The Killing Fields Touched Me Today

“Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. Yet those who do study history are doomed to stand by helplessly while everyone else repeats it.” I read this quote on Facebook today and it was certainly timely. Today, we visited the Killing Fields and the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

It was certainly one of the most sobering days of my life. The atrocities committed by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 are hard to believe. It is estimated that between one and two million people were systematically killed during this massive genocide. The victims included children, entire families, teachers, doctors and professionals, Cambodians, Thais, and Vietnamese. Anyone who might pose any kind of threat to the regime of the insane Pol Pot was killed and buried in one of the 343 killing fields that have been found in Cambodia.

Our guide, who lived through those years as a child, was able to provide  first hand witness to many of the hardships that affected him and his family. His narration of the political situation that gave rise to the Khmer Rouge regime and its subsequent defeat was spellbinding. The devastation of the population, the resources and infrastructure of the country has just begun to regenerate and improve very slowly over the past dozen years since their 2003 independence (despite a coup in 2007 and a current communist dictator, ruling in the guise of an elected prime minister).

What I found equally discomforting to the history and impact of the Cambodian genocide is the fact that I lived and grew up during that time and yet felt strangely ignorant of the severity of the atrocities. Of course, I knew via our western media of the “trouble” in Cambodia, but my daily life in Calgary as a family man and a school principal rolled along without any significant thought or assistance to the people in Cambodia. 

Our detached western lives have somehow removed us from the horrors that occur in our world on a daily basis. As well as the Nazi genocides, the major mass exterminations in Darfur, Bosnia, Rwanda and Syria and the expulsions of millions of refugees in every corner of the world, just seem to pass through our lives as stories on television. We are hard pressed to feel the actual horror and suffering of these real people, in our lives. 

Our first reactions tend to deny that there is much that we can really do, as we are too insignificant to make a difference. We may make a monetary offering in some fashion through a charity or church organization, and it may make a micro difference in someone’s life, but I sort of believe it is done more to ease our own conscience. And maybe that is just the cold hard reality of our world. Problems of the magnitude of the horrors that we witnessed on a small scale today in Phnom Penh were so massive that one individual (me) can do so little, that we should just accept that fact. Or is this acceptance comparable to putting a cheque in the mail to assist some larger cause and believing we have done all we can do?

I don’t know the answer, but I have been touched today in a way that even visiting Auschwitz in Poland did not impact me. I promise to try to find an answer, at least for myself!

The Bamboo Train From Battambang to O Sra Lav

The Bamboo Train From Battambang to O Sra Lav

A quick check of Google indicates that there have been over 1000 songs written that can be called train songs. Trains have been a favourite subject for musicians and composers everywhere. You might recognize some of them and the recording artist on this tiny list:

The train they call the City of New Orleans…Arlo Guthrie

Chattanooga Choo Choo…Glen Miller

When that midnight special leaves for Alabam…Leadbelly

The wreck of the old 97…Johnny Cash

This train is bound for glory…Woody Guthrie

Freight train, freight train…Peter, Paul and Mary

Take the last train to Clarksville…The Monkees

Take that midnight train to Georgia…Gladys Knight

This lengthy preamble is to get you prepared for one of the next great train songs that should be hitting the market soon, “The Bamboo Train From Battambang to O Sra Lav”.

You are probably now shaking your head, if you have not already deleted this blog, and wondering if I am suffering from sunstroke or dementia. Probably a little of both, but the story of the Bamboo Train has to be told.

A ride on the Bamboo Train was on our itinerary during our Cambodian adventure so we were anxious to ride it through the rural countryside. I was imagining a cool adventure with fantasies of the Orient Express or the Trans Siberian Train as a starting place. I was envisioning plush seats, gilded passenger cars and a dining car for the ages. What we got fell a little short of my expectations.

The Bamboo Train departs from the outskirts of Battambang.The ride only takes about 30 minutes, but they are 30 exciting minutes. The local people have created their own rail service using little more than pieces of bamboo. The locals call the vehicles a "norry", or "lorry", but overseas visitors know them as "bamboo trains". 

