesitant about visiting this place because it had been turned into a tourist attraction which I found more than a little distasteful. Once here however I thought I should get it out of the way even if just to cement home, in real terms, the horror this country suffered less than 40 years ago. The visit has left me sad and angry.
Up to 2 million people died during the KR reign. Some of those from malnutrition (KR stopped all trade because capitalism was bad so nutritious food was in short supply) and disease (KR killed most of the doctors for being bourgeois then had completely untrained cadre running the couple of hospitals that were left operating). A large number were murdered for being 'enemies'. Their 'crimes' could have been anything from not working hard enough to trying to run away or even just being informed on by someone jealous or settling old scores. They were killed with plastic bags over the head or by being beaten in the head with axles and the like. Bullets were too precious to be used.
It is ironic that Toul Sleng has become the main monument to the madness of the KR because it was mostly used to kill Khmer Rouge members. All over the country there are literally hundreds of "killing fields", mass graves of the many innocent victims, yet this place, because it is in the capital city and because of the neurotic insistence that everyone who passed through it be photographed, numbered, made to confess and then killed, their name ticked off the list, meant that it is the only place in the country where a true record was kept of the deadliness of the KR.
From the outside it looks like any other school. Once in the buildings however you find torture rooms, individual and group cells. The horror, pain and suffering that happened here is almost palatable. One can only imagine the last moments of the victims as they finally gave in to the pain and admitted that they were traitors to the cause. Generally the favoured confession to extract was that they were in the pay of the CIA. Once the confession was written and signed they were of no further use to the organisation and were taken at night in groups of 30 - 50 about 16km out of Phnom Penh and killed like animals at a slaughter house.
20,000 of them.
All in all a very sad place. It makes me angry that only a few have ever been brought to justice for these crimes. In fact many senior members of the KR are in government today in modern Cambodia. This means that the chances of the killers and their puppet masters ever being made to answer for their crimes is slim.
All the people in the photos above are dead. The most poignant for me was this one, knowing that the baby would have been killed along side his/her mother is very sad.
Prior to coming here I was hesitant about visiting this place because it had been turned into a tourist attraction which I found more than a little distasteful. Once here however I thought I should get it out of the way even if just to cement home, in real terms, the horror this country suffered less than 40 years ago. The visit has left me sad and angry.
Up to 2 million people died during the KR reign. Some of those from malnutrition (KR stopped all trade because capitalism was bad so nutritious food was in short supply) and disease (KR killed most of the doctors for being bourgeois then had completely untrained cadre running the couple of hospitals that were left operating). A large number were murdered for being 'enemies'. Their 'crimes' could have been anything from not working hard enough to trying to run away or even just being informed on by someone jealous or settling old scores. They were killed with plastic bags over the head or by being beaten in the head with axles and the like. Bullets were too precious to be used.
It is ironic that Toul Sleng has become the main monument to the madness of the KR because it was mostly used to kill Khmer Rouge members. All over the country there are literally hundreds of "killing fields", mass graves of the many innocent victims, yet this place, because it is in the capital city and because of the neurotic insistence that everyone who passed through it be photographed, numbered, made to confess and then killed, their name ticked off the list, meant that it is the only place in the country where a true record was kept of the deadliness of the KR.
 |
| Torture room |
From the outside it looks like any other school. Once in the buildings however you find torture rooms, individual and group cells. The horror, pain and suffering that happened here is almost palatable. One can only imagine the last moments of the victims as they finally gave in to the pain and admitted that they were traitors to the cause. Generally the favoured confession to extract was that they were in the pay of the CIA. Once the confession was written and signed they were of no further use to the organisation and were taken at night in groups of 30 - 50 about 16km out of Phnom Penh and killed like animals at a slaughter house.
20,000 of them.
 |
| Cell block |
 |
| Single cell |
There was no mercy at all. Male, female, young and old all must confess and die. And so they did.
All in all a very sad place. It makes me angry that only a few have ever been brought to justice for these crimes. In fact many senior members of the KR are in government today in modern Cambodia. This means that the chances of the killers and their puppet masters ever being made to answer for their crimes is slim.
All the people in the photos above are dead. The most poignant for me was this one, knowing that the baby would have been killed along side his/her mother is very sad.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Phnom Penh
Love it or hate it this place gets under your skin in just a few days.
It's chaotic and serene, disgustingly dirty on the streets, yet you enter someones home it will be (generally) spotlessly clean, swept three times a day, tiles hosed, everything straightened.
Right outside their door though can be a stinking pile of rubbish dumped there by all the neighbours. The pile will go down steadily during the day as the various recycling collectors pass through, sifting through the mound looking for cans, cardboard or whatever is their specialty. By afternoon when the rubbish truck arrives the mound will be half the size. Within minutes of the rubbish being cleared a new mound will begin to arise.
It could be a metaphor for Phnom Penh.
Walking to the Riverside at 5.30am to catch the sunrise there are literally hundreds of people sleeping on the streets or in their tuk tuks and taxis which double as both home and work. A few hours later and the streets are full with tens of thousands of motorbikes interspersed with a few Range Rovers (vehicle of choice for rich Khmers), taxis, trucks,vans ranging in condition from brand new to 'how the hell does that thing still go'.
Someone the other day likened the traffic here to how in western countries you try to merge like a zip when entering the motorway whereas here it is like a thousand zips all going in random directions controlled by a demented lunatic cackling wildly. A weird controlled chaos which somehow works.
I will NOT be driving in Phnom Penh even though I now have a Cambodian licence. Took a moto (motorcycle taxi that will take you most places for a couple of dollars) the other day. It was great fun in a near death experience kind of way. I'm fairly sure I'll get used to it but serious injury is not on my list of to do's in the Kingdom of Wonder so I think I'll just ease myself in. Tuk tuks only for the moment.
