Cambodia

Have you ever been to Cambodia?

I spent time in Cambodia during travel in 2005. I was profoundly shocked at how bad human suffering can get. The people are still recovering from the havoc wrought by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. The Rouge ruled from 1975 until 1979 (at which time the Vietnamese invaded and installed a puppet regime). The Rouge forced all urban inhabitants into the countryside, so that they could set up compulsory labour camps and commence mass executions. Visited Tuol Sleng (a.k.a. S-21) just outside of Phnom Penh. This complex was originally a secondary school which the Rouge converted to a genocidal prison. Roughly 20,000 people including children were tortured and killed,within these walls. Nationally, loss of life estimates range from 1.5 to 3 million during the 3 year and 8 month period the Rouge were in 'government'. The cells, human skulls and various torture devices are still in the complex for all to see, and comprehend how miserable or despicable life under this regime was.

Today Cambodia has a very young population and is still rebuilding. In 2005 there were only 2 ATM machines operating in the country (local use only).

Signs I spotted in a hotel foyer: "No Guns. No Knives. No Durian Fruit" and "Checkout Time is 12:00 A.M"

If you have been there then I would be keen to hear of your experience.

Your comments on the 2007 Rugby World Cup....

I am cheering on the All Blacks. Australia and South Africa look to be our strongest contenders. I hope our mistake ridden games against small fry like Italy, Portugal and Scotland will still provide us with enough preparation to fry the big fish. What are your comments on this tournament?

Wedding day: 30/12/2006 in New Plymouth, NZ

Introduction

Hello.

Welcome to my blog. Here you can talk about sport, humour, world history and travel, heavy metal music, computers and other technology and even random things such as the cruel invention known as Vista or even the struggle of getting out of bed on Monday mornings.