March 17, 2016 – Sihanoukville, Cambodia

We weren’t sure what we would encounter at this stop, especially wondering how much of the country has recovered from what has been characterized as the genocidal brutality of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge back in the late 1970’s.

Sihanoukville is a port city on the Gulf of Thailand in southern Cambodia. The city was built in the early 1960s as the first deep-water port for the country. The area boomed for a while, but when the reigning monarch of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk, was deposed in 1970, the country fell into chaos. The Khmer Rouge seized control of the country and installed a regime led by Pol Pot. Reports that we’ve read claim that the Khmer Rouge exterminated somewhere between one and a half to three million of Cambodia’s most accomplished citizens, and many others died of starvation, disease or overwork. Exact numbers are apparently hard to determine. According to what we’ve read, the Khmer Rouge was attempting to return Cambodia to an agrarian socialist society. Apparently at least 20,000 mass graves, known as the “Killing Fields,” have been uncovered. Vietnam launched a full-scale invasion of Cambodia in 1978 and subsequently removed the Khmer Rouge government from power. However, military and political skirmishes between the Khmer Rouge and Vietnam continued until a peace treaty was signed in 1991.

Enough of the history lesson. For our visit today we signed up for a ship’s excursion titled, “Panoramic Sihanoukville.” Others on the ship elected to travel all the way to the nation’s capital in Phnom Penh (a 12-hour excursion) or to the Killing Fields themselves (also a 12-hour trip). Both these excursions involved eight hours riding in buses. We were told that the Killing Fields tour and visit to the Genocide Museum would “contain graphic content that may be unsettling to some guests.” We didn’t think we were ready for that.

There were four busloads of Serenity passengers who signed up for the Panoramic tour. We waited in the Stardust Club to be called, then went down to the buses. We were lucky to get on the bus that we did. It was an old coach, but at least the air conditioner worked. Others were not so lucky.

Our first stop was at Wat Krom, a Buddhist temple as well as living and school facilities for monks, including residence rooms and a dining hall, along with stupas and statues. Some 90% of Cambodian people are Buddhist. This small complex was built in 1963 but suffered the same fate as many other religious sites during the regime of Pol Pot, with the monks being required to leave while the temples and other structures were destroyed. The local people are working slowly to rebuild. Today, new young monks have returned, and daily rituals have been re-instated. There were many interesting statues and a graveyard with small stupa towers. We couldn’t go in some of the buildings, because monks were eating meals or doing other of their daily rituals.

Leaving Wat Krom, the tour took us to Kamping Chas village for a short visit to a farmer’s house. This was a very basic structure – small and Spartan – in an area that looks like at one time it was lived in by fairly well-to-do people. There were walls and fences separating what appeared to be dozens of separate home plots that were now totally overgrown with weeds; we assumed that these might have been remnants of Khmer Rouge actions in the 1970s, and the homeowners never returned. We have no way to know that, but we did see these same situations in the Sihanoukville area where we traveled.

Next stop was at the Kamping Chas Primary School to observe the children’s school activities. This was actually a fairly nice facility, with five large classrooms. Our local guide, Paum, told us that the children go to school four hours per day, either in the morning or in the afternoon. There was a sign on the school grounds that read, “Donated by American Navy.” We didn’t know to what that sign was referring – the sliding board, the fence, or the entire classroom building. In fact, we didn’t know why the American Navy would have donated anything to this single school. Anyway, the kids all wore clean uniforms and were very cute, with big smiles. In the school’s office we saw about 15 fairly large boxes that had apparently just been delivered to the school. We were told that the donations came from Crystal Serenity. We hadn’t heard anything about this on the ship, but it certainly was nice to know that Crystal had donated this much to the school.

The driver then took us to the P’sa Leu Market in the center of Sihanoukville, and we were given 30 minutes to explore the displays of fish, poultry, and fruits at the market. Paum told us there are 1,500 stalls set up in a 2½ acre space. All four of our tour buses pulled into the parking lot at the same. We decided to stay on the air conditioned bus instead. Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of local fresh food markets around the world, they’re all very similar, and we never buy anything.

Finally, we came to the Sokha Beach Resort, for a scheduled 1 hour and 20 minute visit. The hotel had some tents set up with refreshments (one drink per person – soda, water, or juice). We ordered a soda and sat down by the water to relax. Others took off their shoes, rolled up their pants legs and waded into the water. Even more people walked to the hotel building to use the restrooms. After about 30 minutes of watching the waves at the beach, we walked up to the hotel. Unfortunately, the power went off right then, and there were no lights or windows in the restrooms. So we walked back up the beach and waited for the buses to pick us up again.

This country survived a horrific experience in the recent past, and came out of it with a lot of scars. Once outside of the center city of Sihanoukville, we saw a lot of poverty. Of all the up-and-coming Asian countries, this one stands out as still facing economic difficulties. We can’t solve that, but at least we did visit and we wish them well.

To top off this day in Cambodia, a local cultural dance team came on board Serenity and demonstrated some of their traditional dances. Most impressive were their costumes and the way they could bend their wrists seemingly in an impossible pose. We didn't take any photos tonight at the show; you will just have to believe us.

A new group of enrichment speakers boarded the ship, and we attended several of their lectures. First was General Hugh Shelton, who has a very broad background in the U.S. Army and was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1997 retiring in 2001. Also very interesting was Ron Marks, a former spy for the CIA. Each of the speakers holds three or four sessions while they’re on the ship, usually on sea days. Jon Courtenay made a second appearance in the Galaxy Lounge, with a new show – more piano & more comedy. Opening his show was a performance by Crystal’s phenomenal dance duo, Curtis & Beverly. They are known for their incredible lifts.

Now we have one day at sea, before arriving in Vietnam on Saturday, March 19.

Jim and Ginny