Phnom Penh - Cambodia's frenetic Capital City

There are still reminders of the Khmer reign especially with the Tuol Sleng Museum and the Choeung Ek Killing Fields but the people are stoic about their past. They are looking forward rather than back although they still pay their respects for their many missing and dead.

I think that it pays to watch the movie The Killing Fields before visiting Phnom Pehn as it gives you a broader understanding of what happened to the country and its people. Some of the locations in the movie are still recognizable although for example like the American Embassy you are unable to visit purely as a sightseer.

The city takes its name from Wat Phnom a temple that was built on top of a man made hill and named after Grandma Penh, a wealthy widow. The temple is not outstanding but if you do decide to visit there are some gardens off to the side. Be warned that this place is a magnet for many beggars and you might find yourself literally bounding up the 50 odd steps found at the front to escape.

The National Museum is a pretty pink building with a peaceful atmosphere due the ponds found in its centre courtyard. It houses a large collection of Khmer art which if you are continuing onto the temples of Angkor may whet your appetite in the mean time.

Other places that are a must visit are the Royal Palace along with the Silver Pagoda and if it is outside the hot season the Tonle Sap lake. We skipped this as it was the dry season and the level of the lake was really low.

Strolling along the rivers edge where the Mekong and the Tonle Sap rivers meet is a great place to spend a leisurely break watching the kids playing, the traditional boats plying their trade and generally just watching everyday life go past on this mighty river. There are also many reminders of bygone days with the beautiful mansions left from these times found throughout the city.

Quick Tips:

There a two markets in the city, the older Russian Market and the so called Central or New Market locally known as Psah Thmei which is your typical market. We visited the New Market. The wet section offered plenty of fresh produce so hold your breath. The other sections offered souvenirs, CD’s, watches and various knockoffs of known brands of clothing but to nowhere near the scale as other Asian countries. Many of the items were really overpriced and the prices not negotiable down to a realistic level. We ended up buying a hammock as a little old lady picked my better half for a softie straight up, she latched on to him and followed him around for so long that eventually he gave in and yes, he bought the hammock. One problem though - we live in a unit and have no where to hang it!

You will encounter beggars all over Cambodia especially due to the large number of mines still found in the country. I don’t generally condone giving however when these people are have no social security system to fall back at least don’t ignore them. One little boy we encountered outside the Royal Palace had a specially adapted mini push wheel chair as he had no legs, I dare you to walk past and not let your heart melt even a little and give him something.

Best Way To Get Around:

Motos or motodups and the poor old pedal power cyclos are cheap and ubiquitous. Around town a moto should only cost . For longer journeys you need to hire a taxi or a car and driver can be hired at a reasonable price for a day or half day.

Traffic is chaotic like most Asian cities with cyclos, motos, bikes and cars all fighting for space. Coupled with a cacophony of horns it does not make for a peaceful interlude.

The city is really not that conducive to walking as the traffic is so chaotic and as it is so hot and dusty that it is altogether verging on the unpleasant.

Most hotels include a pick up from the airport in the tariff or for a small extra charge.

We stayed at the Malaysian owned four star Holiday Villa which has a French feel and is located near the Markets on Monivong Boulevard.

It was a really comfortable hotel aimed more at the business person and as such a little out of the main budget tourist areas but still a short moto ride down to the river. It had all the bells and whistles with porters, doormen, and quite flash considering the cost of $45 per night with breakfast.

The rooms are furnished with lovely silk coverings and are clean and comfortable. Although located on a busy road the road noise is not audible from the rooms. A buffet breakfast was included serving a huge choice of both Asian and Western choices.

After the first morning we quickly learnt that you don’t sit near the window. In no time flat we had a group of interested parties looking in, sellers, and beggars so many people in fact the staff had to go out and shoo them away and we decided to move to make life easier for all involved.

We did not have a bad meal while we were in Phnom Penh. There was a huge choice of restaurants and the prices were also very reasonable.

A couple of our favourite spots would definitely be the Foreign Correspondents Club which offers a sublimely cool hangout and great value eating. The main bar is at the front offering comfortable arm chairs is a great place to relax as it always seems to be buzzing. The light and airy eating area is at the rear. The food here was superb, a set price menu for $11 offering three courses with three or four choices per course, such as a soup, crostini or similar for entrée, and an Asian noodle dish, lamb or similar for a main course finished off with some fantastic homemade ice-cream. The service was stylishly smooth.

The Boddhi Tree Del Gusto is a real oasis opposite of all places the Tuol Sleng Museum. Offering a beautiful verdant courtyard filled with masses of plants. The menu including beautiful filled baguettes like roasted aubergine, goats cheese and mango chutney or yummy Stir-fries or Cambodian noodle dishes just to name a few. It is a marvelous place for a coffee and some down time. Just a tip - make sure you have lunch before you go in to the Museum as you won’t feel like having anything when you come out.

