The Temples of Angkor- Siem Riep, Cambodia

The majestic Angkor Wat, the largest religious structure in the world.

Carvings inside the temple.
Angkor Wat.
The many faces of Angkor Thom.

Cycling through the temples in the ancient city of Angkor Thom.
A country proud of their beer.
A tree swallows the temple.

Cambodia's Killing Fields

In a period of 3 years, 8 months and 20 days, The Khmer Rouge killed 2 million people. Officially, their offenses ranged from knowing a second language to wearing glasses. Many were women and children who were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. 17,000 of the executed passed through the S21 torture center (a renovated school) before being shipped to the Killing Fields 10 miles outside of Phnom Penh. Most of their photographs were taken as they arrived at S21 and those photograhs are on exhibit there today.

The official Khmer Rouge policy stated that, "it is better to arrest 10 people by mistake than to let one guilty person go free."
This stupa stands in center of the Killing Fields today. It houses many of the remains of people who were buried in the numerous mass graves that surround it. To save bullets, most were killed with blunt instruments or knives. As you walk the grounds, there are new bones and more clothing unearthed by weathering every day.
Inside the stupa, skulls and bones are arranged so that the deceased spirit can come and go as it pleases, an important symbol given that none of these people was given a proper Cambodian burial.

(Note: When I originally posted this blog entry, I had included a close-up photograph of some of the skulls that are housed in the stupa pictured above. When I saw the final posting, it was so dark and disturbing that Denise and I decided that keeping it on our site did not sufficiently honor the dignity of those who had died during the violent and brutal years that the Khmer Rouge dominated Cambodia. We even considered erasing the entire posting altogether but decided that this is still a story that needs to be shared with others. so we just erased that one photograph).

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Phnom Penh was a difficult city to navigate at first. There are a lot of shrewd business people who are tough negotiators, along with the slew of street beggars, most of them children, and some landmine victims. While it is difficult to witness, it is there and it is real. Once the "Pearl of Asia," PP has re-emerged from depths of war by the current influx of young people back to the city. Now, it is a up-and-coming place, full of fantastic restaurants, nightclubs, and beautiful temples. There is a lot of building happening and more and more tourism to support its growth.

The Vietnam War

As an American, I carried a fair share of collective guilt with me into Vietnam. I was curious to see if and how we might be judged by the locals. When we met new people and were asked where we lived, I expected our answer to produce at least a glance of dissapproval or a glimmer of a grudge. It never came.

They call it the "American War". When you think about that for a moment, it makes sense. Otherwise, wouldn't all of their wars be called "Vietnam Wars"? Imagine if we called all of our wars the "American War"? Regardless of the logic, it still sounds strange when you hear it called by that name.

Throughout our travels, we were exposed to viewpoints and stories that challenged our prior understanding of American involvement in the Vietnam War. Through these interactions, two things immediately became apparent: first, people were unafraid to openly share their memories and thoughts about the war; second, there are no hard-feelings harbored against America or Americans. We never once felt that we were unwelcome in this beautiful country.

To supplement the viewpoints provided by local guides and museum exhibits, I decided to immerse myself in two other sources: Bob McNamara's book, In Restrospect, and Thich Nhat Hanh's book of stories titled The Stone Boy. McNamara was the Secretary of Defense from Jan. 1961 until 1968. In this role, he was responsible for many of the decisions that led to the US military build-up. Thich Nhat Hanh is a Zen master from Vietnam who is author of more than 20 books. He was the Chair of the Buddhist Peace Delegation to the Paris Peace Talks that brought an end to the Vietnam War. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King Jr.

These two voices, combined with our conversations with locals, have led me to a much better understanding of how we got into the war as well as how our military involvement escalated. Moreover, they have given me a far greater sense of compassion for the patriotic Americans who deepened our involvement. I have no doubt that many of their most important decisions were wrong, but in most cases our leaders were truly trying to do the right thing for the security of our country. Bob MacNamara, in his memoir about the war, agrees that most of the decisions leading to the escalation were in fact mistakes. In writing about them, he hoped that his mistakes could become lessons that would keep future generations of Americans from becoming involved in non-American civil wars overseas.

