To get to Phnom Penh in Cambodia from Vietnam it is just a 7 hour bus ride. I joined my bus and I was the only Westerner on the bus which is fine, but I normally rely on meeting people on buses so this was not ideal. Plus we were going to do a border crossing and no one spoke much english to explain where and what I was supposed to be doing. Ended up being fine as a non-uniform man took my passport and $24 and returned with the right stamps and all was good. Once we got across the border the Cambodian man next to be gave me the formal welcome speach. A nice touch. I have never crossed a border and felt such a difference in the people and the land. Once over Vietnam the coutryside just opens up, you pass tiny villages with a few huts and all you can see rice padis stretching off into the distance. People are so poor here but the country is so beautiful. I only stayed two nights and a day in Phnom Penh as I didn't have a good feel about the place. I was still recovering from illness so had a quiet time (no drinking!).The main thing you should do in this city is to try and understand a little about the country's shocking past. I am not going to give people a history lesson but only back in 1975 - 1979 approx 4million people were killed through the Khmer Rough regime. Either through the killing fields or the brutallitly of the regime. I did go to the S21 musuem (a school that was converted into a detention centre) and went to the a killing field. It shocks you when you find out what happened at these places and then how life is moving on. Next to the S21 people live and get on with their lives. next to the filling fields are farms. Having been in this country a week I still can't believe how awful the past is and they are smiling! Many people are missing limbs, this is the country where they laid land mines near borders to stop people escaping. And sent people to work in fields where there are land mines. All so wrong. It was a depressing day but you can't come to this country without trying to get an appriciation as to what happened.
3 votes 
