Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We arrived in Phnom Penh yesterday and immediately saw the resemblance to Bangkok yet with a lot more Asians and a lot less westerners. It was very sad to see all of the sweat shops and factories that lined the main road as we drove into the chaotic city. Also I know we like to take the mic of out Asians in mouth masks but it is very much needed here and I've even contemplated at one point buying one. So much sand flying around and pollution it's unreal!
We didn't do much yesterday as we were tired from travelling. We check into the smallest dorm room ever with absolutely no day light (yay) and went to see the Royal Palace which was unfortunately closed. We did get to marvel at it from outside which was pretty impressive. We strolled down the river which is massively wide as it marks the joining of all three of the rivera in Cambodia and found somewhere to eat. We met the cutest Cambodian girls who sold us some bracelets and played games with and then we just got a tuktuk back as we had a lot planned for today.
We woke up early and Mr Lyn our taxi driver from yesterday was waiting eagerly at 8am to take us round the capital for the day. Our first stop was to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek which was about 15km out of the city. After a crazy and sandy drive there we paid $6 and were given a head set and leaflet for our way round. All of the buildings that were originally used during the communism reign were destroyed through anger once the Khmer Rouge lost power yet they had stations where they would have been. At each station there was a signpost with a number for you to listen to on your head set and it brought the whole killing fields to life. It was so heartbreaking and terrible what happened here and the fact it was so recent in history made it more heart wrenching.
We were directed past mass graves, trees that were used to smash babies against and were even shown the tools used and the bones and teeth left over. There was a beautiful lake you could sit around which was so peaceful yet you soon found out it homed hundreds of innocent Cambodians bodies. The hardest part was listening to the witness accounts on the head phones from survivors that are still alive today. The part that shocked me was that Pol Pot the leader of the Khmer Rouge lived a nice life twenty years after his mass genocide even marrying twice and having grandchildren. It doesn't seem fair that someone who took the lives from over a quarter of their own population shouldn't be punished let alone get away with it all and live twelve years longer than the countries average age limit.
It's safe to say me and Franks didn't talk much this morning. It was all so shocking and emotional being able to see it all almost first hand. Secondly we went to S-21 which was originally a school in the centre of Phmon Penh yet turned into a torture prison by the communists during their terrible reign which lastest over three years. Here we saw the original photographs that were taken of each prisoner when they were first brought here and even some of the pictures of when they were finally killed. We were able to walk through the tiny dark wooden and brick made cells in the class room where the prisons were kept before being tortured to death or taken to the killing fields. Again we got to read survivors stories which were still so painful as although they made it, not all of their family would have and their pride which is their country was destroyed.
After our emotional morning our tuktuk driver dropped us off at a river side restaurant for something to eat. There was a rooftop seating area and they served the best vegetable red curry, perfect!
After food we went to Wat Phnom which is a hill top sacred temple in the centre of the city. This was beautiful and the centre of the temple was completely hand painted floor to ceiling. We had a stroll around and even saw some monkeys climbing through the trees! We also stopped off at the independent square which was a great site before heading home for a well needed nap.
We chilled out this evening as we've got a long journey tomorrow into Vietnam which I'm so excited for, although I have loved my time in Cambodia. We picked up some bus tickets for tomorrow and went to the local night market for dinner. This was pretty cool as all the street food stalls line a massive square and you eat in the middle on embellished carpets on the floor. The noodles were so tasty as well especially seeing as they weren't even a pound! A quick beer back at the hostel and I'm now in bed all packed for Ho Chi Minh City in the morning.
- comments