7/1/10 - (phnom penh)

Phnom Penh

This was our first full day in Phnom Penh and Annie and I had decided to take a tour of the capital city of Cambodia to see some of the highlights. We coordinated with On Prum, Paul’s tuk tuk driver to pick us up in the morning. We got an early start on the day and our first stop was a place called the Happy Club. It was a dodgy shooting range run by what looked like teenage Cambodian kids. We pulled up to see an old decommissioned tank parked out front. This was our first trip out of the capital city and a chance to see the “real Cambodia.” The roads were rough and we were driving through a consistent dust cloud. When we arrived to the range, we were escorted to a table and given a menu much like any restaurant but instead of food I had a choice of many rare and destructive weapons. I had just finished the book called The Futurist, which was a James Cameron bio. Cameron is a big gun guy and I think that is what inspired me to this particular adventure. I quickly decided upon flipping through the menu that this wasn’t my cup of tea. I had the choice of an AK-47, M16, grenade launcher, or even a rocket launcher. At this point I was ready to quickly duck out the back door but decided I had come too far to back out now. Channeling my inner Cameron, I chose the reliable AK-47 and was given a clip of 15 bullets. They escorted me to a range and gave me a brief safety lesson, cocked the gun and I was off and running. The target was roughly a hundred yards down in a concrete garage with a target that looked like a Taliban fighter backed by several hundred rubber tires. I fired my first round and the gun slammed back with a loud crack, followed by a cloud of smoke lingering in the hot air. My first thought was “I don’t want to do this.” I could sense Annie’s apprehension and I decided to power through the round. I fired off the next 14 shots and it looked like I had missed the target all together. Feeling a little deflated with my shooting abilities the teenage boy went to retrieve the paper target. Upon return I realized I had pulverized my fictitious paper rival.  Nearly every shot was a fatal head blow. This helped me feel a small sense of pride in an overall uncomfortable experience. 

Our next stop was the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. If I was feeling any remorse from my AK-47 experience, it was about to be infinitely expanded. During the late 1970’s the Khmer Rouge forcefully took over Cambodia and conducted a genocide n many of the educated Cambodian’s. The killing fields is where 17,000 people were violently executed. Many of the bodies have been exhumed and over 8000 skulls are on display to honor the victims in the memorial stupa. It is a pretty sobering experience and it makes you wonder how people could actually do this to one another. We spent an hour exploring this mass grave site, some of which still has clothing exposed in the soil from past victims. This was a pretty tough visit but helped us put things in perspective and get a better understand of Cambodian history. 

After a quick stop for lunch at a nice little Lebanese restaurant, we were off to the Russian Market. This is where many of the brand name garments made in Cambodia show up at roughly 10% the retail price. Many a bargain can be had within the market for both real and knock off merchandise. After a little shopping and a lot of sweating we were off to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. The palace is considered a sacred place so our shoulders and knees had to be covered. A lady wasn't allowed to enter because her shorts were too short. The buildings were beautifully decorated with traditional Khmer architecture. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside any of the buildings.  

When our tour ended we gathered our luggage to stay with Paul. After transferring our bags and settling in above Cafe Metro, we met up with Paul briefly for a snack then got ready for dinner. We went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. The restaurant was very contemporary and for the first time since we arrived in Asia we almost feel like we are back in the states.

Happy Club from Annie Lin on Vimeo.