Pnhon Penh


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Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh
May 3rd 2011
Published: May 30th 2011
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The journey from Saigon to Phnom Penh was fairly easy with one bus taking us all the way and a very simple border crossing paying just 25 dollars for our visa and no one trying to rip us off on the way. On arrival in Phnom Penh however there was a scramble of tuc tuc drivers fighting for our Riels.

After checking into a pretty grotty place that resembled a council block more than a hotel and armed with our annotated lonely planet courtesy of Daisy we headed for the only known bar in Cambodia to sell Strongbow. Imagine my disappointment on discovering that the 'Green Vespa' was the only place in Cambodia to sell Strongbow, but had sold out over a month ago with no more arriving in the foreseeable future! My spirits were lifted somewhat as they had copies of English papers so I had my first read of the Sunday Times in two months and the buy one get one free on White wine definitely helped soothe my Strongbow blues.

It's a common western misconception that Cambodia is a dangerous place to visit with the threat of landmines down every dusty road you walk and troops on the street engaged in civil war, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Sure the country is unfortunate enough to have the label as 'one of the most landmined' countries in the world with thousands of the indigenous Khmer people killed or maimed every year, due mainly to the fact that they are forced to farm the dangerous countryside that has not yet been cleared to grow crops and make a living. But as a tourist the only evidence you are likely see of landmines are the survivors of such awful accidents begging on the streets with limbs missing.

Phnom Penh has some beautiful old buildings and architecture in the form of the Royal Palace and National Museum whose design was copied and arguably made famous by the Thais but originated in Cambodia. One of the big draws for tourists however is the much more recent and macabre history displayed in S21 museum and Choeung ek memorial. S21 was a school in central Phnom Penh that the Khmer Rouge converted into a prison to hold and torture fellow Cambodians before sending them 300 at a time to Choeung ek , otherwise known as the killing fields, for the inevitable gruesome genocide. Both places are hugely interesting but certainly not for anyone easily upset by shocking images and stories. Coming away from there certainly leaves one with questions about humanity and makes it all the more real when your tuc tuc driver lost both parents to Pol Pots regime and the prison warder of S21 was only brought to court in 2010.

By our third day we were all cultured out and with tempers starting to strain under the searing Cambodian heat we decided to move out of the ghetto and into a place with a pool for our last night in Phnom Penh.

With our next destination including One of South East Asias largest tourist attractions my hopes in the search for Strongbow were high!


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S21 - PrisonS21 - Prison
S21 - Prison

Formally a school


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