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Published: April 4th 2010
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Tuol Sleng Genocide Centre
A former high school used to torture and murder Cambodians.
Headed by Ieng Sary, who is presently on trial, 35 years later. Video Above:
This is the intersection you see from the Capitol Hotel restaurant.
Try walking across the road here. And, if you're a foreigner,
add the additional harassment of moto dops buzzing you
at the same time . Sometimes the video doesn't seem to work CAMBODIA,
Click on any photo for larger view.
Scroll Down. Note, that there are
26 photos.
Flight:AIR
From Bangkok to Phnom Penh with the discount airline, AIR ASIA:
It was mealtime during the flight:
'Would you like dinner?' the flight attendant asked me.
'What are my choices?'
'Yes or no,' she replied. That was a joke.
But you do have to buy any food or beverage, including water.
You even have to pay to change your assigned seat to the one next to you or next to your travelling mate.
Cambodian Visa The good thing about flying into Cambodia is that you can get an entry visa
at the fair price ($20) when landing at the airport.
Trying to get a visa at the land border crossings often results in a "surcharge"
or they will only accept Thai baht at a very unfair exchange rate.
Genocide Murderers
Ieng Sary (centre), Pol Pot (bottom) et al.
Lots have died, few are on trial, some are in the government. See the movie, "The Killing Fields"
Even the Cambodian embassies manage to squeeze some more from you
by offering an express visa in 5 minutes or else you can come back in three days.
Another scam is that Cambodian embassies may offer a three month visa.
These are not valid. They can only offer a one month visa.
You can also get a visa online for $25.
As you exit the airport you have to choose transport to the city as you
run the gauntlet of taxis, moto dops, tuk-tuks, then bargain.
I went to the Central Market area but unless you know the area it is easier
to go to the river front where everything is better laid out.
Phnom Penh: Traffic in Asian cities is generally atrocious.
Pedestrian rights are non-existent.
Both facts are brought to the extreme in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Sidewalks are wide but they are used for parking and business.
Asians don't walk as much as foreigners, unless they're poor.
Pedestrians are on the low end of the totem pole when it comes to right of way.
It's common for cars and moto bikes to drive against the traffic,
Wat Phnom
Birthplace of the city.
Located on a grassy hilltop, Wat Phnom is the main temple and namesake of Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital city. so even if you're crossing a one
way street, be sure to look both ways.
I see foreigners that were here last year and the year before.
The waitresses have been at the same job for the last 10 years and
they still only know enough English to take an order. There's not much incentive in Cambodia when the average person is making about $70 per month working 29 days a weeks.
Food dishes in Cambodia are not nearly at par with Thailand.
Some western-style fast food places are starting to pop up, including KFC.
At the other end of the spectrum are restaurants with exotic menus
which cater to the government officials , crooks and NGOs. They offer
dishes like geoduck, a large saltwater clam with a life span of up to 150 years,
even though it comes from the west coast of Canada, I have never seen before.
(see photo)
Some dishes like goeduck and the over rated shark fin soup go for up to $150 in this restaurant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoduck Some places have been around a long time.
The Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC)
was
Central Phnom Penh
There are lots of rooms available in this area of the city.
Go to the river front for better ones. quickly opened in 1993 when an entrepreneur heard the UN was coming to Phnom Penh
with a large daily expense account and that there were few places to spend it.
The Cat House is Phnom Penh's oldest still existing bar. Up until recently it had
Philippina staff.
Sharkey's bills itself as "The longest running Rock n Roll Bar in IndoChina"
The first time I came here in 1997 Boeung Kak Lake, in the northern part of the city
had one or two backpacker guest houses.
Now the whole
area is overflowing with businesses to cater to backpackers.
It's the Khao Sarn Road of Phnom Penh.
In '97 I stayed at Cloud Nine, which had spiked brownies
on the bar the way bars have peanuts nowadays.
In the evenings everyone would
gather to watch the sunset. Picturesque it was, even though the toilets stood on stilts
over the lake. Now, Boeung Kak Lake is 75%!l(MISSING)and fill for new development and it looks sterile.
The Kmer Rouge and Tuol Sleng Feb 2009, thirty years after the crimes of the Kmer Rouge,
Ieng Sary, the commandant
Hotel View
Hey! Don't complain! You're lucky to get a window. of the Tuol Sleng prison, was the first senior Khmer Rouge member to face trial for the communist regime’s crimes. The trial is still going on today.
See the movie, "The Killing Fields" to get an idea of the atrocities committed.
These trials are paid for by the United Nations. The Cambodian government isn't encouraging them
because a lot of the old Kmer Rouge murderous regime is in the present government.
Pol Pot, the number one offender, died at age 69 in 1998 peacefully in his sleep.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum Currency: American dollars are accepted as easily as the local riel by hotels and restaurants.
But if you've got an American $100 dollar bill that is old or dirty or slightly torn, no money
changer will take it. It's worthless here unless you're willing to accept a deep discount rate.
The local currency bills, in riel, have been passed around for ever.
Some are difficult to distinguish from trash but they're all readily accepted.
News Items: Feb 25, 2010 in Cambodian Daily:
Genetically produced flightless female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are being introduced
to slow spread of the 50 million dengue fever
Looking for a sympathetic ear.
Capitol Hotel open restaurant. Lots of regulars getting into
problems. Money stolen, motor bike stolen, passport stolen. cases each year.
A new anti-malarial drug (DHA-Piperaquine) is to be introduced next year.
Malaria is responsible for a million deaths annually.
Northern Cambodia:
Two men arrested for attempted murder of a claimed Sorcerer.
What is it with these institutionalized religions? Headlines usually concern the abuse in the Catholic
Church but today (April 4, 2010) the headline over is:
A duo of Buddhist monk and a private citizen have been accused
of pandering to paedolphiles in Chiang Mai, running a child-sex ring. The photo will break your heart.
see:
Child-Sex-Monk Bangkok Post, April 13, 2010: Iran hanged three people convicted of drug trafficking.
Iran also has the death penalty for murder, rape, drug trafficking, armed robbery and
adultery. Take a look at my previous Travel Blogs.
Go to www.MyTB.org/nomad1979
then scroll down through the last 40 entries .
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Ed Davis
non-member comment
Thanks
Nice informative posting abd photos.... thanks