The passenger accommodation is a bamboo platform that rests on top of two sets of wheels. Each bamboo train consists of a 3m-long wood frame, covered lengthwise with slats made of ultra-light bamboo, that rests on two barbell-like bogies, the aft one connected by fan belts to a 6HP gasoline engine. A dried-grass mat to sit on counts as luxury seating.

Each train carries two to four passengers, all seated Buddha style, and when the engine is fired up, down the track it sails. It travels about 30 - 35 kph down a railway track that does not have a straight rail on it! The rails are bent, buckled and often barely touch each other so the ride is more bouncy and twisty than a condemned roller coaster.

If they come head-to-head with another train, they both have to stop. The two operators will simply disassemble one of the trains, lifting the car off its little wheels, and they will set the whole mess along the trackside. Then the train that remains on the track will pass the other, stop again, and the “engineers” will work together again to re-assemble the train back onto the tracks. Then each train will head off in its intended direction as though taking a train apart was no big deal!

The turnaround point is a tiny village amidst the trees, O Sra Lav. There is a shop selling refreshments and some bamboo train souvenirs. (I was going to mention the roasted rat, but didn’t want to upset the vegans among you.) I am guessing that once one of you has composed the lyrics and music to “The Bamboo Train from Battambang to O Sra Lav” we will be on the threshold of a platinum album in a matter of weeks. 

This song might just be a natural for Ian Tyson. I’ll give him a call as soon as I get home!

What Is Wrong With Me?

What Is Wrong With Me?

Today, I am requesting your assistance in helping me to answer the question, “What is wrong with me?” Before you get all excited and start pounding on your keyboard with instant psychoanalysis and opinion, perhaps a little more explanation is necessary. 

We have just completed our first day exploring the Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It is truly one of the great exploration days of my many years of travel. The complex is massive and impressive in its size, condition, and complexity. 

As soon as I near an archeological site, I begin to get energized and excited. Why an old man gets so pumped by approaching a large pile of stones in a strange country has had me guessing all my life. My first travel orgasm (there is little better description) was when I first visited Westminster Abbey in London when I was 24 years old. I was totally in awe at its grandeur, and the hundreds of stories, artifacts and relics that it housed. I couldn’t get over stepping on the grave marker of a renowned poet, while staring at the tribute to a global explorer and leaning on a king’s headstone. I stumbled upon the graves of Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens and King Charles 11. My first immersion into a historical ground zero, completely overwhelmed me. 

Since that first experience with our historical past, I have become an addict. Over the years I have explored dozens of wonderful sites including the pyramids in Egypt, Machu Picchu in Peru, and the Great Wall of China. Each visit seemed more exciting than the last one and I instantly began to scan the horizon for my next destination. I was never bored and the more unique a historical site, the more excited I got. 

I think the pinnacle of my historical explorations occurred from 2000-2004 when we lived in Turkey. This marvellous country is home to more extraordinary sites than you can imagine and in fact, most people have never heard about many of them. I still marvel at every visit to Aya Sophia built in the 5th century, to Ephesus with its Roman ruins, to the mountain of fallen heads, Nemrut Dag, and Rumeli Hisari Castle on the Bosphorus. (I told you, you haven’t heard of some). As soon as I see a set of stone steps leading skyward I am like a young child, I have to start climbing to see what I can see from the top.

This infusion of high energy completely dispels any minor ailments that troubled me the day before - no more sore Achilles, no fatigue, no more aching knee. I become transformed into the Old Geezer Explorer as soon as I near a targeted archeological site. As we approached the complex at Angkor Wat today, I became thirty years old again and raring to go! So I ask, “ What is wrong with me?” This is not normal behaviour. 

I am appealing for your diagnosis of my illness and would appreciate your candid observations relative to my condition. Please help! I will be awaiting at least fifty responses. The first prize winner will be rewarded by having his email address deleted from the mailing list of my never-ending blog. That is worth fighting for!

Add Cambodia To My Places of Wonder

Add Cambodia To My Places of Wonder

Cambodia is a name that has always connoted mystery, intrigue and the unknown to me. As a child, I remember listening to a radio program called, “Adventures by Morse”. Morse was a detective or adventurer, who in a series of episodes was involved in searching for some mysterious treasure in a place I had never heard of called Angkor Wat, which I learned was in Cambodia. 

