Phnom Penh

Monday 12 January 2009

Phnom Penh is my last stop in Cambodia before venturing on to Vietnam. Its the capital city but its very different to Siem Reap or Battambang. First of all there is no red dust or as the Cambodians call it Cambodian Snow! Everything is pretty well maintained, its a lively buzzing city. The main attraction to Phnom Penh is S21 and the Killing Fields and behond that is probably the night live. S21 and the Killing fields are a shocking reminder as to what went on in Cambodia only 30+ years ago during the Khmer Rouge rule...most of which I knew very little about before I start this trip

S21 was originally a school but during the during the Pol Pot regime this building was transformed into a prison and a zone of unimaginable torment. The class rooms were all turned into torture chambers and equipped with various instruments to inflict pain, suffering and death. The museum today shows many of the instruments that were used to punish the people and many graphic pictures of some of the 17,000 people that passed through the place.
A little further out side of town is The Killing fields. This is where most of the people who were detained in S21 were executed and buried in large pits. The area now has a large glass building which displays 8000 skulls of victim and their discarded clothes.

Cambodia Highlights

• Best Meal :- Fish Amok
• Best Beer :- Angkor Beer
• A must visit place :- Angkor Wat, Siem Reap...try Battambang also
• A must try when in Cambodia :- Sticky Rice & Black Beans cooked in Bamboo tubes!