Cambodia, Chapter 2: Phnom Penh

After our jam-packed day/morning at Angkor Wat, we decided to take it easy the following morning and just chill and eat before we had to head to Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh. Unfortunately it was raining absolute cats and dogs when we left Siem Reap, so we cracked out the ponchos!

In a fetching bogey green

Again (surprise surprise!) not only did we have to wait around for the minivan for quite a bit, but despite being told the journey would only be 5 hours, it was a lot longer. If I remember correctly, we left Siem Reap around 1pm but arrived well into the night (around 8 or 9pm I believe). The journey this time was quite terrifying though… Not only were the roads riddled with potholes and the rain relentless in its ferocity, but our driver (having such a long journey on his hands) kept occasionally closing his eyes at the wheel. A friend and I seemed to be the only people on board to notice this and so kept it to ourselves. Not everyone needed to fear for their lives did they? After we arrived in Phnom Penh, we still had the task of finding accommodation so searched online then headed off. One VERY annoying thing I discovered here was the cheek of the tuk tuk drivers. Not being anywhere near a hotel, we obviously hired a tuk tuk to take us to one; but because we didn’t have a reservation at the place he took us to, they tried to increase the room price in order to give him a sort of ‘finder’s fee’. We got real annoyed at this so walked next door and stayed there – and a very nice place it was too. After this kafuffle we just headed out to get some food and have a quick survey of our surroundings then went to bed! 

The next day was the day we’d allocated to the Killing Fields. Apologies now that this post isn’t very nice, but it is interesting and something people need to know about I think. Before arriving in Phnom Penh, I had no knowledge of the Khmer Rouge regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. In fact this was something that really shocked me: that this happened relatively recently, ending only 10 odd years before I was born. And during this short period, under Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge was responsible for the deaths of around two million Cambodians (about a quarter of the population) in a bid to alter Cambodia's political make-up to mirror the communism in China. 

We started with the Choeung Ek Memorial just outside of Phnom Penh, one of hundreds of killing fields around the country. Ticket entry was only 3 USD, but I decided to pay another 3 for an audio guide – very glad I did as it was really interesting and useful, not knowing anything really before I entered the memorial. The buildings that were on the site (processing areas of prisoners for example) were torn down after the regime ended for the building materials, so in place of the structures there are now signs explaining what would have been where. Needless to say, it’s very difficult to express how I felt while wandering around the site, listening to my guide. I think the feeling I experienced most potently was incredulity. It’s so hard to believe something so awful is within human nature. One thing that does make it seem that much more ‘real’ and recent is the fact that even today teeth, bone and clothing fragments are still being unearthed after heavy rainstorms.

Anyway, enough philosophising. I took a few pictures from around Choeung Ek to show people what it was like. 

The memorial itself; the first thing
you see once passing the gate

An example of the signs dotted around - the first one

Left: enclosure of an unearthed mass grave
Right: a close up shot of bracelets that visitors to the site have left, as signs of respect

Mass graves

One of the more gruesome sights

Again, bracelets left as signs of respect

Choeung Ek was built on a former Chinese
burial site, here's an example of one of the grave stones

After the memorial, we headed over to the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum – also known as S-21 Prison. S-21 was a former high school turned prison under the Khmer Rouge. Prisoners from here were either executed here or taken to the killing field. As you may expect, the conditions here were awful. The soldiers of the Khmer Rouge had made several alterations to the structure of the classrooms to create individual ‘cells’ with either stone/brick or wooden walls. Of the thousands taken to this prison, only a dozen survived – presumably for their various skills that the Khmer Rouge soldiers found useful. One such survivor, Chum Mey, was actually there when we visited. 

Pol Pot

From the outside
One of 3 or 4 buildings like this

Overlooking the school's courtyard
Within are the graves of the final victims of S-21.
Vietnamese photographers discovered the prison
after the invasion in 1979

The prison rules:
"1. You must answer accordingly to my questions -
don't turn them away
2. Don't try to hide the facts by making pretexts this
and that. You are strictly prohibited to contest me
3. Don't be a fool for you are a chap who dare to thwart
the revolution
4. You must immediately answer my questions without
wasting time to reflect
5. Don't tell me either about your immoralities or the
essence of the revolution
6. While getting lashes or electrification you must not
cry at all
7. Do nothing, sit still and wait for my orders. If there is
no order, keep quiet. When I ask you to do something,
you must do it right away without protesting
8. Don't make pretext about Kampuchea Krom in order
to hide your secret or traitor
9. If you don't follow all the above rules, you shall get many
lashes of electric wire
10. If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get
either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharge"

Left: a classroom in the school
Right: an artist's drawing of how it was used during the Khmer Rouge

One classroom with crudely built brick walls,
dividing the room into cells

One such cell
Each contained a small hole at the
wall where water and human waste
could drain out

Some of the prisoners

On my way out of Cambodia I actually bought an autobiographical book by a Cambodian woman who was a child during the Khmer Rouge regime. A very interesting read and awful to think, as the author says, this was one story but mirrored by millions. It was First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung for anyone interested - I would highly recommend if you want to learn a bit more about what experiences the Cambodian civilians faced. 

Anyway, as you can imagine, after this emotionally exhausting day we wanted to relax and enjoy the lighter side of Phnom Penh so we enjoyed dinner and drinks and the nightlife – which was amazing! We came across one club in particular, Pontoon, which had great tunes and a great atmosphere (surprising amount of foreigners). The next day we pottered about, me preparing for my 2 week volunteering placement and my pals getting ready for their next Cambodian destination. Having resigned ourselves to a cosy night in watching Pitch Perfect we then went a bit mad and decided to go out again – it being the last, goodbye night. And it was fantastic again. Trying to pinch the pennies a little, we began the night with watermelon Smirnoff vodka and Mon Dieu, it was delicious! Cambodia also has an amazing variety of Fanta flavours which we were super keen to try. 

Taste the rainbow! Oh wait...
All nice except the brown one which both tasted
and smelled like that Deep Heat stuff

The next morning I was instructed to phone my volunteer representative when I was ready to be collected, and after a surprisingly teary goodbye, my travelling companions and I parted ways! Boo hoo! But, onto the next – and final – exciting chapter before I returned home to the UK. 

 Bye for now

xoxo