Never assume...

Another post about travel. And there will be some harsh language and possibly disturbing themes involved. Consider yourself warned.

Just recently I watched some travel show, the episode was about Cambodia. And pretty much instantly I wanted to go there, again. We were there, my wife and me, just over ten years ago (damn how time flies these days...)  I've posted about this before, but there's just something different there, something that keeps tempting me to go back, unlike Thailand and Vietnam (which do have a kind of draw too, but just lesser one). I haven't visited Laos (mostly due to time constraints on previous visit) so I really can't speak of it.

When I entered the country, I already knew of the recent history of the place, Khmer Rouge and all. But when you read something like that from the books, it doesn't really click, not like when you see it yourself.

I wonder if that is true for everything (news) we see in TV these days... But I digress.

First stop was (coming from Thailand, so this was quite natural) Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. We took only one day to see it. Looking back, it is a shame, but back then we had a (relatively strict) schedule. But still, of course we were there on sunrise, as well as apparently hundreds of other people.

And still, the place is amazing. Pictures will never do it any justice, you just have to see it yourself.

We ran through all these absolutely gorgeous places, just barely appreciating beauty and all the work that was spent creating the place, the history (well, what we know of it) and so on. 

...Then, moving on. Phnom Penh, the capital.

Like I just said, when we're just reading about it or seeing pictures, we don't really understand. I knew of the places, had seen pictures of this before, but it never clicked the same. But actually visiting Tuol Sleng and Killing Fields is so much more real than anything pictures can show ... Shit. It still brings me down when I see the pictures I took and remember the place.

All the misery. All the horror. All the fucking waste of human life caused by fucking ideology, by a dream of agrarian society where there is no place for intellectuals.When you could actually touch the remains of the victims (but please don't, like the sign says; I of course didn't), you understand - and it hurts, it really hurts. Photos or videos can never express it. You just have to be there. But still, I highly encourage you to do visit these places. Do experience the human misery. In the end, it is enlightening. I am not saying it has to be this one, exactly, as there are other similar sites (like WWII concentration camps in Europe.)

Despite this, Phnom Penh was nice place. We had our adventures there (I think I did mention the late night taxi ride at some earlier post), we took a river boat for a cruise (got a bit more than we paid for, thanks to our (I think French) co-passengers who apparently made a sweet deal with out captain) and all that.

And moved on again, to village of Kep. It was not really planned, but passing through the village some local tourism promoters entered the bus and asked us (the general us, all the tourists there) to visit the village. I think we were the only ones that actually took the offer - after full two seconds of consideration. And I don't regret it for a second.

Small, very quiet, mainly fishing village by the sea. There really weren't that many foreign people around, maybe few dozen, max. Recently I took a look at the current map and I think it has grown a bit since - but I could still find the places we visited. I'd really love to visit the place again. As well as all the other places there. I don't know why, but Cambodia really felt different than Thailand or Vietnam (I'm repeating myself here, sorry.)  Too bad I never managed to find the places that sell fried insects (ants and spiders, I think) - I would have loved to try them. Ah well, next time.

And no, we didn't visit (in)famous Thunder Ranch. There's just something about the whole concept that seriously rubs me the wrong way...

But finally to the actual topic of the post. While we were at Kep, there really weren't that many tourists around, maybe few dozen max at the entire area. Nevertheless, one day we were there, having breakfast, just the two of us, and there was maybe one other person in the hotel restaurant aside of us. We were discussing our plans for the day and what not (in Finnish, obviously), and this other fellow, finished with his breakfast, gets up and walks past us - greeting us in Finnish. This took us by surprise, but since we hadn't been discussing anything insulting or volatile, it was no problem. But this really carved in proverbial stone a wisdom I had heard at some point earlier:

Never, ever assume that people around you can't understand what you are saying.

No matter where you are in the world, no matter how obscure language you are using, these days it is highly likely that someone around you will understand what you are saying. So keep your shit to yourself. Just behave like a civilized human being, for fucks' sake.

I did warn you about rough language at the top, didn't I?