For some unexplainable reason, I was always drawn to photographs that showed the bizarre temple complex, with its many towers. The place screamed exotic and exciting. Today, I arrived in Cambodia and we are set to explore some of the many temples in the Angkor Wat complex. Many authors describe Angkor Wat as the greatest religious monument every built. That is no small praise. 

Angkor Wat – built by Suryavarman II (r 1112–52) – is the earthly representation of Mt Meru, the Mt Olympus of the Hindu faith and the abode of ancient gods. The Cambodian god-kings of old each strove to better their ancestors’ structures in size, scale and symmetry, culminating in what is believed to be the world’s largest religious building.

The temple is the heart and soul of Cambodia and a source of fierce national pride. Unlike the other Angkor monuments, it was never abandoned to the elements and has been in virtually continuous use since it was built.

The sandstone blocks from which Angkor Wat was built were quarried from the holy mountain of Phnom Kulen, more than 50 km away, and floated down the Siem Reap River on rafts. The logistics of such an operation are mind blowing, consuming the labour of thousands. According to inscriptions, the construction of Angkor Wat involved 300,000 workers and 6000 elephants, yet it was still not fully completed.

Reading of the building of this religious complex reminded me in many ways of the Egyptian construction of the pyramids. Both projects were massive and involved thousands of workers constructing a tomb for the resident ruler. The pyramid’s project is well over 2000 years old; the Cambodian construction is almost a thousand years old. To have visited both of these UNESCO preserved sites has been an experience I have really enjoyed and now can treasure.

I will draw this boring entry to a close and leave you to wait for my reaction to the visit to Angkor Wat! If you can’t sleep because of the anticipation, take two aspirins and eight ounces of rye whiskey. Stay tuned!

A Typical Sunday Night in Thailand (Technoland)

A Typical Sunday Night in Thailand (Technoland)

I am going to speculate that a typical family Sunday evening like we experienced last night is a lot different from when I was a child. I recall my Mom, Dad and I sitting together in the living room listening to the Lux Radio Theatre (there was no TV). Mom was crocheting a doily, Dad was thumbing through yesterday’s Calgary Herald, and I was colouring with my massive set of 12 new wax crayons. Could life get any better?

This past Sunday evening, in Bangkok with Wayne, Kelly, Sawyer, Helen, and Darlene, unfolded a little differently. Wayne was extolling the virtues of the GPS on his iPhone that he had shown to a cab driver to find a local address with unpronounceable Thai street names. At the same time, he was printing off the boarding passes for our next flight, which he had personally booked online the previous week. The rest of his evening he busied himself marking student homework submissions from kids in Alberta, 8000 miles away, who were taking some classes online with him. 

Kelly was curled up with an iBook that she had downloaded to her iPad for free and was content as a kitten. Her revery was disturbed when her computer rang to inform her that she was receiving a phone call on Skype or FaceTime. It was her girlfriend, Sarah, calling from L.A. so Kelly snuck into a quiet room to chat for an hour with her friend back home in the US. And best of all, free of charge!

Darlene was busy chronicling our Thailand adventure writing another blog and wirelessly sending some photos from her iPhone to her blog page to help illustrate the story. She finished and then sent a number of personal emails to friends in Canada, the US, Ireland and Turkey. Simultaneously, Darlene was listening on her headphones to the latest Adele album that she had downloaded from iTunes to her iPod. Boundaries in our Internet world are non existent.

I was multi tasking. For someone who is often not motivated to single task, that is an accomplishment. I was designing a photo album on my computer, to try to tell our Thai story in pictures. The Lulu site I use allows me to both create picture albums as well as self publish books. I have currently self published seven books and am working on number eight, which will incorporate some of my Padyourthai blog. 

Helen, our eight year old grand daughter was playing the Mindcraft computer game on her iPad, but soon became a little bored. She went to her room and hauled out her two robots, Dash and Dot, and started to program them to chase around the living room from the controls on her iPad. No playing with Barbies and doll houses for my grand daughter!

