Advertisement
Published: January 27th 2008
Sunset over the National Museum
Another beautiful Cambodian sunset, seen from the FCC. Sua S'dei Sweet Cambodia
Phnom Penh is enchanting. With its wide streets, colourful tuk-tuks, crumbling colonial buildings up against superb restorations and the spires of Khmer wats arcing gracefully into the sky, it’s a city that peacefully inhabits its space by the Tonle Sap lake.
On the advice of our Lonely Planet, we did a walking tour of this flat city, as many of the notable sights are close to one another. We took in Wat Phnom (atop a tiny hill surrounded by a shady park that you can take a turn about on elephant); the American Embassy all done up in its finest Christmas garb, like a giant, garish souvenir; past the colonial elegance of the Biblioteque, the national library which was maddeningly closing for lunch as we got there; then the main drag of Monivong Boulevard. My history was too dim to recall if this was the street the Khmer Rouge tanks creaked through, forcing all the inhabitants out of the city in 1975. Now it’s covered in shops and teeming with motorbikes, huge 4WDs carting around expats and diplomats, and tuk-tuks ferrying around locals and tourists.
We abandoned the pedestrian tour as the
Serenity
A young monk feeding fish at the interior pond at the stunning National Museum. temperature increased and our tempers withered and died in the heat. There was plenty to entertain and engage in Phnom Penh - the huge markets catering to every need (anyone need nipple whitening cream?); the stunning National Museum housing original and reproduction Khmer artifacts; the bars and restaurants that overlook the river; the local markets a few streets back from the riverfront tourist area.
No visit to Cambodia should be without an excursion to the Cheoung Ek Killing Fields, just outside the main part of the city and its sister in torture, the Tuol Sleng Museum. Thousands of Cambodians were imprisoned and tortured at Tuol Sleng before being herded to Cheoung Ek for execution. It’s a harrowing day but a necessary lesson in the recent history of Cambodia. The memorial at Cheoung Ek is extremely moving, a multi-storey enclosure containing the skeletal remains of thousands of unknown victims. As we wandered about the Fields, we overheard a tour guide describing the methods Khmer Rouge soldiers used to kill babies and small children. Later we learned that a sole businessman owns and operates the Killing Fields: we were left wondering what to make of it all, and how much, if
Local markets
The street market we had to negotiate our way through to get back to our hotel. At night the market is packed away and deserted by all but the rats, football-sized and horrifying as they squeak menacingly and rush for your ankles. Best avoided, we quickly discovered. any, of the tourist dollars goes back to rehabilitating and helping the Cambodian people and how much lines the pockets of the enterprising entrepreneur.
But all those queries aside, without a doubt the most charming aspect of Cambodia is its people. Smiles on every face, a constant chatting and laughing amongst the locals, jokes hiding in every greeting. Many locals just want to have a chat and a laugh and are happy enough if you don’t take up their offers of tuk-tuks, motorbike taxis, hammocks or knock-off sunnies. It’s easy to forget that almost 30 years ago an unknown quantity of the population were murdered by their fellows. The Khmer people are a beautiful, laid-back, generous, happy bunch and it’s an aspect of their natures that they all seem to portray.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.096s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 9; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0456s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
