Cambodia - Phnom Penh

I was only in Phnom Penh for two days, but they were chock full of activities. The first day I wandered around the city, stopping in a few museums along the way. They were mostly full of historical artifacts from the Angkor people. I also went to the royal palace. Compared with the Grand Palace of Bangkok, it was quite small. But the craftsmanship was just as beautiful and it was far less crowded. You could explore the details of the palace without being swarmed with hordes of tourists, which made for a more enjoyable experience. But, all the cultural stuff aside, there were two reasons I stopped in Phnom Penh: the firing ranges and the killing fields.

Rumors swirl along backpacker trails about lesser-publicized activities. The mother of which lies in Phnom Penh. According to a rumor there is a firing range outside the city where one can blow up a cow with a rocket launcher. I had to at least check out the validity of this claim.

I hired a tuk-tuk driver to drive me around for the day. Our first stop was the firing range. Several ex-military operatives run the operation in a little concrete building on the outskirts of town. They literally handed me a menu of guns and respective prices. Naturally the one to catch my eye was the RPG. I had to do it. But, I didn’t want to start with something so powerful. I figure: start small and work your way up. I started with a 9mm then try an AK-47.

By now I had to ask: Can you really blow up a cow? Yes. But it costs $150. And they were out of cows. I was offered a goat.

Whether or not I would have blown up a cow, I didn’t have enough money on me. But, what’s the point in shooting something that powerful without a target? A propane tank was far cheaper. And I did have enough money for that. So I bought it.

The handgun was fine. Been there done that. The AK was very cool. Especially when holding down the trigger. But the RPG is almost beyond description.

We had to go another hour further into the countryside to even shoot it. Nestled in between a secluded series of hills is another military firing range. There I met two Aussies who were doing exactly what I was. They had bought a set of hand grenade and RPG rounds. So we all took turns having fun with each explosion. Because of the topography, there was a tremendous echo every time any round went off. It was awesome.

When it was my turn to fire the RPG, I could not have been more excited. I’d never blown anything up. And it would stay that way. I missed the propane tank. In hindsight it was probably a good thing. The soldiers later told us a story of how someone had blown up the tank and the shrapnel nearly took out some of the onlookers. I’m also glad they didn’t tell us that beforehand.

Even though I missed, the soldiers brought out a belt fed machine gun. This time we made sure to take out the propane tank. Though it didn’t create an explosion like the RPG would have, it was still fun as hell.

By the time we got to the Killing Fields it was late afternoon. I realized there were two reasons the driver suggested doing the firing range first. Most tourists want to do either the grenade or RPG, which takes several hours. Seeing the Killing Fields puts you in no mood to handle any type of weapon. The whole experience was very eye opening.

Cambodia was taken over by the ruthless dictator Pol Pot for the five years following the end of the Vietnam War (or war of American aggression, depending on your point of view). Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge closed all borders and put everyone into work camps. Those who didn’t follow orders or were deemed unfit, were taken to separate camps and killed. It’s an almost exact copy of Nazi concentration camps.

It was not a fun experience visiting this place, but I feel it’s a necessary one. If for no reason other than an awareness of the evil in this world.