Cambodia - Killing Field Memorial, Siem Reap / Cambodia Cultural Village

Assalamualaikum. Chomreabsuor!

Agak al-lembab lah mau buka blog sekarang ni. Tiap jam mata macam mau terkatup jak. Ntah apa yang aku buat sampai 24jam rasa ngantuk jak. Ndak kan jet lag lagi kan. P to the Yo sangat kalau betul.

Ok sambungan dari previous post (here).

Lepas lebih kurang 20 minit Zack 'drive' atas jalan berdebu; we arrived at this place. Dalam perjalanan tu sempatlah lagi kan aku tertidur. Quality nap kataku! Sebelum pi killing field yang lagi besar di Phnom Penh, kami jejak di sini dulu.

Masa Zack masuk pi tempat ni, aku still blur sebab memang aku ndak tanya mana lagi dia mau bawa kami lepas dari Senteur workshop tu. So bila turun dari tuk tuk, aku nampak banyak pura di sebelah kanan. And Buddha's statues on my left side. It was when Zack mentioned Killing Field Memorial then I eventually awoke from my daydream. Teruk betul kan perangai kau Bie.

Tempat ni tidak 'seglamour' compared to the one in Phnom Penh. Masa tu pun cuma ada few tourist. And memang aku tiada list down pun dalam itinerary kami. Considering we have plenty of free time before we enter the Cultural Village; so why not melawat this place kan. Not to play tourist tapi sekadar mau tau details about Cambodia's tragic past.

The bones including the clothes found in the field were gathered & placed in the stupa near the Buddhist monastery. There's a donation box near the stupa. And a notice board that stated;

"These collected bones are from the innocent people who were brutally killed by the Pol Pot Regime in 1975-1979. We do not have enough money to build a proper memorial for these innocent people. The world once stood by & let the demented dictator murdered 100,000 in four years. Now we can help provide comfort to these dear departed soul with your donation."

28 January 2015

Wat Thyme (Killing Field Memorial)

# This Killing Field Memorial is also known as Wat Thmey by the local.

# Pura or graves just after entering the field.

# Cruel yet true. The evil Khmer Rouge not only toiled the Cambodian people to work but they killed 25% of the population. Some died from starvation, forced labor or worst; massacred! 

# List of donors outside the stupa.

# Skulls & bones of the victims of the Killing Field were laid to rest in the stupa. On top of one another. 

# Inside the Cambodian Historical Photo Museum
Collection of drawings as narrated by one of the survivor. 

# A tragic remainder of Pol Pot regime madness indeed.

# Houses built on the killing field. Something I cannot imagine IF I were asked to live here. Even near the vicinity pun harus aku reject serta merta.

Sebenarnya ada more than 90 killing field sites di Cambodia ni. Gila kan. In just 4 years, regime bijak ni berjaya membunuh almost 3 million lives. Murders happened everywhere in the country during their reign. Tapi yang paling banyak adalah di detention centers & Wat Thmey was one of it.  This memorial area is worth a visit although ndak lah luas & besar mana. In my opinion, to appreciate this country's beauty; its tragic past shall not be disregarded. Pasal tu aku ndak regret pun datang tempat ni. Bersyukur Malaysian ndak pernah berdepan situasi kejam begitu; walaupun kita pernah dijajah.

After touring the area in which ndaklah sampai sejam pun kami di sana; we made our move to the next destination. Yang ditunggu untuk terjah since morning. Banyak buat aktiviti kill-time semata mau masuk tempat tu on time. Ntah lah kenapa si Zack cakap boleh masuk 2pm onwards walhal aku tengok di website; CCV ni buka jam 9am. 

Cambodian Cultural Village

# Entrance to Cambodian Cultural Village, Siem Reap.
Entrance Fee: USD 15 per adult

# Refer to this board for list of show program; as per Zack. 

Sebab kami sampai tu pun sudah jam 2pm (++) so ndak lah sempat posing banyak di luar village. Lepas beli tiket, ambil group photo depan map CCV...terus kami masuk dalam. Kunun ndak mau terlepas the 230pm show. 

# CCV ni boleh tahan luas. Dengan bahang matahari lagi, memang sempat mandi peluh on the way to the New Theater. 

Sebenarnya ada taman sepanjang jalan pi teater tu. And kalau aku ndak main terjah & jalan ikut lorong² kecil dalam taman ni, memang aku ndak kan tau ada mini replicas of Cambodia's landmark buildings. Hampas betul. Yang recreated homes tu memanglah nampak dari jauh sebab gedabak pun. Yang mini replica tu? Luckily gatal kaki mau explore.

# Recreated home of the Khmer people. 

# Central Market in Phnon Penh

# Ancient street lights.

# Masuk dalam ni adalah nikmat! Sebab sejuk & redup.
The first show we watched was the Mixed Khmer Traditional show.

Pastu sempat terlentok while layan the show dalam teater ni! Faktor usia mempengaruhi. Segagah mana pun semangat untuk explore Siem Reap, tetaplah ndak mampu lawan kemampuan diri yang makin 'mereput'. Tabahlah! 

The show lasted for 40 minutes; if I'm not mistaken. Next, Charming of Phahum at the mini-theater. Located few hundred meters from the new theater. Pastu baru perasan, as the crowds moved to the next location...penari tu semua pun gerak bersama. Rupanya group yang sama akan entertain kami. Cuma costumes diorang jaklah bertukar². 

