Phnom Penh

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I had a four day weekend in April because of Good Friday and Qing Ming Festival, so I decided to go to Cambodia. There were a couple of things I really wanted to see there, and while the flight wasn't cheap from Shanghai (550 USD) I knew it would be cheap once I arrived. I flew down on 1 April after work and got there kind of late. I was staying in a shared dorm at Me Mates Place for about 10 USD a night. They had emailed and said they would pick me up at the airport, but after my experience in Vietnam, where two hotels said they would meet me at the airport/train station, but didn't, I was skeptical. Sure enough, when I arrived at almost midnight, I didn't see anyone holding a sign with my name on it. I took a taxi to Me Mates Place for 10 USD and they said something about me being early. I'd sent my flight info, so I knew that wasn't right. Anyway, these guys were really nice and one of them carried my bag up the four flights of stairs to the shared dorm. There were six big bunks in the room, all with nice linens and a towel, which most hostels don't provide if you stay in the dorm room. The bunks were big enough for two people! The room was big and the bathroom was clean and spacious with an enclosed shower, which is also unusual in Asia. They had nice big lockers as well. I was impressed.

I went to bed, but I didn't sleep very well. The guy above me snored a bit, but I don't sleep well in dorm rooms anyway. The next morning I got up around 8:00 since I only had one day in Phnom Penh and I didn't know how long it would take to see what I wanted to see. I was about to go downstairs for breakfast and the guy above me woke up and introduced himself. Everybody else left already. His name was Sebastian and he was from Singapore. We decided to share a tuk tuk to the Killing Fields after breakfast. I had a great breakfast downstairs in the cafe, and we were off in the tuk tuk for 6 USD each. We didn't bargain over the price. It was about a 20 minute ride to the Killing Fields, and the visit there was sobering to say the least.

Entrance to the Killing Fields is 3 USD. Everyone accepts USD in Cambodia and it is actually used more widely than the reil. I didn't excange money the entire time I was there. The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek is where most of the prisoners held by the Khmer regime from 1975 to 1979 were executed. The prisoners were held at S-21, a former primary school, and taken to the Killing Fields for execution. Over 17,000 men, women, and even children and babies, were executed for no reason other than the regime felt they should be. This regime's way of thinking rivaled that of Hitler in my opinion. When we first entered the Killing Fields, the first thing we saw was a big glass tower with thousands of skulls of victims on shelves along with clothing found during the excavation. There are informational signs posted throughout and you can see the craters in the ground that were once the mass graves. I believe there were 149 mass graves in all and 89 have been excavated. They do not plan to excavate anymore because some are under water and they feel this is enough. One excavated grave contained over 100 bodies without heads and another was all women and children. No clothing was found in this grave. I'll let you think about why that is.

At the back of the property is a big swamp/pond covered in water lilies and algea and lush trees and grass everywhere. That pond is basically a mass grave. The fields are enclosed by a flimsy chicken wire fence where children that can't afford to go to school stand and beg from the other side. They'll take anything - money, candy, food, even water. One noticed Sebastian's watch, which was quite large and quite nice. The tone of his voice was slightly bitter when he asked, "What time is it big man?" Sebastian is very tall and is a big man. Next to the Killing Fields is a school where the kids that can afford it were playing outside in sight of the fields. Other people were living in shacks with their super skinny cows and chickens just on the other side of that flimsy fence, and they apparently dumped all their rubbish into a big pile that is actually part of the fields. I found this somewhat disturbing that there was a big pile of rubbish right on site.

There were signs posted asking people to be quiet and respectful. Sad that they have to post signs like that. Some people just don't get it. When I went to Auschwitz there were three girls laughing and making goofy poses while having their picture taken by the actual crematoriums. The actual ovens. I said something to them since I was the only other person in there. They snubbed their noses at me continued making stupid peace signs while practically standing on the cast iron pieces that held the bodies before they were burned. Creepy. I didn't see anyone doing that at the Killing Fields though.

When we left we asked our tuk tuk driver to take us to S-21. We agreed on 3USD more each and were on our way. S-21 is in the city. It was a primary school before being turned into a giant torture chamber. It was created on the orders of Pol Pot in April 1975. I was four years old. It was designed for detention, interrogation, toture, and killing. The classrooms were turned into torture chambers and in each one there is now a single bed frame, torture implements, and a picture of what happened to one person in that room. It was horrifying. In the second building there are row after row of pictures of men, women, and children who were tortured there. The front of each building was covered in barbed wire to prevent people on the 2nd and 3rd floors from jumping in order to commit suicide. Most of the pictures were of a single person standing in front of the buildings before they had been tortured too badly. Many were government officials the regime deemed as traitors. They seem to have a similar style to Chairman Mao actually.

Sebastian and I didn't visit the 2nd or 3rd floors. I couldn't bring myself to look at anymore pictures or torture chambers. We had the tuk tuk driver take us to the Royal Palace. It wasn't open yet, so we had a lovely Cambodian lunch at a nearby restaurant that I didn't get the name of. Cambodian food is really good. I liked it better than Vietnamese food. After lunch we walked over to the palace to check out the Silver Pagoda. Admission is 25000r or 5 USD. (1USD = 4000r so it was actually cheaper to pay in USD for once) The actual residential part of the palace is off limits, but visitors can see a large part of the grounds anyway. The palace was built in 1866 and is 435 m long and 421m wide. But that's just the palace. Not the grounds and all the additional buildings. I was most interested in the Silver Pagoda.

The architecture is similar to the palace in Bangkok, but not quite as grand. It is beautiful though, and the Silver Pagoda did not disappoint. It is called the Silver Pagoda because of the 5000 silver tiles that cover the floor weighing in at 1 kg each. You will not be allowed to enter the palace grounds with bare shoulders or short shorts. The guidebook says sleeves to the elbows (mine were not) and shorts to the knees. There is a t-shirt stand right outside that makes a fortune off people who didn't do their homework. I'll let the pictures of this place do the talking. I've written enough I think.

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Photos

View from Me Mates Place
This was the view from the balcony.

Skulls
Stupa of skulls at the Killing Fields

Stupa of Skulls
at the Killing Fields

Mass Graves
Just a few of the mass graves that have been excavated.

Magic Tree
Huge speakers were hung in this tree and played very loud music to drown out the screams of those being tortured and killed.

14 Graves
These are the graves of the last 14 people to die at S-21. There was one woman. They were all found dead when S-21 was taken from the Khmer Regime.

National Museum
The National Museum is a stunning building, but I didn't have time to visit it.

Palace Pagoda
There were at least six of these.

Silver Pagoda
No pictures allowed inside. But it was beautiful.

Serpent entry
These serpents were common in the entryways of important buildings and temples.

Cool gargoyles
were everywhere.

Royal Palace
This building was open air, but I don't know what it was used for.

At the river
There was a lovely building with benches so people could sit and enjoy the view, but it was crowded with people picniking and leaving their rubbish everywhere and it smelled like piss. Very disappointing.