Travel continues to infiltrate my blog about Cambodia

Many Cambodians are. . .

. . . nothing if not patient. . .

. . . and resourceful.

Written years ago, the focus of my blog as expressed at the top continues to be true: “Reflections on Living in Another World.”

Although you may have noted a sprinkling of posts that are more about my travel experiences than my perspectives on Cambodia, especially Phnom Penh, rest assured that I don’t see this blog as merely or mostly a travel blog.

Yet it occurs to me as I write that maybe you’d prefer more travel and less of my observations about the country where I have made my home since the end of 2013.  If so, you’ll be particularly pleased over the next several weeks.  Indeed, I may find it hard to avoid commenting on aspects of the wider world as I spend increasing amounts of time outside Cambodia in satisfaction of the travel bug that afflicts me.  Nor will I abandon trips worth describing when I make my way around the country.

That said, I am unable to

Visit to Khmer Rouge Tribunal sparks old memories

Convicted of crimes against humanity, Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, testifies at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in June. Source: ECCC/Phnom Penh Post.

The idea was not so much to report on testimony given at what is officially named the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts in Cambodia, or ECCC, a U.N. funded organization that otherwise is known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.  It was a sense of obligation.

The courts’ multi-million-dollar mission since its creation in 2006 has been to prosecute ultimately just a few of the individuals involved in the genocide of more than 1.7 million Cambodians in the 1970s.  That the government is filled with former adherents of the Khmer Rouge has resulted in years of negotiations, stalling and the resulting freedom from trial of thousands and thousands of killers.

Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has held onto his position for 31 years, acknowledges that he once was a relatively senior member of the Khmer Rouge before he changed sides.

Having already borne witness to the atrocities committed by Cambodians against Cambodians at a high school that became the notorious S-21 prison — referred to as Toul Sleng — and the killing fields, I decided it was high time that I observe the trial taking place 16 kilometers (10 miles) from downtown Phnom Penh.  My goal was less to recount testimony but more to share with readers how it felt to get and be there.

It was an unexpectedly chilling experience because

Risk, even unintended, can result in its own rewards

If you like my blog, it’s easy to sign up on this page.

Part 3: The final installment of my hiking adventure

By the time I had walked, skidded and hiked for a good hour, I decided that I had long ago reached the point of no return and so struggled toward the periodically faint signs of vehicular movement.

Eventually sensing incrementally louder engine noise and spotting what may have been a path, which disconcertingly vanished after a short time, I blazed my own trail, plunged through a thicket and stumbled