Free time in Phnom Penh

Wat Phnom

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Attraction | "A visit to Wat Phnom"

Wat Phnom Photo - Wat Phnom, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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Wat Phnom was recommended to us as a place to visit and before we did so our guide was anxious that we understood the historical and religious significance of the site. The story goes that a wealthy woman by the name of Daun Penh found a large Koki Tree in the river and decided that the timber would be ideal for the house she was having built. However, in a hollow in the tree she found four bronze statues of Buddha together with a stone statue of Vishnu. She knew the sacred significance of these relics and so she had a small hill built by the local people and on it she built a shrine to house the holy items. The site soon became recognised as a sacred place for people to visit and they brought offeri...Read More

Wat Phnom was recommended to us as a place to visit and before we did so our guide was anxious that we understood the historical and religious significance of the site. The story goes that a wealthy woman by the name of Daun Penh found a large Koki Tree in the river and decided that the timber would be ideal for the house she was having built. However, in a hollow in the tree she found four bronze statues of Buddha together with a stone statue of Vishnu. She knew the sacred significance of these relics and so she had a small hill built by the local people and on it she built a shrine to house the holy items. The site soon became recognised as a sacred place for people to visit and they brought offerings to their God and prayed for good luck and success in life.

In the mid 15th Century the King of the time ordered that this sacred site be raised in stature and the artificial mound was raised to its current height and a more impressive building was constructed. Over the centuries Wat Phnom has been rebuilt many times and the current building was completed in 1926of but it was seriously damaged during the dark times of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge but that damaged was repaired, re-plastered and painted, so although the site and shrine is steeped in history the building that we saw is a modern build with many of the statues and shrines being added late in the last century.

The climb to the top is by way of the main staircase which is flanked by the sacred serpent, Nagas. At the top there is a great view across the surrounding countryside. The Wat towered above us silhouetted against the blue of the sky and the smell of burning incense hung heavy in the atmosphere.

Inside the wat there’s a central altar with a large bronze seated Buddha. The Buddha was flanked by other statues, and strewn around were the many flowers, candles and other religious offerings. The walls were painted with brightly coloured murals depicting scenes of Buddha’s enlightenment and previous reincarnations. These are always present in temples of this type and although we’ve seen many I still struggle to understand and interpret the scenes

In one corner of the stupa is a small shrine dedicated to Daun Penh and it was almost surrounded by local pilgrims. After all it was her act of faith that resulted in the present day building and the "creation" of this sacred site.

The land around the Wat is obviously a favourite with local people who, leaving the town behind them, come here not only to demonstrate and re-affirm their faith but also enjoy the peacefulness of the Wat Phnom park.

For a small fee you can have an elephant ride, on Sambo, around the bottom of the Wat on an animal that has been treading the route since 1983. We didn’t feel inclined to experience that but strolled part of the route enjoying the plants and flowers that thrive in the parkland.

Well worth a visit.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 24, 2013

Wat Phnom
Norodom Boulevard
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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Choeng Ek Memorial-The Killing Fields

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Attraction | "A grizzly site to visit"

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Of course no visit to Phnom Penh would be complete without a visit to the killing fields. No matter how gruesome it may seem this historical site of Choeung Ek is, in my view, a must see if you’re in Cambodia. The main attraction of the site is a first class audio guide that enables you to walk the site in your own pace and "drill down" into further detail if you’re interested. It’s a grisly experience because on this one site alone there were around 17,000 Cambodians (and nine westerners) killed between 1975 and 1978. Apparently across the country Pol Pot’s regime was responsible for the extermination of almost 1.7 million people. And if that wasn’t enough they were killed in horrendous f...Read More

Of course no visit to Phnom Penh would be complete without a visit to the killing fields. No matter how gruesome it may seem this historical site of Choeung Ek is, in my view, a must see if you’re in Cambodia.

The main attraction of the site is a first class audio guide that enables you to walk the site in your own pace and "drill down" into further detail if you’re interested. It’s a grisly experience because on this one site alone there were around 17,000 Cambodians (and nine westerners) killed between 1975 and 1978. Apparently across the country Pol Pot’s regime was responsible for the extermination of almost 1.7 million people. And if that wasn’t enough they were killed in horrendous fashion. Most had gone through pain and suffering at S-21 prison and believed that their ordeal was over and they were being moved to a permanent camp. They were transported by the bus load to Choeung Ek and most were executed immediately.

Their executioner was also likely to be killed if he didn’t comply and as the prisoner was brought to the edge of a trench he or she would be bludgeoned with a club and then their throat cut, by another Khmer Rouge recruit, with the leaf of the local sugar palm tree which has saw like teeth on it. Of course not everyone executed by this method was killed outright but they were smothered with DDT, to reduce the stench of rotting corpses, and then buried, alive or dead. Horrific as this method sounds it was not the "invention" of the Khmer Rouge – they could refer back to similar executions from previous regimes.