Sawyer, our ten year old grandguy, was also working on his computer, downloading the video from his GoPro that he had shot while we were on holidays. The GoPro straps to your forehead and captures all the action as your own eyes would see it. He then had to work on editing the video, create a voice over and see if he could post it on YouTube.

Finally, in order to include some quality family time in our Sunday evening, we all sat down to watch a Netflix movie using our Canadian membership, in Thailand.

I am also going to speculate that there is little use me buying a colouring book and set of wax crayons to demonstrate the joys of my youth to this modern high tech family. Welcome to Technoland, 2016!

Quotes Of Buddha and the Dalai Lama

Living in Thailand we are surrounded by the influence of Buddhism. It is only logical that we take a little time and study some of the teachings of this major religion. I won’t insult my two readers by trying to write anything scholarly (As if that were possible!). Instead I will simply steal or plagiarize some of the teachings or quotes either from Buddha or a current day disciple, the Dalai Lama. 

Since I am such a shallow thinker, I often am most impressed by simple, but brief and meaningful observations or thoughts. From hundreds of quotes that I looked at, I found the following very interesting or relevant to me. Read on, if you choose!

• If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.
• Silence is sometimes the best answer.
• Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.
• Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
• Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
• Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
• The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.
• Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. 
• What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow. Our life is the creation of our mind.
• If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.
• Learn this from water: loud splashes the brook but the oceans depth are calm.
• The trouble is, you think you have time.
• People with opinions just go around bothering one another.
• One moment can change a day, one day can change a life and one life can change the world.
• Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.
• Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.
• If you are facing in the right direction, all you need to do is keep on walking.
• However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act upon them?
• It is better to travel well than to arrive.
• Patience is key. Remember: A jug fills drop by drop.
• Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have.

The Seriously Special Siam Super Soup Shop

Nestled between a gold jewellery store and an empty building is the Siam Noodle Shop. It lies beneath the shadow of the overhead Bangkok Skytrain track and partially spills out on to the sidewalk in front. And it has become the latest hot dining spot in Bangkok, at least for our family.

The soup shop is long and narrow and is the width of two adjacent bowling alley lanes. Attractive decor, colour coordination, and curb appeal are sorely lacking. Seven sturdy wooden tables are each surrounded by four hard square-seated stools, and topped with a metal box of spoons and chopsticks, four sauces, a pad of napkins and several bottles of water for purchase

The half a dozen menu items are written on the wall in Thai, so we have learned to order in a more practical way. We walk up to the front of the shop and point at what we want in our soup. There are always the same choice of six different noodles, bits of beef and pork, fish balls, bean sprouts and a mixture of green flavouring veggie stalks. Once you finish pointing, you just sit down at a luxury table and wait three minutes.

The cook fills a small wire mesh cup on a long handle with your noodle choice and drops it into the giant kettle of boiling water sitting over a propane heater. Your selection of gourmet accoutrements is spooned into a good size bowl and a large cupful of hot beefy broth is added from the second monster pot in the “kitchen”. When your noodles are tender, all of your choices arrive at your table in one steaming hot soup bowl. 

Our first venture into this unassuming and rather dodgy looking soup kitchen was tentative, but now we head over almost every other day. From 8:00 am until midnight there is a steady stream of clientele, almost all Thai. I have never walked past the place when it was without a customer - morning, noon or night time!

To accompany your delicious soup there are little packets of deep fried pork rinds (Piggy Puffs in Canada) and your choice of water or pop to drink. The menu is minimal, but I figure with about ten different ingredients and four sauces it is possible to creatively order and eat a different soup combination every day for at least a year! 

When you are finished slurping, the “owner” arrives with calculator in hand and calculates your bill and shows it to you. Today we had five bowls of soup, a water and a piggy puff. Total bill $10. Basically, a two dollar bowl of soup that was simply delicious!

If I had three meals of soup a day, every day for a year, it would only cost me $182 a month. And that would probably be a better diet plan than the Subway turkey sandwich plan and, of course, a lot cheaper!

It once again illustrates that you can’t judge a book by its cover or a soup shop by its ambience or lack thereof!