Blogs from Phnom Penh, South, Cambodia, Asia - page 203

Well - I've made it back after a whistle-stop trip around Cambodia. I'm so pleased I made the effort to go there, even if it was for only 6 days. Spending three days at the Temples of Angkor was one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life. A truly awesome place, with hundreds of temples with ornate and stunningly beautiful architecture, with Angkor Wat, the largest religious building in the world, it's centre piece. The two days I spent in Phnom Penh were memorable for very different reasons, with a visit to the Tuol Sleng (S-21) Museum where the Khmer Rouge committed some quite sickening atrocities on their own people, and to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek for even more gruesome reminders of the genocide that took place there between 1975 and 1979. The ... read more

The three of us lads plus Felix took the bus from Saigon to Phnom Penh the Cambodian capital on the 29th. The bus journey was even more hair raising than some of the trips within Vietnam. He drove with his hand almost permanently on the horn, overtaking on blind bends and passing 5 vans at once. The only rules for overtaking seem to be small vehicles yield to big ones no matter what direction you're going! We stayed at the Happy Hotel right on the lake in Phnom Penh and met up with a crowd from we'd met in Saigon (Glynn, Alice, Caroline and Taz). When we went out for a meal that night we noticed the whole menu was priced in US dollars and were pretty expensive compared to Vietnam. You could easily survive in ... read more

Hi again all... Well spent the night with some new friends... Thats whats great about traveling, no matter what you can meet people any where... Im now traveling with two girls from Sweden lisa and Ellen... we left Sihanoukville and headed to Phnom Penh on the on a 12 noon bus.. the bus ride was not the greatest.... 4hrs of crap roads and the driver hocking all the time... but we made it in one piece and thats what matters... But like at the ferry the touts just gathered around us and we were not in the mood.... We found a Tuk Tuk driver to take us to the guest house we wanted to go to at least that was what we thought... but he actual droped us to another place and we had to walk ... read more

Everything I heard about Cambodia's capital city was somewhat negative. Nobody said not to go there, but the incredible poverty was always mentioned. I pictured a whole city is ruins. I picured it not to much better than the Kmer Rouge left it 25 years ago. The images in my head were wrong! Well for the most part anyway. It's actually a beautiful city, that comes to life most when the hat is less intense around 5pm or so. 1000's and 1000's of motorbikes on the streets half of them slowing down to see if we need a ride anywhere. The streets near where we stayed are lined with nice hotels and beautiful palm trees. It's actually a really pleasant and the riverside is one of the nicest in all of Asia. We can see a ... read more

Well from battambang we arrived in Phnom Penh. Not to much to say about Phnom Penh. We mainly just explored the city the first day and got used to the surroundings. The backpacker area in Phnom Penh is really nice. We got a hotel right on the lake. Our room was apparently stayed in by Angilina Jolie the actress so that is why it was the most expensive room at 8$. The sunset from the patio was beautiful! We met another guy from BC that was also staying in our hotel. It was also the first Canadian we had met so far travelling. The second day we woke up early and headed to the killing fields of Phnom Penh. It was crazy walking through there. There were mass graves of women and children that held up ... read more