Phnom Penh

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Arrived in the capital of Cambodia, we enjoyed our first days in the diplomat area of Phnom Phen at an amazing backpacker called Lovely Jubbely Villa with a big swimming pool and chilling area with a lot of movies. Our second day, we shared a tuktuk with two Canadians (Jessy and Nathalia) to go to the Tuol Sleng genocide musuem, killing fields and Russian market. Our visit to the genocide musuem (Security Prison-21) and the killing fields was an enrichement in our global history, but also a heart breaking and shocking visit. The Khmer Rouge regime was a radical communist movement that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During these four years nearly two million people on a population of eight million have been massacered! Tuol Sleng (an acient school) became one of the at least 150 execution centres in the country, as many as 20.000 prisoners after being tortured have been excecuted there. The torture system at Tuol Sleng was designed to make prisinors confess to whatever crime they were charged of. The killing fileds are the sites where collectively more than a million people have been killed and burried by the regime. That such horror happend in the 20th century is shocking and that these kind of horrors still happen is frightening... We needed to change our mind, so to finish the day a bit lighter, we enjoyed some deep fried springrolls on the Russian market and had some beers with our new Canadian friends.

The last two nights, we moved to a backpacker closer by the riverside. Nearby there was a nightmarket, where you could buy different kind of typical cambodien food and enjoy your dish on a carpet in the middle of the market between many locals. Therefore, we enjoyed our last cambodien night there together with Jessy.

Cambodia’s greatest treasure is its people. The Khmers have been to hell and back, but thanks to an unbreakable spirit and infectious optimism, they have prevailed with their smiles and spirits largely intact.

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