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Published: October 19th 2008
Phnom Penh
First Tuk Tuk rideWe spent the night in a scary hotel in Chau Doc a small town on the Mekong Delta. The hotel was the spot where the ferry would pick us up for our 5 hour ride to the border & Phnom Pehn. The boat driver took care of the visas and other forms for a cost of $21 so we did not get ripped off. It went very smoothly. On the vietnamese side we did have to unload all or our luggage and have it put through a scanning machine. This was kind of a pain since they chose 2 people at random from the boat to do a luggage search on. On the Cambodian side it was smooth sailing. We finally arrived in Phnom Pehn and checked into our hotel and then took our stuff to the laundry. We were all starving and Nicole suggested we go to Veiyo Tonle Restaurant which was started by Lay Neth who was once a street kid. He was taken in by an NGO and learned the hospitality industry and then gave back to his community by starting the restaurant and using the proceeds to start an orphanage, The New Cambodian Life Association. On Mondays
Phnom Penh
Gas anyone & Saturdays some of the children perform the traditional Aspara dance at the restaurant. We were not there at the right time to see it, bummer. Nicole usually takes her groups there and the food is great. They serve traditional Khemer food as well as western food. I had my first taste of Beef Lak Lah there. After lunch we did a bit of shopping. There are some really great shops there that cater to expats with some really beautiful clothing. Lots of silk and flowy cotton and linen. I loved the stores Bliss & Jasmine Boutique on street 240. Things were a bit pricier than in Vietnam but very well made. All the museums were closing so we decided to go to happy hour at the FCC (Foriegn Correspondants Club) where they had 1/2 price drinks. I had a few passion fruit mojitos for $2 each.
Dinner was at Tamarind, a mediterranean restaurant that had exellent tapas.
The next morning we left at 8:30 to go to Toul Sleng Genocide Museum or S-21. Prior to 1975 this was a local highschool that the Khemer Rouge turned into a torture and interrogation center. S-21 processed over 17,000 but only 7
Phnom Penh
Strange food items survived. All of us walked through there without saying a word. Our guide survived the genocide along with his father but he lost his other siblings & his mother. You could still see the blood stains on the floor. Unbeliveable is the only word to describe this place and I couldn't help but start to cry. There was no ryhme or reason for these killings perpitrated by a paranoid leader who was a maniac. Over 2 million people died by starvation or murder out of a total population of 7 millon. Next we went to the killing fields where most of the killed were murdered and thrown into mass graves. There were row upon row of mass graves where up to 450 people were buried in each grave. You could still see bits of clothing and shards of bone sticking out of the ground.
When we got back to the city we had a look at the National Museum and the Kings Palace with the Silver Pagoda. Unfotunately, the battery on my camera ran out. The King was in town for the Khemer New Year so all the flags are up. It's the year 2551 for both Khemer and Thai
Phnom Penh
View from the FCC New Year.
In the evening we took a cyclo ride around the city. There were 15 cyclo drivers to take us and it was a great way to see the city and support these guys who are very poor. I don't know how they did it because it was like still 100 degrees out at 5pm and these guys had to peddle us around. They dropped us off at the FCC for drinks before dinner and then we went to dinner at Indochine 2, which also shows movies. We watched one about how Pol Pot came into power. Phnom Penh has a seedy feel to it, like you would run into a russian arms dealer at any moment. It used to be the premier city in SE Asia before the Khemer Rouge took over. You can still see the influence of the French but it is really run down and there is garbage everywhere. Cambodia has only been safe to travel to for only 10 years and the roads are not built up. The other thing I noticed were all the SUVs, Land Cruisers, Hummers, etc. They are owned mostly by the NGOs which there are something like 3000. What
are they doing driving all those big SUVs for.
The next morning we left for our 45 minute flight to Siem Reap.
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