Phnom Penh

Trip Start Oct 25, 2006

Trip End Nov 19, 2006

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Flag of Cambodia Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Friday, November 3, 2006

After yesterday's quite laid back day, another full on day of sight-seeing. Our only day in Phnom Penh so I planned to make the most of it. Firstly over to the Genocide Museum. This was a school which was taken over by the Pol Pot regime and used as a torture centre. By the way did you know that Pol Pot wasn't his actually name? He changed it to this when he took power and it is an abbreviation of Political Potential. The museum was quite like Auschwitz, police style photos of those who passed through, torture equipment, photos of torture victims etc and the story was brought to life by our guide, who was surprisingly candid about how life was then and how life still is today. Many of the top ranking Khmer Rouge were given amnesty and are back at the top of political life now. The No Smiling sign at the museum (shown below) was not necessary.

To keep the theme for the morning going we then went out to The Killing Fields

Family motorbike

. This was a surprisingly understated sort of place. A big monument one small covered building and in quite a small area (the size of a small field) were 10 semi-excavated mass burial sites. There were excavated by locals after Pol Pot was forced out purely in search of jewellery, gold teeth etc, of course they found none the Khmer Rouge had already taken everything. The only real evidence of what the place was were visible bones in the ground. More and more are uncovered every rainy season. It was the guide who gave the full story. How people were brought here and killed in various ways, different ways were dreamt up to keep the guards amused. Beating with sticks, slashing with barbs, hanging, drowning, many were not dead when they were pushed into the mass graves.

We had no activities planned for the afternoon so I just took a wander around the city on my own. Phnom Penh is a hive of activity. Not all that big and walkable if you don't mind taking your life in your hands with motorbikes flying this way and that, no pavements and no crossings. It's just what I'd expect from an Asian city which is more than I can say for KL or Bangkok which seem almost dominated by foreigners. Busily markets, shops and businesses opening out onto the streets and fearless drivers. The motorbike is to the Cambodians a vehicle for the whole family. 4 people on a moped is quite common and at crossways it's every man, woman and child for themselves

Genocide Museum

. I ventured well off the beaten track, so far in fact that I was a source of amusement! A white guy 3 times as big as any local. At one point a group of ladies with a baby sat at a shop pointed me out to the baby. I waved and then went over for a quick (they had little English) chat. The babies eyes just got wider and wider in the way only a babies can as I approached. (No Mum I'm not getting broody!)

In the evening another great restaurant and probably my best meal of the trip so far. A bed of Morning Glory (you'll know what that is if you were paying attention in yesterday's instalment), on top some chicken and vegetables with the best peanut (sate) sauce over the top, served with sticky rice. Yum-yum. I headed back to hotel for an early night, but got talking to one of the porters at the hotel. Cambodian people are so friendly, most don't see tourists as a way to get money they just want to practice their English and hear about the big wide world.