Southeast Asia Photo Tour: Final Stop, Phnom Penh

This will be the final posting from the 2012 Southeast Asia photo tour. So I would like you to meet everyone in our group photo, taken by Dave Perkes (from left to right) Lisa, Gary, Sally, Barb, Karl, Nina, Jay, Ann, Lisa and Widd. They were a wonderfully enthusiastic, energetic and and enjoyable crew, who bonded well and worked as a team, helping one another and sharing all the fun and excitement of each photographic discovery. I really hated to see the trip come to an end. In a perfect world, we would have just kept going and going and going.

In this final post, I’ll share a few more photos. After leaving Siem Reap by private bus, we made three stops along the road to Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital city. On of my favorite stops about half way into our ride is a tiny roadside market where foreign tourists never stop. I always bring some photos from last year and the vendors laugh and giggle uncontrollably as I walk around passing out the photos.

Another stop we make is in the small town of Skun, known as the place where people eat fried Tarantuals! The kids here sell everything from the famous 8 legged fried spiders, to fruits, vegetables and other fried insects. This is another place that I always bring back plenty of photos. This year, I distributed a photo or two to each of the tour participants and sent them to find the child who’s picture they held. I think that the entire “picture hunt” was over in less than 2 minutes, as we were descended upon by all the kids, who were totally excited to receive their photos.

In Phnom Penh, the most important photo opportunities for us are at Teoul Sleng prison (S21) and the Killing fields. We visit S21 first and I always get Chum Mey to give us a private tour. Chum Mey is one of the only 2 living survivors of Teoul Sleng, and it’s a privilege to have him take us through the facility, recounting in great detail what happened. Chum Mey is now 80 years old and I’m not sure how many more times we’ll be able to see him. It is always a moving experience to listen to him.

At the “Killing Fields” about 40 minutes outside of town, there’s a monument of sculls surrounded by shallow mass graves were excavated.

The skulls are displayed in such a way, as to force viewers to be physically close. There is only a tiny area to walk around and you are unable to get more than 2 meters away from the bones.

On our last night in Phnom Penh, at around midnight, we always take some photos at “The Heart Of Darkness”, a popular bar, then we we head over to an intersection where lots of cyclo drivers sleep. The street lights give the place and “eery” glow, and often times, the photos look best in black and white, like the one above.

So, that’s it for Southeast Asia Photo Tour 2012…thanks for coming along for the ride. Cheers, Karl