Day 11-14 Phnom Penh 27th - 30th July
Phnom Penh by speedboat James Bond style(the only way to roll) on the 27th of July. I went to get some accommodation at the lake, a particularly touristy area. I got a room but planned to move on the next day and meet up with Frida whom I met in Phu Quoc.
That afternoon i had a walk around town to get my bearings and it was pretty good, walked to the tallest point in PP, being a whopping 27m high. After that highlight I decided to trek along the river to the national museum. This was a bit of a hoax really, there was not much there, the most impressive thing was the courtyard in the middle.
On day 2 I moved hotels, i would really recommend the OK Guesthouse $4USD, it went above my expectations of being just ok. That afternoon i went to the Killing fields and a place called s-21. This was a sobering day, going to the killing fields was pretty horrific but it did lack the human touch that you would experience going to say Dachau a Nazi Concentration camp. The place was amazing though, over 14000 people murdered and buried there. There were a series of deep holes where they had exhumed bodies and had some remains on display. Most of the bodies where bludgeoned to death, and you could see all the fractures in their skulls. S-21 was a museum where they had tortured and killed people during the time the Khmer Rouge were in power, in 1975-79. Most of the people that were tortured there ended up at the killing fields. I think this day would have had even more impact if i had seen the way they people had been treated first. It was quite a depressing way to spend the afternoon but something that had to be done.
That night it was Frida’s birthday so about 12 of us went out to dinner and then went to a great club called Heart of Darkness. It was a really good night!
Next day was more of a recovery, about four of us decided it would be fun to catch the 12 hour train to Battembang, so we could sit on the roof of the train. We woke on the 30th at 5:30am so we could get on the 6:20 train. Upon arrival at the station we were told there are no trains until Saturday. So I decided to head for the beach, and caught a great bus down to this place called Sihanoukville and found a room 25m to the water for $2.50 a night at ‘The Nap House’ it was absolute gold. You could have a beer in really comfy chairs on the sand with the water lapping at your feet. Cocktails $1.50, dinner $2.50 and the water is high 20’s!
Tags>> Border crossing Cambodia Dachau Killing Fields Phnom Penh S-21
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