There are no original buildings on the site as these were torn down after the regime of Pol Pot was deposed but the audio tour stops you at the places where buildings used to be. Amongst the craters, which are the signs of the burial sites are some original tomb stones and it soon became clear that part of this site had been a Chinese grave yard. However, the Khmer Rouge showed no respect for that and tossed tomb stones out of the way. At points on our tour around the site we saw small bone fragments on the surface alongside remnants of clothes that the executed were wearing at the time of their death. Even after 30 years these are still rising to the surface and offer a chilling reminder to the savagery of that regime.

Two sites at Choeung Ek were particularly macabre – the killing tree and the magic tree. At the killing tree many young children were murdered her by the simple technique of swinging them by their ankles and crashing their heads against the tree. After the downfall of the Khmer Rouge many different hair samples and fragments of skulls were found embed on the trunk of this tree. Just standing there, listening to the audio tour it’s still hard to understand how young men could perform this act of savagery on young children, some of whom they would have known personally.
The Magic tree doesn’t have any mystical powers but it was here that speakers were rigged up and played loud patriotic music to disguise the screams of the victims. The locals apparently believed that this was a training camp and local headquarters of the Khmer Rouge.

I reckon we spent about 2 hours at the site although I’m sure you could do it in much less time if you decided not to walk the perimeter and missed out the video presentation. We did the 10 minute stroll alongside the lake to the evocative sounds of Him Sophy’s "A memory from Darkness"

I’m pleased, however, that we gave it the time as it gave me an insight into a Cambodia that I had previously known very little about and completed the story of Pol Pot’s atrocities from the Genocide Museum (see separate journal) that we’d visited the previous day.

It’s certainly not a "fun packed" place to visit but it is a moving experience that won’t fail to touch the emotions of any visitor. I'm not sure that I'll ever forget the memorial stupa with its 7 floors full of skulls carefully ordered by age and gender.
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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 27, 2011

Choeng Ek Memorial-The Killing Fields
15 Km South Of Phnom Penh
Choeng Ek, Cambodia

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The King's in Town

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When we’d been on our City Tour (see separate journal) our guide had mentioned that at 4.00pm on 11th November the King of Cambodia and the Prime Minister would be turning off the flame in the independence monument. The Independence monument is a fantastic memorial on the main road through the town close to the Royal Palace. It was erected to celebrate their independence, from almost 100 years of French Colonial rule, in 1953. This huge Stuppa shaped red stone monument reaches high into the sky proclaiming the joy of the people to the heavens above. Around the square were huge photographs of the king, the previous king and his wife and banners confirming that the king was celeb...Read More

When we’d been on our City Tour (see separate journal) our guide had mentioned that at 4.00pm on 11th November the King of Cambodia and the Prime Minister would be turning off the flame in the independence monument.

The Independence monument is a fantastic memorial on the main road through the town close to the Royal Palace. It was erected to celebrate their independence, from almost 100 years of French Colonial rule, in 1953. This huge Stuppa shaped red stone monument reaches high into the sky proclaiming the joy of the people to the heavens above.

Around the square were huge photographs of the king, the previous king and his wife and banners confirming that the king was celebrating his 90th birthday alongside 20 years since the Kingdom had been restored after the downfall of the Kymher Rouge (but more about that in later journals).
We decided that we’d go along to watch the celebrations which were programmed to start at 4.30. We assumed that it would start on time as everything seemed to run on time in this country, so left from our hotel at about 4.20pm. It was only a short walk away and soon we were approaching the main road and could see a crowd encircling the Independence Monument. "Not to large" I thought to myself as we set off purposefully to join them. And then a guard, of which there were many stood around chatting, stopped our progress. I paused and saw a mobile metal detector frame (like you’d see at airports) which I momentarily assumed we had to step through. But no, we were not to proceed any further as only the chosen few with passes were allowed close to the Monument.

Not to be deterred we decided to "stick around" and check out what we could see from a distance. There was plenty of activity in the centre of the monument with local dignitaries, members of the armed forces and high ranking Buddhist Monks taking up their key positions to await the King’s arrival.