# Group photo! One for the album gitu.

To be honest, semua ni sudah worn out tahap maksima. But as I always say, time is golden when we travel. Penat boleh layan malam nanti. Pulun lah tidur sampai Subuh tiada siapa melarang.

# Same dancers; different costume & choreography. Layan!

Habis second show tu, semua pun gerak pi Millionaire House. Untuk Khmer Wedding Ceremony show pula. 

# Lalu jambatan atas man-made lake ni to get to the next show venue.

# Before the show started. Ms G macam galah bolehlah menyelit tengok the ceremony. Cis!

Sebab keadaan dalam rumah tu a bit crowded, pastu ketinggian aku pula boleh tahan rendang...haruslah aku gave up awal. Terus turun dari rumah tu & explore kawasan sekitar. Ndak boleh jalan jauh sebab Ms G was still in the house. Yang lain? Pun putus asa macam aku. Sambil tu carilah surau untuk solat jama'. Before masuk tu aku tanya Zack ada tempat solat kah dalam CCV ni. Dengan muka penuh confident dia bagitau, surau dalam tu lagi besar. Siap ada toilet & telekung bagai. Ok, lega!

Bila nampak building yang serupa masjid dekat Millionaire House, haruslah aku happy. Ndak payah susah payah tanya orang mana surau. Ada depan mata. Tapi! Hampa seribu kali hampa as we got nearer to the so-called surau. Turned out it was actually one of those model house (Cham Village). Ingatkan lah boleh solat sebab ada paip tepi building ni. Sekali tengok lantai yang berhabuk tebal 1000 inches; & telekung pun nan hado; terus cancelled niat. Sobs. 

# Model house of the Cham Village

After the wedding ceremony, the crowd then moved to the Chinese Village for the Mixed Traditional Chinese show. 

# People getting ready at the Chinese Village.

Masa ni kami ndak join duduk sudah. And we also skipped 3 other shows. We decided to roam freely. Ikut jaklah map di board that can be found easily in this village.

# Mula mau masuk sini tapi bila tau kena bayar different fee, semua laju jak menggeleng. Dasar cheapskate kan!

We managed to explored few places before we headed to the Wax Museum. Sebenarnya wax museum ni is the first place right after entering CCV; but we purposely skipped the museum & decided to enter before we exited the village. Kiranya, ni last place dalam CCV yang kami masuk. 

The dioramas in the museum gave us some sense of Cambodia history. Its exhibition comprises well known personalities of Cambodia including the King & Queen, monks & tv celebrities. Sayang jugalah sebab aku tengok wax museum ni macam a bit dated. 

# The King Norodom & Queen Sisowat. Gigih baca plaque kan.

# Famous classical singer in 1865. Fuh ini memang legend!

# Setup of an ideal & wealthy Khmer family. Kategori orang ado²lah dulu ni.

# One of Cambodian famous actress in the 90's. Don't ask me her name. Ngeks.

Ada banyak lagi wax statues dalam ni. Ada jak aku ambil gambar semua tapi macam kureng sesuailah untuk publish sini. Suddenly mode ustajah kan. Kategori 18SX sangat gitu. Yang tu mostly tunjuk lifestyles orang dulu kala; zaman Angkorian as the plaque said. Zaman yang masih pakai cawat dari kulit kayu & all. Jadi biarlah simpan dalam album sendiri. Tayang sikit sudahlah kan.

# Apsara Sampeah
Khmer style to bid farewell & thanks guest who watched the shows. 

With that last wax statue, maka kami pun angkat kaki keluar dari village ni. Supposedly semua habis by 6pm tapi sebab banyak shows kami skipped so memang awal kami keluar. Supir Ms C & Ms P sedia menanti...tapi si Zack hilang dari pandangan. Pandai kan dia balik rumah, rest & mandi manda dulu katanya. Kami yang berbedak debu ni? Nasiblah ndak lama pun tunggu dia; in less than 10 minutes he came. Ramos tetap maintain gitu.

Aku terus suruh dia hantar kami balik hostel dulu. Sebab aku sudah start rimas dengan diri sendiri. Ketibas to the max! Lagipun belum solat. Betterlah selesaikan yang wajib dulu baru fikir next activity. On the way tu sempat layan matahari mau terbenam. Memang lawa betul bentuk matahari di bumi Cambodia ni. Bulat; perfect. Tapi as usual, aku memang failed total bab ambil gambar matahari bulat ni. Mesti warna lari! Ndak apalah, simpan dalam kepala sendiri jak imej nan perfect tu.

# My first sunset in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Alhamdulillah sempat sampai hostel before Maghrib. Lega oii lepas bersiram. Barulah otak boleh berfikir dengan jelas & waras. So what is next? Dinner lah kan. Kehendak perut harus dilayan! Bab night market boleh put on hold sebab mood pasti ke laut kalau perut meragam. 

Terus imagine rupa lembu naik bukit! Selama ni baca di blog orang jak; kali ni giliran lidah sendiri merasa. For that, kita sambung next entry. Tabahlah kan, baru Day 1 pun sudah 2 entries. Ntah bila lah habis cerita Cambodia ni. 

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