So, having left Saigon we headed to the Cambodian border, a couple of hours by bus got us there, the heat was fierce and the border process slightly intimidating but after a payment of $25 and lots of passport stamping we got through without any issues. On the other side of the line we picked up a new bus and headed on toward Phnom Penh the capital city. It was a three hour journey to the city from the border so around half way we stopped at a roadside café and market for refreshments, the snacks were somewhat interesting, mainly insects including spiders, crickets and meal worms I snapped some pictures (see example below) in case people didn't believe me, and no I didn't try any although you could pay 10p and hold a large hairy spider (alive) for photo's, it had to be done..
When we arrived in the city we checked into our hotel and freshened up a bit, later on that evening we took a rickshaw ride around the city, it was slightly terrifying being at traffic level but we did see some interesting sights and got our bearings a bit. After the bike ride we stopped off at a river side restaurant and had some food, unbelievably the food in Cambodia was even cheaper than Vietnam we got back to the hotel at around 9pm, it was still very warm outside but luckily our room had A/C so we slept well ready for a full itinerary the next day.
Most people know about the terrible Pol Pot regime in Cambodia and the killing fields (1975-79) etc. Near to Phnom Penh there are a number of sites preserved from that time including one of the killing fields and also a political prison where people were tortured and abused before they were sent to the killing field, all pretty grim but the people there seemed quite happy to show tourists around and explain the ins and outs of the whole thing, it's amazing how resilient the younger generations are in this country and how keen they are to move on and develop their economy, even if it means dredging up an unpleasant and violent history for the entertainment of ignorant tourists.
The first stop was a "killing field" (there were over 200 in the country) This is where supposed enemies of the regime were sent and killed, the one nearest to the city (in a suburb) was where some 20,000 (est) people were dispatched and the site was hidden away from sight in an old (walled) Chinese cemetery. In the middle of the site there was a large memorial building and inside that were the skulls of all the bodies exhumed from their shallow graves (see above), displayed in a rather stark and confronting way, it made you think!
These bodies were dug up in the 90s and after a while the people doing the excavating gave up, even though they knew there were many more graves. The decision was taken to let the remaining bones lie in peace and to convert the whole site into a memorial that could be visited by people (and tourists like us) As you walk around the place there are still traces of bones and clothes sticking out of the ground and there's a designated walk-way so that these remains aren't disturbed however it's apparently common for things to emerge after heavy rains, it's hard to hide the truth for too long.
Visiting the killing fields was a sobering experience and the history of how it happened very interesting, the question on everyone's lips though was why and I suspect that that will never really have a satisfactory answer. The next place was the old prison in Phnom Penh, it's a building that used to be a school and was constructed in a colonial style (probably by the French) it was another grim place, many people died here in unspeakable ways, from that whole period there were only 7 survivors left to tell the tale, four of whom were children.
After the prison we decamped back to the hotel for a rest and a shower, everyone was pretty quiet and it wasn't until much later that evening that people started talking about what they'd seen.
That evening we took a boat into the middle of the Mekong river (which is still huge at Phnom Penh) and watched the sunset (see above), the new glass and steel office buildings silhouetted in the heat haze. I wasn't sure what to make of this city, we'd only spent two days there and we'd seen some horrific historical sites but you couldn't help but notice the development going on, there were some huge new office complexes being built and the place had a hurried energy about it, the speed of development was epitomised by the wiring in the streets, I just had to snap the picture below, how they ever diagnose faults here I can't imagine!
We left Phnom Penh the next morning and settled in for the long ride to the ancient capital of Cambodia, Siem Reap.
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