An excited commentator seemed to be whipping the selected crowd into an enthusiastic state and several false alarms, when the Cambodian National Anthem was played. With hindsight we reckon these were practice sessions for the crowd. Finally when the King arrived, in his state limousine (one of our guides had joked that this was the King’s new elephant – a reference to the days when the King would have travelled by that mighty beast). The crowd erupted in to frantic flag waving, the raising of photographs of the King and the singing of the Anthem.
Fifty eight year old King Norodom Sihamoni was nominated to be king after his father abdicated in 2004. It is strongly suggested that the former King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated so he could testify in court against the old Khmer Rouge regime (something he couldn’t do as constitutional monarch) and it is clear that the population still honor him. They refer to him as The King-Father of Cambodia and are proud that he has now been King twice (1941 -55 and then again from 1993 until his abdication) and I’m sure that he continues to be influential, despite his abdication.
It was interesting that whoever we spoke to about King Norodom Sihamoni was quick to mention that he was 58 and was not married. They would usually add something like "he was a dancer, you know" and then give a broad grin. One can only guess at their inference!

Anyway back to our experience of the ceremony! Things were happening in the monument but as everyone looked no taller than 7 or 8 cms it was difficult to discern. We saw the King bowing to the religious leaders and after a time the flame was extinguished. Then we could see little activity so we decided to return to our hotel room.

Back there we switched on the TV on the off chance that the ceremony was still ongoing and sure enough there it was. The King was systematically going around the square greeting the onlookers. This was an interesting ceremony to watch as the people’s knees were almost touching the floor as they bowed in front of the King. He too was greeting them almost apologetically with his head down. But he spoke to each and every member on the front row of the square and the whole greetings ceremony must have carried on for approaching the hour, before the King got back into his "elephant" to make the short journey back to his palace.

Did this make up for the cancellation of the Water Festival? Well not quite, but it was a great ceremony to be able to observe, albeit from a distance.
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A free day in town and a trip to market

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We had a free day in Phnom Penh and decided that we’d spend the morning visiting the local sights that hadn’t been incorporated into our planned itinerary with the tour company. So having spoken with our guide about what "was left to see" he came up with the suggestion that we could hire a Tuk-Tuk driver for the day and visit the Killing Fields 15 kilometres out of Phnom Penh as well as checking out some more of the sights in town. To be honest the thought of a 10 mile ride in a Tuk-Tuk wasn’t overly exciting and to contemplate the journey on some of the poorly maintained Cambodian roads wasn’t something we fancied. So, having sussed out that the cost by Tuk-Tuk would be around $20 we ask...Read More

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Samaky Restaurant and Lounge

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Restaurant | "A place to chill"

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This small cafe restaurant was our preferred place for a rest and a replenishment of our liquids levels. It was only a hop skip and a jump away from the hotel and operated its happy hour between 3.00 and 7.00 pm.Our first visit was made on our first day when we needed a decent snack to see us through until dinner time. The Samaky Restaurant and Lounge looked ideal because they had an extensive snack menu and during their happy hour draught beer was only 75 cents for a glass.We ordered our beer and with it came a decent bowl of peanunts. This bowl turned out to be a magic bowl because as soon as it was emptied it was replaced with a full one. Indeed one afternoon when my wife an...Read More

This small cafe restaurant was our preferred place for a rest and a replenishment of our liquids levels. It was only a hop skip and a jump away from the hotel and operated its happy hour between 3.00 and 7.00 pm.

Our first visit was made on our first day when we needed a decent snack to see us through until dinner time. The Samaky Restaurant and Lounge looked ideal because they had an extensive snack menu and during their happy hour draught beer was only 75 cents for a glass.

We ordered our beer and with it came a decent bowl of peanunts. This bowl turned out to be a magic bowl because as soon as it was emptied it was replaced with a full one. Indeed one afternoon when my wife and I visited the bar was almost empty and we had a couple of glasses of beer (that’s $3 for four glasses!) we had to say at one point "please don’t bring us more peanuts". The waitress looked a bit confused, I guess it’s an instruction she doesn’t often hear, and then smiled after I explained that if she kept bringing them we would "keep eating".

We only ever ate snacks here and on our first day we all had different toasties. Conforming with the norm for this part of the world, they all arrived separately but they were hot and full of content and came with a small salad and French fries. I guess by meal prices they weren’t cheap (about $3.50 apiece) but that’s not unusual and they were certainly cheaper than many others that we saw.

But the real great thing about this place was the service. The young waiter and waitress seemed always to be working there but they had a fantastic welcoming smile and seemed desperate to please us as customers. I believe that they had a great pride in doing their job well and were most attentive but did not hover. They just seemed to sense when they were needed by customers and that’s a great skill.

Although we never ate there in the evening we did see that it was often packed out at night. Their evening dinner menu was not extensive they had made a unique point of being able to "build up your own meal" something that we haven’t seen anywhere else in the three Indo China Countries.

So if you want to relax with a beer or a coffee then this seems to be the place. It’s informal comfortable and convenient if you’re staying near to the Independence monument.

We loved it.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on November 12, 2011

Samaky Restaurant and Lounge
Street 51
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
+855 70600017

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