Phnom Penh

---

Arrived here late on September 22nd so didn't get to see any of the city until the next day. Phnom Penh is quite user friendly for someone like me who's not great at map reading as all the streets are numbered - even going east/west and odd going north/south. However the traffic is something else. All manner of wheeled vehicles interweaving at speed - and I'm not known for my road crossing prowess in England... However, I did manage to make my way around even though several times I contemplated hiring a tuk tuk just to get across the road. On one occasion, when I'd been trying to cross the road by the market for a while, a Michael Jackson look alike wearing a blue suit and cap with a face mask and furled flag took pity on me and escorted me across....

Met the tour guide, Kheang, and the rest of the group (Aussies 10, Brits 2) in the evening and went for a meal on the open roof of a local restaurant. Had the first of many fish Amok - fish in a delicious creamy curry sauce. Became quite an expert on this and each restaurant had it's only slant on the recipe - dryer sauce, served in a coconut or banana leaves etc.

Listening to Kheang talk about his country and life, I realised that I didn't know much about Cambodia. So much development has taken place in the last 10 years, prior to which most people lived in rural communities and very few in the cities. I didn't know that tourists only started visiting the temples in 2000. According to Kheang only about 60 people in Cambodia spoke in English in 1997 - and now it seems as though the first words children learn are 'one dollar....'

Apparently the three main causes of death in Cambodia are 1) HIV 2) traffic accidents. 6 people are killed on the roads in Cambodia every day. Surprised it's only 6... 3) Landmines. Western Cambodia is the most dangerous place in the world.

Visited Tuol Sleng genocide museum - not an easy experience. It's hard to believe Pol Pot and his men could be so barbaric to their fellow countrymen. They killed whole families from babies upwards where they suspected people were educated and could tell who these people were by their skin colour, (your skin would be darker if you worked in the fields), if they had soft hands and whether they wore glasses or spoke a foreign language. It was hard to imagine such attrocities taking place at The Killing Fields which seems very green and leafy and pleasant now, although if you look carefully on the ground you can see pieces of bone and people's clothing.

The effects of that period are still evident today. Kheang's father is in his eighties but his life expectancy is only 59 and both he and his brother are much shorter than their father. Our local guide had lost many members of his immediate family.

On a lighter note, we had a great meal and 'Friends' - an organisation that helps children get off the street by training them in the restaurant buisiness. We also visited parts of the Silver Pagoda, (lots of gold and jade diamond-encrusted Buddhas) at the Summer Palace, although the main palace was shut as the President was receiving his new Government that day.

---

Photos

Tuol Sleng cell
There were pictures of the prisoners on the wall.....

The Killing Fields
It's hard to believe what took place here.

Friends n Stuff
The shop next to the restaurant sells lots of hand made goods made from recycled materials.

Fish Amok!
In a coconut shell this time.

The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
There is a model of the temples of Ankor Wat by the Pagoda.