Running around Phnom Penh

We took the Giant Ibis bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, a journey lasting just over six hours.

The most striking thing about the Cambodian landscape is just how flat it is after coming from the more mountainous regions of Chiang Mai in Thailand and Luang Prabang in Laos. Again, many of the houses were on stilts and there was a lot of rubbish by the side of the road. But overall, the journey wasn’t too bad, the bus was pretty comfy and we got free pastries, water and WiFi.

We still had a couple of hours of daylight left when we arrived in Phnom Penh so we went for a wander to get our bearings. Our hostel was to the south of the city, by the Independence Monument so we went to check that out. We ended up wandering through two park areas, full of locals playing hacky sack, attending exercise classes or using the outdoor gym equipment. It was a great place for people watching and had a lovely atmosphere. There was also the most fancy water fountain I’ve ever seen, it was great to watch!

James had discovered a number of brew pubs in Phnom Penh so we headed to one before dinner. It was a bit odd as it was in a fancy hotel and the beer from James’s perspective wasn’t particularly amazing, however I quite enjoyed it and drank two of the taster beers which for me is pretty impressive!

We went for dinner at a lovely restaurant called Mok Mony, which had a fantastic waiter and a great ethos. Basically they want you to try things you wouldn’t normally and if you don’t like it, you can send it back and order something else free of charge. At the end of the evening, they cook up all the waste food and give it to the homeless. They also had silicon straws which James found particularly interesting! The waiter told us that some people weren’t happy using them as they thought them unhygienic, but as he said, you’ll reuse cutlery so why not straws?

Determined to do some running while I’m out here, I brought my running kit with me and have been traipsing it around hot country after hot country without getting it out once! However a quiet Sunday morning in the parks of Phnom Penh proved to be the perfect place. It may have only been 20 minutes but it was better than nothing!

Cambodia’s dark past

One of the main reasons why people go to Phnom Penh is to visit the Killing Fields and S21. We booked a tuk tuk through our hostel and were joined on the tour by an American lady.

In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge stormed into Phnom Penh and ordered everyone to leave, saying the US were going to drop more bombs and that everyone could return in three days. This was a lie and it was almost four years before the Vietnamese freed the country and people could return to the capital.

Tuol Sleng, or S21 as it is more commonly known, was a school before the Khmer Rouge turned it into a torture chamber and prison. The area is now a museum with a tranquil courtyard dedicated to the memory of those who died here.

Over 20,000 people are thought to have been detained at S21, with only 12 known survivors. Prisoners were held in tiny cells, some for months at a time. They were tortured into giving fake confessions to crimes such as being members of the US CIA. These confessions then gave the Khmer Rouge the excuse to have the prisoners killed (more on this later).

The audio tour we took gave accounts of some of the prisoners, including one New Zealander. His “confession” highlights just how fake these were, with references to Colonel Sanders and Sergeant Pepper as his colleagues in the US Army.

Unsurprisingly, the place is very chilling, but it’s informative and very well done. While not an enjoyable experience, it is an important place to preserve and visit.

From S21 we continued on to Choeung Ek, or the Killing Fields, situated on the outskirts of the city. Many of the prisoners from S21 were taken to the Killing Fields by lorry where they were killed and buried. I won’t go into the details as it’s pretty gruesome and there were some truly horrific stories but again, it was worth a visit to understand the horror that this country has experienced, only 40 years ago.

For a good book about the impact of the Khmer Rouge on ordinary Cambodians, read “First They Killed my Father” (or watch the film). Thanks to Annie for buying it for me before we left.

After the emotionally draining visits, we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Phnom Penh. We went to another brew pub and had a chat to a Californian couple who worked in the brewing industry and were emigrating to New Zealand. We then wandered to the night market before heading back down south for dinner.

Phnom Penh’s other attractions

The next morning, after a fantastic breakfast of real French baguette and peanut butter from the minimart across the street from our hostel, we visited the National Museum, the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda.

The museum was quite interesting, although we ended up doing it the wrong way round! It explained a lot about the history of Hinduism and Buddhism, with lots of statues on display. The building itself was also stunning.

The Royal Palace shuts between 11 and 2 so after a long wander around trying to find somewhere for lunch, we eventually returned to have a look around. Despite having a scarf with me to cover my shoulders, I was told I had to wear a t-shirt with sleeves so had to buy one for $3 before we could go in. We opted not to have an audio guide, which was probably a mistake as there were no signs up so we had no idea what we were looking at!

Oddly enough, we didn’t realise which one was the silver pagoda until we got back to the hostel and looked it up in our travel guide, as it’s not actually silver! The reason for the name is because of the silver floor tiles, but most of these are covered by carpet so as not to ruin them. The buildings were pretty, but overall it was a bit underwhelming!

Our third brew pub was near the hostel and had a number of pool tables so we spent a bit of time there before wandering to the riverside. We (eventually as the door was confusingly shaped like a can of Budweiser!) found a great bar called 5 Drunk Men which was on the fourth floor overlooking the river. They had some electronic dart boards, which were great as you didn’t have to do the maths! Neither of us were particularly good and I got a bit overexcited when I finally threw the winning dart, causing the whole bar to turn round to look at me!

For dinner we went to David’s Homemade Noodles, which is exactly as it’s described! It was interesting watching the chef make the noodles from scratch and they were very tasty.

Our final morning was spent visiting Wat Phnom. It sits on a manmade hill called Phnom Penh (literally translated as Penh’s Hill). In the 1100s, a lady called Penh convinced her neighbours to build a hill and put a temple on it, so they did, and from there the city grew around it.

From there we wandered to the Central Market, which is quite different to other markets we’ve seen over here as there was actually some space and order to it! The centre of the building was full of jewellery counters and had a big clock that reminded me a little of Grand Central Station in New York.

Our final stop was the Olympic Stadium, which was a waste of time as it is deserted and was never actually used to host the Olympics! By then it was time to catch our bus to the south of Cambodia so we headed back to the hostel for the start of our next adventure.

Overall I thought Phnom Penh had a pleasant feel to it, however you probably don’t need more than a couple of days there. One thing we did notice was the striking difference in wealth between those driving round in Rolls Royces, to tuk tuk drivers sleeping in their tuk tuks on the side of the road at night. The driving was also ridiculous, with no rules at junctions and essentially a massive free for all. It made crossing the road fun and being in a tuk tuk a somewhat nerve-wracking experience!