Holiday In Cambodia - Part III

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Headed to the capital of Cambodia Phnom Penh this morning. Thankfully the roads on this route were in general existence equalling to a much more comfortable trip. Exiting the bus was quite a daunting task, as soon as the bus drew into the station there are Cambodian folk chasing it down, banging against the windows, pointing and shouting at you, gesturing for you to come and stay at their guesthouse or sign up for a city tour. From the moment you step off the bus it is sheer mayhem, I felt like a lamb to the slaughter. I was literally pinned to the bus surrounded by Cambodians 'WHERE YOU GO, WHERE YOU GO???'
These guys just don't give you a chance to breathe let alone actually give you time to answer there questions, it's full on stuff! There was a young couple I was talking to on the bus and I did plan to tag along with them but that plan perished as I lost them in the carnage. Everyone on the bus that wasn't Cambodian just seemed to get eaten alive.

I ended up getting a tuk tuk to a guesthouse with a 27 year old Burmese South-Londoner and hanging out with him for a day. He seemed alright to start with but it didn't take him long to turn into a bit of a silly goose. But this was bound to happen at some point, I didn't really expect to travel around for six months meeting only cool people, there has to be some idiots thrown into the mixer just for good measure.

In way of sights there is not particularly to much to actually see in Phnom Penh itself, but it does hold the essential tourist destinations such as the killing fields on the outskirts of the city and the Toul Sleng genocide museum....oh and the shooting range!

Me and the recently established annoying Burmese cockney decided to join forces and hire a tuk tuk driver to visit the sites for the day. First stop being the shooting range, here you are presented with a menu which serves up such delights as firing UZI's and AK-47's for $30, throwing a hand grenade for the same fee and for $200 you can fire a rocket launcher. I opted for a can of coke as it all seemed a bit pricey to me, the Burmese chap the same. There was however a little Japanese lady there getting geared up to fire a rocket launcher. She was sat smoking a cigarette and shaking like a leaf, we left her to it.

Next stop was the morbid killing fields which was never going to be a pleasant experience, it was an experience of sorts, but naturally of the negative variety. On entry to the site there is a huge tower of exhumed skulls from the some 8985 bodies excavated from the mass graves. A short walk from here are the graves, disturbing to think that such an act took place only 30 years ago.

Back in the city is the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, also known as the S21 prison. Once a secondary school but converted by the Khmer Rouge into a prison where many teachers, students, monks, doctors and peasants would be interrogated, tortured and killed. Quite a depressing site really, especially when you see partnered with the blood stained walls the photo archives of all the mugshots of the victims that were slayed here.

It only took about half the day to see the sites of Phnom Penh, the rest of the afternoon was spent listening to the Burmese cockney talk about himself and how wonderful he is! Tomorrow I'll break away south to the beach resort of Sihanoukville.

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Photos

Phnom Penh (iii)
View from my guesthouse, hmm... best picture ever?

Phnom Penh (ii)
View from my guesthouse