Phnom Penh

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Day 50

We left Chau Doc by "VIP fast boat" at 7.30am and travelled along the Mekong River making only a quick stop to pass through boarder control before arriving in Sisowath Dock, Phnom Penh by lunchtime. It was boiling hot when we arrived and checked into the Velkommen Guesthouse, just off the riverside, so we had a leisurely lunch and sampled the Amok Curry (a bit like a Thai green curry, but not so hot).

After cooling off we had a walk along the waterfront and visited Wat Phnom, which was pretty similar to other temples we had been to but had quite nice grounds and apparently held one single hair of actual Buddha, but we couldn't find that!

We treated ourselves on the way back to an ice cream at the Blue Pumpkin before freshening up and heading out for the night. The riverside at Phnom Penh was lively and quite nice to walk around but veering off the main stretch, the clubs looked a little dodgey and the men rather sleazy so we stuck to the front for a few beers! We had some of the local speciality, lok lak (stir-fried, marinated beef served with a lime and pepper sauce) at a restaurant called Friends which raises money for street children, before heading back for the night.

Day 51

Today after breakfast we hired a tuk-tuk for the day and visited the S-21 Museum (a former school turned into a prison and torture site by the Khmer Rouge) and the Killing Fields (where prisoners were shipped for execution during the Pol Pot regime). We had a private guide in the S-21 and a audio guide at the killing fields and both were fascinating, but very disturbing. To hear personal stories of the atrocities, whilst walking the sites where it took place was quite horrific. Feeling quite somber on the way back we took a quick stop at a Russian market before heading back to the riverside.

In the evening we went for dinner at a place called Le Lotus Blanc, a place run by teenagers who used to live in the dumps and who were being trained up to give them a better future. The food was really good and we tried a selection of tapas style dishes including our favourite--fresh spring rolls! Afterwards we walked past the palace, which was lit up at night in honour of the King who recently passed away, then went for a drink with a few people we had met way back in Hanoi. We finished up in an Absinthe Bar before crawling to bed!

Day 52

The sun was blazing today and although we wanted to have a leisurely stroll around found ourselves dripping with sweat after 5 minutes. Despite this we made it to the palace, but this was unfortunately closed so we were unable to see inside, or to see the famous silver pagoda inside the palace walls. Exhasted by the heat, and up to our eye-balls with "tuk-tuk sir, tuk-tuk lady" (there was about 10 times too many drivers for the number of tourists around this time of year) we had a drawn out lunch before heading to the bus station to take a 6 hour bus to Sihanoukville. We were set for a long and uncomfortable journey but couldn't wait to get out of the cities and have some quality beach time!

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Photos

Random offerings at Wat Phnom Temple
People left real slabs of meat inside the mouths of the stone statues!

S-21
View from the outside of the prison which used to be a school before the Khmer Rouge took control

S-21
View inside the 'prison'

Killing Fields
Memorial at the site where the bodies of hundreds of women and children were found. Babies were thrown against the tree in the picture to kill them before throwing them into the mass grave.