The other place we found was Pancho Villa, a little Mexican place down on the river decked out in the requisite sombreros and Mexican blankets. Run by an expat American we were dining there on the 5th of May, which incidentally is Mexican Independence Day and not only was the tequila flowing freely so were the reefers. The food came as an afterthought but it was typical Tex Mex even if the enchiladas were a little sparse on the fillings.

It goes without saying that the city is filled with bakeries serving sublime breads and baguettes.

Choeung Ek or the Killing Fields as they are also known are actually about 15kms out of town over partly gravel roads. The site contains a central memorial Buddhist Stupa divided into levels and holding hundreds and hundreds of skulls many still displaying the hole in the skull where they were clubbed to death in order to save bullets.

The Stupa has glass window panes but each of the shelves holding the skulls is left open so that the spirits can easily come and go according to local belief. There are then many large excavated holes where the mass graves were found. There are still pieces of bones and clothing half buried in the dirt.

Also erected are some palm thatched open sided huts where there are signs with the count of the number of victims that were found in each. In one alone there were 450 victims, it defies belief. The site now has a peaceful feeling however you can almost feel the souls of all the poor victims when you are visiting. Like the Tuol Sleng Museum the setting is all the more shocking in that it is so ordinary.

The only solace that I found in amongst all the horror was the local kids hanging around at the boundaries as they are not allowed to enter. Their happy smiles and pure delight when I pulled out a bag of gummy bears was pure joy.
In another spot a pair of young boys were waving shyly and it was only when I returned home and saw the picture enlarged I realized he was giving us a peace sign – makes you feel hopeful?

When you hire a car make sure that it has air-conditioning not the fan cooling our little number turned out to have. It is so hot that you will really appreciate it.

The Royal Palace is a must do to visit. The complex is surrounded by a high wall and has many elaborate gilt temples built in traditional Khmer architecture with many tiered roofs and topped by towers. One of the highlights include the Throne Room. This is topped by a tower featuring in miniature the four faces found at the Bayon from Angkor.

The Temple of the Emerald Buddha, or the Silver Pagoda as it is also known, houses a number of gold and jeweled Buddha statues. The most outstanding being the "Emerald Buddha" and a near-life-size Buddha that is encrusted over 9000 diamonds. The floor is covered with silver tiles hence the alternate name. There is also a life size statue of the King Sisowath mounted on his horse. Some of the galleries found in the complex are beautiful but only partly restored. They feature many scenes from Royal everyday life and legendary battles.

The whole complex is immaculate as you would expect and the gardens show a heavy French influenced and are perfectly groomed. You will need to cover up before entering out of respect to the King and Queen who still maintain a residence in the grounds. Because of the surrounding high wall it is a peaceful oasis within the busy, noisy city.

Entry is $3 per person and $2 for a camera.

With an estimated 1.7 million victims, I really think that you should visit the notorious Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum which was known as the S-21 prison. Yes, it is very upsetting and may even bring to tears but it will make you admire how the people have bounced back with such positive attitudes and it makes you ponder how this could ever have happened at all especially that it occurred in recent history as it was only back in 1976.

According to the locals many of the people who wielded the power to carry out these acts are still free and even more surprising still hold positions in the current government. The setting of this horrific place in a school makes it all the more shocking. The rusty and disused swings and monkey bars still stand desolate in the playground making it even more unbelievable.

Shaped as a horseshoe on the right side of the courtyard are a series of rooms with a photo of some of the guards and prisoners as they are now and a faded sepia photo of them back when this occurred and the story of how they came to end up in this dreadful place. So many of the guards reiterate they were doing their jobs and it was carry out orders or suffer the same fate.

At the rear are the classrooms that have been converted into tiny, cramped and dirty cells for the unfortunates to be kept captive. These are still preserved as they were found with their crudely bricked walls and barred windows. It makes one feel claustrophobic to be looking in without having been locked in there indefinitely.

On the left hand side is the torture devices left as they were found but far more jarring were the meticulous records of the hundreds of photographs of the victims. I found these so moving I still cannot find the words to express my feelings. These poor souls ranged from young children and new born babies through to older people and all age ranges in between. Whole families were targeted including many foreigners but the majority of people taken were intellectuals such as engineers, teachers, farmers many other random people. I will never forget the look of total and absolute despair mirrored in their eyes and captured through the camera lens. I was literally moved to tears.

In one final room there is a map of Cambodia made up of victim’s skulls – fittingly with the Mekong River shown in red – absolutely abhorrent. I really cannot understand how anyone could do this to so many especially as so many were their own people and innocent of any real crime, worse still how did our governments stand by and let it take place? It is beyond comprehension.

I feel that here and the Killing Fields are the worst places that you could possibly choose to visit, that in doing so at least you are doing so out of respect for the victims memories.