Phnom Penh Day 1

Bussed down from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh for 6 hours seeing many rice fields and also pigs being carried on the back of motor bikes. Upon arrival took the tuk tuk to our hotel the King Grand Boutique Hotel in Phnom Penh. The Driver was Lan and we asked him to take us around the following day. Wandered around a chaotic city with bikes, tuk tuks, 4wd and cars going in every direction, so I have put this down to training for Hanoi that is yet to come.

Checked out the places Darrin and Kate suggested starting with the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek.  There were over 17,000 people killed there over 4 years from 1975 by the Khmer Rouge.  There are another 164 sites through out Cambodia where an estimated 2.5 million people were killed (1 in 4 people). We spoke to Lan afterwards to obtain his view on the place.  

 

 

 Lan told us that his father was killed by the Khmer Rouge when he was seven years old and he lost 2 uncles on his father’s side and 2 on his mother’s side. Like most Cambodians he still cannot understand why Cambodians turned on Cambodians. He showed us an article in the day’s paper where people are still looking after 30 years to find out what happened to family members.  We spoke to another person later who lost nine family members who were killed by the Khmer Rouge.  Another person listening to this tale simply shrugged and said that every family lost someone.  It is very hard for us to comprehend such devastation.

Then we went to Tuol Sleng Museum or S21, which was a former high school that was turned into the secret police torture centre where up to 17,000 people were processed (tortured) and then sent onto the killing fields. Only 7 people survived their time there and only 2 remain alive today. The place still has the blood and equipment left in the torture rooms to remind people of the atrocities committed there. Strangely for the Khmer Rouge that wanted to go back to an agrarian society, they took a photograph of each person coming in and their height. The cell-blocks are full of photographs of people that passed through the facility, with haunted faces knowing this will be their last picture.

 

To rub salt further into their wounds their saviours from the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge were the Vietnamese, their enemy. It is unbelievable that the Australian government kept supporting the regime for 10 more years, even funding them, when they had killed a quarter of the population. Maybe if they had oil something would have been done earlier. They have now found oil on the border with Thailand so the fun will start again over ownership.

To change the mood Lan took us to Wat Phnom the founding place of Phnom Penh where Lady Penh found floating in a tree on the river four bronze Buddhas  and erected a shrine on a hill (phnom). This is where the name Phnom Penh comes from. Also saw the train station which has no trains and which is proudly funded by the Australian Government, but they will come. Lovely Art Deco building built by the French in their Colonial heyday.

We then had an enjoyable lunch with Lan talking about his life, family and the country. After lunch went to the Russian Markets, Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. So if you are looking for a Tuk Tuk driver in Phnom Penh look him up polanllsg@yahoo.com or +85512992019. They even have to sit a Tuk Tuk drivers’ test, I don’t understand why when there appears to be no road rules here!

Well Tim we solved a 3^rd world problem with a 1^st world solution by eating at Friends Restaurant.  This restaurant trains street kids in jobs in the hospitality industry to get them employed and off the street. The meal was the best we have had so far and well worth the visit. Best coffee has been the Tuk Tuk Café, although Opera Café has just opened by and Italian fellow and was OK.