In their zeal to end communist expansion in Asia (China, the Soviet Union, Laos, South Vietnam, North Korea and many others had already fallen - as had much of Europe) the policy makers in Washington DC:

• never really took the time to understand the geography of S.E. Asia;
• underestimated the power of nationalism (in the guise of Communism) to motivate a people to die for their beliefs and values; and,
• failed to recognize the limitatons of modern, high-tech weaponry and doctrine when facing unconventional guerilla forces.

Moreover, when the executive branch asked for blanket authority to wage war (through the Tonkin Gulf Resolution), Congress did not ask enough questions before granting unlimited authority to the President. Finally, the Executive Branch was secretive and did everything to keep the American Public from truly understanding what they were getting into and what was really happening on the ground.

Sound Familiar?

Again, I do believe that good people made bad decisions. But as MacNamara points out, "wars generate their own momentum and follow the law of unanticipated consequences". In their efforts to protect our security and prevent the spread of totalitarian Communism, that generation of leaders failed to recognize that their strategy was losing and make the difficult decision to pull out American forces. Instead, they kept sending in more troops and dropped bigger and bigger bombs. They held on to a losing war because nobody wanted to admit that they had already lost. In doing so, they made losing far more costly than was necessary.

Wars do generate their own momentum. It would have saved an enormous number of lives - both American and Vietnamese - as well as substantial national wealth had one of those leaders made the decision to pull out earlier. Did we learn that lesson?

In the collected stories that Thich Nhat Hahn presents in the Stone Boy, he provides the reader with first-hand accounts of the pain and suffering that resulted from the war. He is careful not to place blame on any person, group, or state. Rather, he uses stories to present real-life experiences of children losing and searching for their parents, boat-people escaping persecution by heading into the sea on flimsey boats and hoping to survive pirates, storms and starvation. He introduces us to children who have been blinded by chemicals dropped from the skies to clear the underbrush and uncover Viet Cong. Through all of this, he shows us the true consequences of war on innocent people who just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time . . . victims of the momentum that war innevitably seems to create.

In his book, McNamara recollects one particular conversation that took place shortly after JFK won the presidential election. JFK and his transition team met with President Eisenhower (who, as Commander in Chief had managed US soldiers in Vietnam until that point). McNamara said that Eisenhower was clearly relieved to be able to pass responsibility for a losing quagmire to someone else, particularly a young and charismatic man from the other party. I can easily imagine a similar conversation taking place in the oval office in the next couple of months. Let's hope that our new President can learn from the lessons of Vietnam and get us out of our nation's current quagmire as early as is safely possible.

Exploring the Mekong Delta by Bicycle and Boat

It definitely was not the cheapest option for a 3-day tour of the Mekong Delta, but we are so glad that we decided to fork out some extra money to see this distinctive piece of Vietnam the way that we did. Below is a photo of the crew of 8 we cycled with.
A villager makes real "snake wine" by capturing poisonous snakes, putting them in a jar with rice water and letting it ferment for 6 months buried underground. The taste was far from appetizing. Always a sucker for peer-pressure, Ryan drank 3 glasses.
"Floating market"


Children who reside in a village where they hand-make bricks.
Our guide, Juan Carlos.
School girls who joined our crew cycling one afternoon.
Fresh fruit at a local home. A nice break from the ride.
All fishing boats in the Mekong have eyes. The locals say they eyes protect them and also help lead them to fish.

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

A quote from U.S. professors regarding the war in Vietnam. On the wall of the War Remnants Museum in Saigon.
The "Re-unification Palace," where the North Vietnamese rammed a tank into the front of the building to overtake South Vietnam on April 30th, 1975.
A statue of Ho Chi Minh inside the Re-unification Palace.
If you want to cross the street, good luck!
Q: Is it a playmate for the children or the main course for dinner?
A: Both!

Vietnamese Cooking Class

Hoi An Tailors

Here is Bu putting the final touches on one of Denise's coats. Denise's Loot:

• 1 silk traditional outfit with hand-painted design
• 1 pair of leather boots, hand-made to spec
• 1 pair of jeans
• 1 winter coat
• 1 autumn coat
• 1 cocktail dress
  

Ryan's Loot:

• 1 wool suit
• 5 shirts
• 2 slacks
  

All custom made. Grand total = $390.00

Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An is a colorful old French-colonial town with the most amazing food we have had yet. If you need a suit or dress tailored, this is the place to do it!

We've all been wondering where Nate has been lurking recently. Now we know.