Phnom Penh

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Grand Palaces and Killing Fields

As we explored Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh we noticed quite a few difference between it and what we had just left in Ho Chi Minh City; with its slowly encroaching Westernisation and modernisation. Phnom Penh was quite a grimy, dirty city with a small town feel with reminders of its turbulent past all around.

We first visited 'The Killing Fields', the remains of massive open graves from the Khmer Rouge attrocities of the 1970s, but apart from a few big holes in the ground, some basic signs in English and an eerie tower of skulls (which was genuinely chilling) there wasn't much else there. So when we visited S-21, the former school then later concentration camp / detaining centre and found a well-maintained war crimes museum with masses of information and photos we finally felt that we got a good grasp of what had actually gone on there during those turbulent years.

We also found time to visit he Palace and home of the King of Cambodia, and the silver pagoda, all of which were worthy of any nations capital and provided a stark contrast to the majority of the rest of the city, and to be honest without whcih, Phnom Penh would have seemed like any other small city.All of these magnificent buildings were reminders of a grander (and less violent) past when the Cambodian Khmer dominated most of South East Asia.

Dark streets and a blackout

At night the griminess of the city became ever more apparent, with most of the main streets poorly lit and trash everywhere, it almost felt like an Asian version of Naples. However despite this the city didn't seem as dangerous as its reputation suggested, there were women and children everywhere until until the late hours of the evening, making it feel safe to walk down even the darkest of areas. Some of the busy restaurants and bars even had quie a cosmopolitan feel to them, at least offering some hint to a cleaner and brighter future. (Although the random power cut that blackened an entire block just put it in perspective how far it has to go to catch up with its more advanced and wealthier neighbours). The constant thunder and lightning in the night skies over the river also gave it quite an eerie feeling in the evening, with it constantly feeling like a storm was brewing only for it to be hot and calm the following morning.

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Photos

Shrine like a star
Awful pun

Tower of skulls
Pretty chilling

S-21
You thought your school was bad...

Exercise frame
Neck-exercising frame

More S-21
People were held here for months, sometimes years before being taken to the killing fields

Size of some of the cells
We spent a good couple of hours in S-21 and felt drained afterwards