Where are Ron and Ellen?

Fall 2003


Cambodia: The Killing Fields

Preface from Ellen in Afton, Virginia, Wednesday 14 January 2004

Dear family and friends,

The overenthusiastic Buick! Many of you have asked for an update, so here is the current status. Last Thursday a friend was going to follow me into Charlottesville to drop the car at the shop, but when I went out to try and start it, but it was dead as a doornail. We tried to jump-start it, and just couldn't get more than a little bit of groan out of it; of course it was absolutely frigid that morning, well below freezing, so that didn't help. I went to work in my car for part of the day and on the way home, I stopped and talked to the owner of the local garage just up the road. He doesn't want to take his large truck (it's the kind that winches the ailing car up onto a flatbed area) over our wooden bridge, and the creek is so high he is reluctant to use the ford below the bridge, but he said he'd send folks the next day to try and start it, and would have them bring a battery along so that if they couldn't start it, they could swap out the battery to get it started that way to drive it up to the station. The next day it snowed most of the day, and although there was in the end only about 3 inches (7.5 cm) accumulation, the roads were slippery, so they did not come. They did come on Monday afternoon, luckily a much warmer day, and were able to get the car jump-started and take it to the shop. The garage owner called me a little later saying the battery was so dead that they would not be able to recharge it, so Tuesday I took it to a battery dealer in Charlottesville where I assumed Ron had bought it, since we usually get batteries there for cars, tractor, etc. The battery had not come from them, but they thought they could possibly recharge it with their more specialized equipment. I am to go by tomorrow and either pick it up or buy a new battery. Of course, the garage still has to fix the ignition, but the battery will eventually be a necessary item! The battery, by the way, is a very strange one, with the contacts on the side rather than the top, and is under a sort of metal cross bar, all of which made it very difficult to get to.

Ron leaves Kuala Lumpur on Friday afternoon at 3:15 pm Malaysia time (which is 2:15 am Friday morning my time) and finally arrives in Richmond, Virginia, a 90 minute drive from our house, at 11:40 am on Saturday morning 17 January. As you can imagine, I will be delighted to see him and have him at home again.

Thanks to all of you for following along on our travels, sometimes adventurous, sometimes difficult, sometimes lazy, but always (to Ron and to me, anyway) interesting. We feel blessed to have so many people around the world, family and friends alike, who share parts of their lives with us, and with whom we can share our journeys.

Love to all,

Ellen


Ron's travel report: The Killing Fields - and heading home. 14 January 2004

Ellen - I wrote this once and "sent" it but then found that my mail server had disconnected me so it was lost and would not let me go back. Damn....

It is late and I am tired, but I will try to create it again.

Dear Ellen,

I remembered looking at the piles of shoes during our visit to Auschwitz, outside of Krakow, Poland, as I was standing in front of the monument at the Killing Fields here in Cambodia, looking at the several levels of shelves of human skulls.

It was depressing to see all the holes where they dug up the remains of hundreds of people.

One of the last trips I made from Phnom Penh was to make the trip to the Killing Fields on the back of a motor scooter over the dry and dusty dirt roads. After getting back to town I visited the wash room at the restaurant, and after splashing some water on my face I looked into the mirror and scared myself. What I thought was blood all over my face was the result of adding a bit of water to the build-up of red dirt and dust that had accumulated on my hands and face.

After spending a few pleasant days in Kompong Cham seeing what a smaller Cambodian town was like, I returned to Phnom Penh and then went back to Sihanoukville for a few more lazy days on the beach before returning home to a "cooler" climate and the exciting snow forecast for a couple of days after my arrival in Virginia.

I have now returned to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, visiting with our friends. In about 36 hours I will leave for home.

If I had another month I would love to visit another country, but I must admit that it also feels good to be going home. I am looking forward to seeing and talking to you in person. And thank you for arranging the snow for my return!

See you very soon.

Love,

Ron



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Last updated: 14 January 2004