Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s Capital
After spending a record 5 days (and nights) in Siem Reap),we left for the capital city, Phnom Penh. We arrived in the middle of Saturday afternoon at the Central Market, which also serves as a bus station. Phnom Penh immediately reminded me of South American cities like Santiago,Chile with it’s endless rows of 5-6 storey buildings which were originally attractive architecture and now in various states of disrepair mixed in with new modern buildings. The sidewalks were full of food vendors and shops that had pulled their goods outside to catch the eye of the passersby. The roads buzzed with scooters, bicycles, rickshaws and the occassionally SUV, all overloaded with people and goods.
On arrival, we had a small, but important errand to run. We had to pick up our passports from a travel agency who was arranging our Chinese visa. We went straight to the travel agency, and after 30 minutes of the staff rummaging through their desks in search of our passports, our hearts began to sink. The ordeal of having to get a new passport, plus reapplying for the Vietnamese and Chinese visas, would surely put a damper on our visit to Cambodia. Finally, they realized that our passports had been delayed a day at the embassy due to an official visit from the Chinese prime minister. They would be ready on Monday. Partially convinced, we decided not to worry and enjoy the weekend in Phnom Penh.
We found a hotel in a bustling little neighborhood near one of the city’s big markets. Then we took a walk to the impressive riverfront, where the Mekong, the Tonle Bassac and the Tonle Sap join together. The riverfront is lined with a wide esplanade on one side and pretty hotels and restaurants on the other. The Royal Palace and the National Museum sit near the riverfront. As we sat by the river, watching the boats go by, we were approached by a couple of Cambodians who wanted to practice their English. At first we were a little weary that they were trying to sell us something, but after a bit, we realized they were just looking for some nice conversation.
Sunday, we woke up refreshed, and ready to visit some of the sites. We started with the serious sites, the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum and the Choeung Ek Memorial (known as the Killing Fields.) These two somber places are testaments to the horrendous torture and killings that happened during the Khmer Rouge. Between 1975 and 1979, between 1 and 3 million people were ruthlessly murdered at the hands of this regime. Toul Sleng was a high school that was converted to a prison. The prisoners were photographed and had their autobiographies taken (often including confessions given under torture.) 99% of the prisoners here were killed. Now their photographs are displayed in the museum to remind us of the loss in humanity. Choeung Ek (about 15km out of town- Fab and I took a moto taxi),was an extermination camp; now there is a large pagoda with the skulls of thousands of victims serving as a memorial. What’s haunting is that many of the Cambodians you meet on the street today lived during this atrocious period. What’s even more haunting, are those you don’t meet, 40% of the country’s population is under 14.
On a more positive note,today there is a lot of vitality in Phnom Penh and the country seems to be moving in a positive direction. On Sunday afternoon, we visited the Royal Palace,partially comprised of the royal activity buildings and partially comprised of Buddhist buildings (including the Silver Pagoda.) The palace was built at the end of the 19th century by King Norodom under the French protectorate; some of the buildings date from the 20th century. The grounds were pleasant, but quite artificial compared to the bustling and noisy city around.
Finally, Monday rolled around along with our passports and Chinese visas. (YES, major travel mishap avoided!) We spent the morning visiting the National Museum, which is home to a lot of the sculpture from Angkor Wat. After spending so much time at the ruins, it was nice to see that some of the sculpture had survived, beautifully. The museum itself is quite impressive, painted a rust color, with an imposing multi-tiered roof. The gardens were also quite pretty. We spent the rest of the day, walking along the waterfront…a small visit to Wat Phnom, the founding place of Phnom Penh and the Central Market to check out their souvenirs.
After 10 busy days in Cambodia, we left for the Vietnam Border, and the the Mekong Delta.
Tags: BIG TRIP 2005-2006, Cambodia, In English 2005-2006
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I am glad I found your blog and greatly enjoy reading it, especially the Cambodia posts.
Thanks, and keep up the great posts!
Stefan