Big Orange Backpack

Yesterday really was a day of death. Beginning with the Killing Fields, and ending with a fatal moto accident. Jessie and I decided to go into town for a bit of a walk and dinner after I returned back from the internet cafe. She has been here two times previously, and has witnessed 6 accidents in her 2 months total here, and thus decided that this time around, she wanted to avoid taking motos without a helmet if at all possible. We looked around for one for a bit, but admittidly, I love taking motos and didn't look that hard, and was anxious to get on one without spending the extra time and money to look for a tuk-tuk. We found a moto driver, and got off after we realised he was just driving because he didn't understand as to where we wanted to go, even after pointing out the FCC (the mis-named Foreign Correspondants Club) on a map. The second moto driver understood enough, and we were off. However, on the way, we hit a major traffic jam, something not so common here in Phnom Penh. We looked to see what the problem was, and saw a man laying next to a moto with blood pouring onto the road. His neck was in an unnatural position, and I would be shocked to learn that he was even alive as he was laying on the pavement, let alone if he survived after the "ambulance"arrived (a van with a cross painted on it). I watched my mother die, but that was in a western hospital and was completely bloodless. I've never seen a violent death, or even that much blood before (outside of blood donation bags). As in Egypt, I was shocked by this new experience. While I've experienced a lot in my 21 years, when I was in Egypt I realised that I had never felt carnal fear for my life before, utter terror. And here, I have witnessed death in such an up-close and horrific manner. It made me feel as physically sick as the Killing Fields had earlier in the day. I treated myself to a large drink at the FCC to wash away the feeling, but that ended up just giving it a twist.

Today Jessie and I went to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. They were absolutely beautiful, and quite out of place in a country such as this. I went into one very out of the way part of the Royal Palace alone and was met with a very funny Khmer man. He grabbed me and showed me around this very small shrine to Buddha. He touched me more than any Khmer man has, or should. He asked if I was French, and I told him I was American. When I told him that he grabbed me in a hug and tried to kiss me on the mouth. I kept saying "tee, accune" which means "No, thank you". Until eventually I escaped. It was quite the humourous encounter, and Jessie caught the tail end of it. I thought of if that were to happen in the States, and it's as if a guard in the Smithsonian tried to kiss a foreign tourist. Bizarre things like that only happen abroad, unfortunately.

I'll post photos of today later, and they will be available on the link I provided in my last post.