II. Cambodia
Chapter I. Phnom Penh
Day 15 Crossing the Border
We’ve spent much of the day in the bus. It was supposed to take us 6hrs, but it’s closer to 8. And there’s the border crossing, which also takes time because of all the passport checks.
Once we arrive in Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia), we notice that ,unlike in Vietnam, you can’t hail taxis. We’re gonna have to rely on tuk tuks to get by.
Thankfully, our hotel is on the riverfront (with a great view on the backstreet…), at walking distance of the major attractions. So, we shouldn’t have too much trouble to get from one place to the next. It’s already dark. We go out for dinner.
We’re shocked to see that, compared to what the Lonely Planet indicates, all prices have gone up and some almost doubled. But Quinn has heard of this restaurant run by an aid organisation and whose benefits go to charity. So, tonight is going to be a bit expensive, but it’s for a good cause.
I can’t remember what the food was. But I know I had duck leg with some kind of fruit sauce. And Quinn got chocolate spring rolls for dessert.
Not much to do tonight. We’re both tired.
We get back at the hotel at 10pm and book our bus for Sihanoukville in two days time. We’re only in Phnom Penh for one day, so tomorrow, we’re going to move a lot.
Day 16 The Killing Fields
Apparently, there’s a lot to do in Phnom Penh. You can even shoot a rocket launcher if you fancy it. We choose to visit the National Museum and the Royal Palace in the morning, and the Killing Fields in the afternoon.
However, on the way, a driver convinces us to go to the Killing Fields first, before it gets too hot. I know the traffic will be awful, but he has a point. Let’s go for the fields, then. One thing for sure, I was right about the traffic.
Just like the Vietnamese with the war, the Khmers suffered a lot during the 1970s. When the Khmer Rouge came into power in 1975, thousands of people were detained, tortured, and executed. Between 1975 and 1978, about 17.000 men, women, and children were transported to the extermination camp of Choeung Ek – infamously known today as The Killing Fields.
The admission to the fields includes an optional audio tour that I highly recommend.
It is told by one of the survivors of the Khmer regime and there are multiple records and testimonies from the family of the victims and from the executioners themselves.
Also, many buildings have been destroyed by vengeful locals when the Khmer Rouge abandoned the city. So, sometimes, there’s nothing but a sign describing something that used to be there.
The remains of thousands of people were exhumed in 1980 from mass graves. A lot of them have been left untouched. There are still frangments of human bones and bits of cloth scattered around the area.
Victims were often bludgeoned to death to avoid wasting bullets. In the audio tour, the guide even explains that soldiers used tree bark to slit the throat of their victims. I’ll never look at palm trees the same way ever again.
In this grave, the bodies have no head. Some of them were Khmer soldiers who tried to rebel or run away.
This is the ‘Magic Tree’. To cover the sounds of the slaughter, music was played from speakers hanging from the tree.
Thanks to the audio guide, I also learned that, at the same time, the soldiers would turn on a loud power generator, which,combined with the music, creates a terribly disturbing sound. It reminded me a lot of the movie Jacob’s Ladder.
This was often the very last sound that the defenseless prisoners would hear before being beaten to death.
But the most horrifying is yet to come‌ This is the Killing Tree, against which babies and children were beaten to death!
There’s a quiet lake nearby that you can walk to. With such a peaceful setting, today, it’s difficult to comprehend the horrors that took place in these fields.
Finally, in the middle of the field, you can enter a Memorial Stupa (erected in 1980) that contains the skulls of 8000 victims, arranged by sex, age, and by the way they had been executed.
A visit to The Killing Fields is a chilling, moving experience that is (as the Lonely Planet says) ‘essential for understanding just how far Cambiodia has come in the intervening years’. But as the guide explains, this is not the first or the last case of genocide in the world. Sadly, something similar is likely to happen again somewhere.
After two hours in the fields, we get back to the city .
For lunch, we go to what we thought would be a cheap restaurant. But like everywhere else, prices have gone up. Lucky for us, they also have a buffet.
After lunch, we walk to the museum. There are plenty of food stalls along the way. If we knew anything about Cambodian street food, we could have tried some.
But with this heat, I doubt anything’s fresh anyway.
The Lonely Planet says: ‘the museum is home to the world’s finest collection of Khmer sculptures’. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to take pictures inside.
I took this one anyway in the entrance. This is a garuda, a half-man, half-bird creature – and the vehicle of the god Vishnu.
Quinn didn’t see the sign at all. She took great pictures of these guards. One with the head of a monkey, the second, the head of a lion, and the last one, of a bird.
I’m sure taking pictures of people working was fine. They were setting up the bas-relief of a wall, piece by piece.
The only place you’re allowed to take pictures is in the courtyard.
The Royal Palace is only a couple of blocks from the museum.
We didn’t stay too long because they closed 1h later. It’s interesting to see though, how much the structure and the layout bear a resemblance to the Royal Palace in Bangkok.
Nagas (right). Multi-headed snake and enemy of garudas. They control the rain, and thus, the prosperity of the kingdom The 7 headed naga represents the rainbow - a bridge between Heaven and Earth
One bride for each day of the week? That’s what their names (Monday, Tuesday…) suggest.
Near the Palace is the Silver Pagoda complex.
Outside, people are playing ethnic music.
And there’s also a small exhibition.
When the Palace closes, we’re back on the riverside.
Wat Phnom is the only ‘hill’ in town. We expect to have a nice view of the sunset from there.
It stands on top of a 27m high staircase. But because of all the trees, you can’t see the sun.
At the top, there’s a temple (Wat Phnom) where people come to pray for good luck.
Kala (top left), the temple guardian appointed by Shiva, had such an appetite that he has devoured his own body. He appears in many temples in Cambodia.
For dinner tonight, we go to a pretty good Mexican restaurant.
And then, to ‘Blue Pumpkin’ that serves the capital’s best ice cream.
After such a long day, I can safely say that we will we sleep right away. Still, once the bags are packed, it’s already quite late and we gotta get up early to catch the bus to Sihanoukville.
Sometimes, I wish that days had more than 24hrs‌