Phnom Penh
09 March 2019
Alison Byers
Up early the next day and off to take the bus to Phnom Penh. We took the VIP bus which gives you more comfortable seats, wifi, snacks and numerous bathroom breaks. It was a 6 hour ride but quite comfortable except the seats were made for Cambodians so were very narrow. As we drove along we saw pretty much the same thing, dried up rice fields, garbage, houses for the poor, or rather shanty shacks, and some houses for the middle class and the rich. Cambodia has about 16 million people and 1.5 of them live in Phenom Penh. As we drove into town we could see the massive amounts of construction currently underway which is mostly housing or hotels. They are all being built with foreign money mostly from China and out of reach for most of the Cambodians. We managed to grab a tuk tuk at the Bus Depot and it was about a 15 minute ride to our hotel. Can’t tell you how crazy the traffic is with trucks, cars, scooters and tuk tuk’s fighting for their piece of the road. We arrived at the hotel and once we were through the front entrance we were in a very upscale and tranquil space. Apparently the building had been renovated in 2011 from an administrative building to a hotel and they did not skimp on much. We were given a quick tour of the hotel facilities and then taken to our room which while not large, had a big shower and a big bead with mosquito netting – yeah!! We got checked in and headed down to the pool for a drink before taking a walk to find somewhere to eat for dinner. We choose a BBQ place where the locals were eating so thought how bad could it be. Well it turned out to be fantastic. We had crab and squid in pepper sauce and some fried rice with some beers. Total bill $15. We had arranged for a tour guide and taxi to take us to Prison 21 which is now the Genocide Museum as well as the Killing Fields, the National Museum, the Grand Palace and Silver Pagoda. Our taxi turned out to be a Toyota Highlander which in Cambodia is pretty posh, and our tour guide was Mona. While we are glad we visited the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields, there are no words to describe what we saw. Pol Pot and the Khmer Regime or better known as the Organization were monsters and killed approximately 2 million people through starvation, torture and execution. I will leave it at that. We only took one picture - the 10th Anniversary Monument. The monument was built to house the remains retrieved from the mass graves. The lowest level houses clothing, then the next levels house the skulls starting with the youngest and moving up to the oldest. The skulls are marked with sex and the reason for their death. The upper levels house the bones starting with the biggest to the smallest. Pat could not go in and while I did, it was very disturbing and I had to leave. The sites are being maintained in hope this abuse of mankind never happens again, but unfortunately it still is. We then stopped for lunch at the Friends Café. This café is a teaching facility for youth to give them training in the restaurant field. They learn cooking skills as well as front house experience. Pat ventured outside of the box and had a Big Bug Burger. The pictures explain it all – he even ate the bugs!! The food was pretty good and we were glad we could support a good cause. We then went to the National Museum and wandered through some very old stuff. What we have found in all the museums we have visited is all of the artifacts are related to their religion and not about the people themselves. Sad this part of their history is missing. We then went on to the Royal Palace. The King in Cambodia is just a figure head and has no power and lives in the Royal Palace. A lot of the site was off limits as it was being renovated or where the King actually lives. Beautiful site and glad to see it was open to the public. We then went to the Silver Pagoda which houses many of the pagodas of the capital. We did see the life size gold pagoda which is 70 kg of solid gold and covered in gemstones. Sorry we weren’t allowed to take any pictures. The Silver Pagoda is named for its silver floor which is covered in 4 inch silver tiles. There were cases and cases of silver and gold artifacts related to the temple and the palace some dating back a 1000 years. From there we headed back go the hotel to relax by the pool, have a swim and have a passion fruit mojito. For dinner we found another local restaurant and had some curry and spring rolls.
The next day we ventured out with our tuk tuk driver who gave us a ride from the train station. First stop, the Russian Market. This market consists of rows and rows of stalls selling everything from pigs cheeks to tuk tuk wheels. We wandering through the rows of stalls for about an hour before heading off to the Central Market. The Central Market is housed in a large art deco building with stalls spilling out onto the streets around the building. This market is a bit different in that there were lots of jewelry kiosks selling better quality stuff as well as some electronics and housewares. We spent another hour venturing through the rabbit warrens of stalls before we had enough shopping!! We were pretty hot by then so we stopped for a couple of beers before heading over to Mekong Island where they have a silk farm. We had to take a ferry across the river to the island which really was not much more than a glorified barge. We then arrived at the silk farm which is run by a co-op of weavers who live on the island. You can see how the silk worms create the silk, how they clean it and spool it, dye it and use it to weave fabric. We purchased a couple of scarves to support them. We then headed back to town, stopped for lunch at a local Khmer restaurant and back to the hotel for a swim and nap. For dinner we ventured out to David’s Homemade Noodles which was just a 5 minute walk from our hotel. They make their own noodles and dumplings and they were delicious. So much so we had 3 plates of dumplings. Back to the hotel to watch some tv.
The next morning we were up and off back to Siem Reap by plane. It was a quick flight and we were picked up at the airport by our hotel. We were lucky to get into our room early and then we headed to Pub Street for lunch. Pat wanted to get a pedicure so we found a spa about a block from the market. We both got pedicures, Pat got a foot scrub and we both had foot massages – all for $38. Going to miss going to the spa once a week! Pizza for dinner and then final packing.
Now we are off to the airport for our flights to Hong Kong, out last stop on our adventure.