11th Feb to 16th Feb
We arrived in Phnom Penh after a 7 hour bus trip, for which we paid $16.00. The trip was interesting with lots to see of the passing countryside, the roads were passable, and are being upgraded along a very large stretch between the two cities.
Once again we did not pre-book accommodation, and relied on our tuk-tuk driver to point us in the right direction. While most get a kickback if they deliver new guests, this did not appear to be the case in this instance.
It works like this: you negotiate a price to be taken in to Phnom Penh, to your choice of hotel, (or their suggestion if you don’t have a preference) they wait while you go in to get prices and check out the room. If you are happy you pay the driver and check into the hotel. If you are not happy, you get back in the tuk-tuk and go to the next place. They are happy to traipse around until you have found one to your satisfaction. Just tell them up front what you want to pay and what area and sit back and enjoy the ride.
We were taken to the Silver River Hotel, a recently refurbished hotel very close to most major attractions and eating places. The rooms were spacious and clean, the service was great, and breakfast was more than adequate. This was the most expensive hotel we had for the whole trip, and cost us a whopping $30.00 a night. Talk about being extravagant!
The afternoon was spent settling in as this would be our base for the next 5 nights. While strolling around looking at the sights we booked a tour for the next day out to the “Killing Fields” Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre and S21.
Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, otherwise known as S21, (security prison no 21) started life as a primary school. During Pol Pot’s reign of terror this became a primitive prison and interrogation centre.
The rules were extraordinary: for example rule no 6: “While getting electrification or lashes you must not cry out” or rule 10: “If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharges.”
Between 1975 and 1979 approximately twenty thousand victims, mostly teachers, doctors, students, monks and other intellectuals were imprisoned, subjected to horrific tortures and then killed or taken to extermination camps outside the city.
Known as “The Killing Fields” it is hard to imagine the horrors that took place in this now peaceful backwater, surrounded by rice paddies and bush. It is indeed a very sobering experience to wander through the park and read the signs that mark the mass graves, mark where the various buildings (like the killing tools shed) stood, and the tree where the babies were bashed to death, and so many other unimaginable horrors that words cannot describe.
One cannot say that the visit was enjoyable, but it is part of history, and an integral part of who Cambodians are today, for there is no-one who was not touched in some way by the atrocities of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
Something a little less confronting for the evening was called for, so a leisurely stroll along the river followed by dinner at a local eatery was just the ticket. We just loved Cambodian food. Not spicy, but very tasty, my favourite was Chicken Amok. I had it on three occasions in three different restaurants, and they were all different but all delicious. There are also numerous markets, the two main ones being Central Market and the Russian Market. We visited Central several times and spent many hours just browsing for gifts, and marveling at all the bling.
The next day we went off to see the Royal Palace but it was closed due to visiting dignitaries so strolled to the Independence Monument instead. Built in 1962 to celebrate independence from the French in 1958, it also commemorates Cambodia’s war victims.
In the afternoon we took a tuk-tuk to Wat Phnom Hill. The first pagoda was built here in 1373, and was rebuilt and refurbishes several times in the following decades. The last time was in 1939. There are hawkers everywhere here, and children with caged birds. The idea is that you pay to let them go free, the birds that is not the kids, but they say that the birds are trained to come back to their cage. Oh well, guess they are just trying to make a living.
THE ROYAL PALACE
From there our driver took us to the Royal Palace. The Palace was built twice, the first in 1434, when it was known as “Preah Borom Reach Vang Chatomuk Mongkul”. It was so named because it sits near the confluence of four rivers: the upper Mekong, the Tonle Sap, the lower Mekong and the Tonle Bassac. The royal family then moved to Oudong.
The present day palace was built in 1866, constructed in wood; their original forms were preserved when they were reconstructed in concrete later.
Most of the buildings contain magnificent sculptures, and there are some very well preserved murals adorning the outer wall. The buildings are characterised by many tiered roofs and topped by towers which symbolise prosperity. The gardens were also very impressive.
In the same compound stands the Silver Pagoda, named for its floor: it is completely covered in silver tiles - 5329 to be exact. It is also known as Preah Vihear Keo Morokot (temple of the Emerald Buddha) after the famous Emerald Buddha made from baccarat crystal. There is also a solid gold life-size Buddha decorated with more than two thousand diamonds and precious stones. Really a sight to be marveled at.
The National Museum was kept for our last day followed by a leisurely stroll around and dinner at a riverside restaurant. Opened in 1920, the museum houses an impressive array of ancient relics, art and sculpture dating from the sixth century to the present day. We saw some amazing, weird, ancient, priceless, and awesome stuff there. The morning just flew by as we wandered around.
The gardens here are lovely, with some unusual sculptures. Here is an elephant head, with the body shaped out of a bush.
GEE I'M BRAVE!
Unfortunately you are not permitted to take photos, either in the museum or most of the temples, so if you want to see some of these things you will just have to make a trip to Cambodia.
The traffic here is amazing, going every which way, no traffic lights or rules that we could see, but it all just seemed to flow. They are obviously not too fussed about how many in a vehicle!
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