KILLING FIELDS, LIVING STREETS

An hour's dusty tuk-tuk from Phnom Penh brings you to the site of the Killing Fields, Cambodia's holocaust era from 1975 to 1979 in which the mad man Pol Pot savagely murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people to create a "perfect society". City dwellers were forced to farms and died of malnutrition, impossible quotas, or beatings. All teachers, doctors, and educated professionals were killed. Families were destroyed. Hospitals and schools demolished. But the most heart-breaking was that women, children, the old, the infirm, and everyone else were brutally executed with farm tools, clubs, axes, and smashed bodies. You keep asking, between holding back tears, what kind of human could do this. This Genocide Centre points out that atrocities have happened  before (e.g., Hitler, Chile, pioneer America, Serbia, etc., etc.)  and tries to alert us to prevent it again. This place portrays unimaginable horrors and leaves you weak in the knees and the heart.

The journey back into New Year's Eve became a bit of an antidote to the darkness of the Killing Fields. Cambodia is moving forward with youth and prosperity. School kids burst out like at schools anywhere. There are Pottery BIKES, not Pottery Barns. And around the main plaza the streets were absolutely clogged with Hondas and partiers. From the old desolation to the new jubilation. Like the sign says in Cambodian, Happy New Year 2014!

MEKONG, MARKETS, MONKS, AND MORE

(Still some jet lag, slept from 8pm to current 4am. Getting better!) Walked like crazy on the first full day in Phnom Penh, to get back to normal routine. Through organized chaos of the scooter mobs and street markets, over to the historic muddy Mekong River, inspiration for the journey in the film Apocalypse Now. Typical contrast of old and new, with ancient temples across from public fitness equipment.

More pictures than usual today to give some sense of the place, but also imagine a constant drone of traffic, suicidal street crossings, garbage everywhere, and dusty pollution in your nostrils.On the other hand, you encounter impromptu music, mass demonstrations against the government, Art Deco market buildings, monks getting alms and prayers (is this like protection money??) new generation of colourful fiberglass tuk-tuks, weird fruit, and countless palaces, temples, and museums. A main avenue is strangely deserted --- against rioting or getting ready for New Year's parade??

Back along the river there are veggie gardens strewn in the silt. Fortune tellers read cards. A hundred flags fly on the shiniest poles in town --- can you find the Maple Leaf? When night falls and the heat cools, hundreds share a zumba exercise hour. Markets and bakeries abound.

2013 has been a very full year from start to finish, with most of our main events and places in these blog postings. We wish all of you back home a 2014 full of good health, laughs, and love. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

FROM NV TO PP

The last day in North Vancouver included shrub trimming (you can take the girl out of her garden but you can't take the garden out of the girl), walking around famous city sights, and marveling at a sunset after a mixed day of rain/fog/cloud/clear. Then a 13-hour EVA Airlines flight, all in darkness, across the International Date Line to Taipei. Excellent service but the usual dry air that puckered any exposed skin. Taiwan is the land of the Asian phenomenon "Hello Kitty", a beloved cartoon figure that shows up on aircraft, waiting rooms, and thousands of other places.

Then a 3-hour layover, then a 3-hour EVA hop to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. Absolutely exhilarating to be back among the human chaos of tuk-tuks, old motorbikes, and an ancient culture but new country (#88!) for me. Arrived in the dusty heat by 1pm at the Royal Guest House, a name not expected to be taken literally! Memories of Vietnam --- a clean room with hot water, wifi and fan in colonial-era 4-storey walk-up buildings crammed like tired soldiers holding each other upright. (Can you find Pat waving?) $15 a night. Three busy blocks from the iconic river and temples. A big WOW for sure.

This is being written at 2 in the morning, wide-awake from jet lag or jet jump?!? (It's Monday here, Sunday back home.)We'll be on the street in a couple of hours, wondering what delights await at dawn in this mythical Khmer kingdom.