Phnom Penh

The border crossing from Vietnam into Cambodia was a lot simpler than getting into Vietnam. On the bus I took there was a guy who told us in good english what was happening every time we stopped. At the border he took our passports and helped us with the visas. It was very refreshing to travel with a company so professional as its something that is a bit lacking in other places. Upon arriving in Pnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, the bus was swarmed by tuk-tuk drivers all clamouring for business. I got talking to an englishman and a welshman who were going to the same area as I had in mind to scout out hostels so we three jumped in a tuk-tuk together. Our driver had impressive English so it was a nice start to Cambodia. We actually had a chat with him whenever we got stuck in traffic. He brought us to the 'backpacker area' which turned out to be a little shanty town jammed onto the side of a lake. It was a bit odd and looked really dodgy but there were tourists ambling about so we looked at a couple of hostels. We found one to our taste that wasnt too run down and arranged to go on a tour of the main spots the next day with our new friend, Lee the tuk-tuk driver. So pretty happy with our day's work so far the three of us went in search of some grub and a few beers. We didnt go too nuts though as tomorrow was going to be a long day.

After a quick brekkie the following morning I join the two boys and hop in Lee's tuk-tuk. A brief aside here: i'm always amazed at how different tuk-tuks are in different places. In each country they have been a bit different and not like the trikes I was used to in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. Anyway back to Pnom Penh and we swiftly arrive at Cheoung Ek, or the killing fields as they are commonly known. This is an area just outside the city where tens of thousands of people were brought to be killed and buried in mass graves by the Communist regime of the Khmer Rouge. They were in power for less than 4 years in the late 1970s but managed to kill (allegedly) up to a third of the country's population. This and more I learned on this day mostly through a video they showed at the museum at the killing fields. Walking around the area and looking at the mass graves where hundreds of people were simply thrown in on top of each other was a truly sobering experience. They have built a monument to all the people who died there which houses their bones. Its a pretty depressing trip to make. After seeing everything here we got back into our tuk-tuk and made our way to the prison where most of these people were kept before their execution. First of all though we got some lunch at a local place on the way where Lee helped by ordering as they didnt speak english. He joined us and told us a bit about himself. He was too young to have experienced the Khmer Rouge but his parents lived through it. He also told us he had been taking English lessons for only 3 years which was astonishing considering his ability to hold a conversation. Soon we were on our way again to the prison known as S-21. In this former school people were tortured and held before being sent on to the killing fields. Walking around this place was very harrowing and you got a feel for what these people were put through simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. To witness a place where some unspeakable acts of cruelty were perpetrated was scary. There were pictures on the walls which left you in no doubt as to the suffering that occurred there. There is an entire building filled with the pictures of people who were held in the prison and they do not account for every resident of the building. Visiting somewhere like that made me realise how lucky I am to have been born in a country that has not seen any significant war in almost 100 years. It continues to shock me the potential for such inhumane acts in some humans.

We tried to inject something less depressing into the day by visiting the market on our way back to the hostel. Later that night we got an “all you can eat” indian which turned out to be a platter of dishes on a school dinner tray as the lads called it. It was nice and quite filling but I dont think the owner understands just what he has written on his sign. After that we went across the road to a place called 'The Magic Sponge' and met a Mancunian called Tony who owned the place. We had a good laugh with him as he's all about the banter and he even got me to do dj for a while when we started requesting songs. He recommended a bar for us after we finished in his and called over a tuk-tuk. This bar turned out to be more of a brothel than a bar so we didnt hang about here. They didnt want to let me take my camera in with me either. The following day I was on a bus to Sihanoukville to sample the beaches of Cambodia for a few days while the other two were off to Siem Reap to see Angkor. It had been an interesting few days in Cambodia's capital.