A lot of life is lived on the street from local markets to food to haircuts, moto repairs and a thousand other needs of everyday life. 2 million people squashed into a space slightly larger than Wellington of whom 80% are just struggling to survive (most of the people here live on NZ$60 - $80 per month) makes for a vibrant and to my eye appealing place even with all its flaws.
The Khmers I have interacted with so far have been unfailingly polite and smiling no matter what their station in life.
My favourite building so far has been The Mansion, a live band venue that is basically an old wrecked french colonial villa, no windows or doors that I could see, that is set up for bands outside with bar and lounging areas set up for each gig inside. Very cool.
As an aside my Khmer is up to 6 phrases now and I'm trying to add at least 2 a day so I should be reasonably conversant by the time I leave :)
Also I have lost at least a couple of kilos already. My time of chubbo is coming to an end.
Jim rip leah
Si
It's chaotic and serene, disgustingly dirty on the streets, yet you enter someones home it will be (generally) spotlessly clean, swept three times a day, tiles hosed, everything straightened.
Right outside their door though can be a stinking pile of rubbish dumped there by all the neighbours. The pile will go down steadily during the day as the various recycling collectors pass through, sifting through the mound looking for cans, cardboard or whatever is their specialty. By afternoon when the rubbish truck arrives the mound will be half the size. Within minutes of the rubbish being cleared a new mound will begin to arise.
It could be a metaphor for Phnom Penh.
 |
| Mekong sunrise |
Walking to the Riverside at 5.30am to catch the sunrise there are literally hundreds of people sleeping on the streets or in their tuk tuks and taxis which double as both home and work. A few hours later and the streets are full with tens of thousands of motorbikes interspersed with a few Range Rovers (vehicle of choice for rich Khmers), taxis, trucks,vans ranging in condition from brand new to 'how the hell does that thing still go'.
Someone the other day likened the traffic here to how in western countries you try to merge like a zip when entering the motorway whereas here it is like a thousand zips all going in random directions controlled by a demented lunatic cackling wildly. A weird controlled chaos which somehow works.
I will NOT be driving in Phnom Penh even though I now have a Cambodian licence. Took a moto (motorcycle taxi that will take you most places for a couple of dollars) the other day. It was great fun in a near death experience kind of way. I'm fairly sure I'll get used to it but serious injury is not on my list of to do's in the Kingdom of Wonder so I think I'll just ease myself in. Tuk tuks only for the moment.
A lot of life is lived on the street from local markets to food to haircuts, moto repairs and a thousand other needs of everyday life. 2 million people squashed into a space slightly larger than Wellington of whom 80% are just struggling to survive (most of the people here live on NZ$60 - $80 per month) makes for a vibrant and to my eye appealing place even with all its flaws.
The Khmers I have interacted with so far have been unfailingly polite and smiling no matter what their station in life.
My favourite building so far has been The Mansion, a live band venue that is basically an old wrecked french colonial villa, no windows or doors that I could see, that is set up for bands outside with bar and lounging areas set up for each gig inside. Very cool.
 |
As an aside my Khmer is up to 6 phrases now and I'm trying to add at least 2 a day so I should be reasonably conversant by the time I leave :)
Also I have lost at least a couple of kilos already. My time of chubbo is coming to an end.
Jim rip leah
Si
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Funan Who?
Funan was the name given by Chinese diplomats, in the mid 200's, to the kingdom, or collection of kingdoms, centred around the Mekong Delta.
Funan encompassed what is now the Kingdom of Cambodia, the bottom half of Vietnam, half of Laos, most of Thailand and quite possibly the entire Malay peninsula.
It is believed they controlled the Malacca strait which was an essential thoroughfare for trade between India and China. Archaeological finds in Southern Vietnam, Cambodia and around the Malacca strait have revealed trade goods from China, India, Greece and the Roman Empire.
Funan reached it zenith in in the early 300's and by mid century was shrinking rapidly. Last mention of it in Chinese records was in the mid 500's.
It is unknown whether it was subsumed by new invaders from the North or if it simply broke up into warring city states which were then reconciled by the people who came to be known as the Khmer some 200 plus years later.
Whatever happened to Funan the people of this area (specifically Cambodia and Southern Vietnam) went on to form one of the greatest empires South East Asia has ever seen - Angkor.
At a time when London had approximately 50,000 residents Angkor is believed to have had more than 1 million. Much more on Angkor later when I'm actually in Cambodia.
Hopefully this little history lesson will explain not only the blog name but set the scene for the my travels in the Kingdom of Wonder.
Si
Funan encompassed what is now the Kingdom of Cambodia, the bottom half of Vietnam, half of Laos, most of Thailand and quite possibly the entire Malay peninsula.
It is believed they controlled the Malacca strait which was an essential thoroughfare for trade between India and China. Archaeological finds in Southern Vietnam, Cambodia and around the Malacca strait have revealed trade goods from China, India, Greece and the Roman Empire.
Funan reached it zenith in in the early 300's and by mid century was shrinking rapidly. Last mention of it in Chinese records was in the mid 500's.
It is unknown whether it was subsumed by new invaders from the North or if it simply broke up into warring city states which were then reconciled by the people who came to be known as the Khmer some 200 plus years later.
Whatever happened to Funan the people of this area (specifically Cambodia and Southern Vietnam) went on to form one of the greatest empires South East Asia has ever seen - Angkor.
At a time when London had approximately 50,000 residents Angkor is believed to have had more than 1 million. Much more on Angkor later when I'm actually in Cambodia.
Hopefully this little history lesson will explain not only the blog name but set the scene for the my travels in the Kingdom of Wonder.
Si
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