Today we left Vietnam. Sad for all of us as we had so enjoyed our time with Tur and all he taught us about the country. The drive to the border crossing took about an hour. Customs offices are not surprisingly rather more modest than at home!
We met our new guide as we crossed into Cambodia. Her name is Tida (actually spelled Thilda); she is the youngest guide we have had and has been doing this only a a short time but is very sweet. She helped us through the process of getting a Cambodian Visa, which cost $35. We then hopped on another bus and arrived in Phnom Penh about 1:00. For lunch, we stopped at another FRIENDS restaurant. We'd been to one in Vientiane.. That's the organization that trains street kids to work in their restaurants. Once again the meal was excellent.
Our hotel in Phnom Penh is the Ohana, just a few doors from Sisowath Quay, the street that runs beside the Tonle Sap River, an excellent location. The afternoon was free so I went with another in the group for a wander about the town and found along the way the Wat Phnom and the Central Market, which was just closing. For supper Tida took most of us to a restaurant close by that was simple but had fine local cuisine. I had an amok, which is a signature Cambodian dish served in a banana leaf. Scrumptious.
Phnom Penh was largely destroyed during the Pol Pot regime in the late 1970s, when the people were evacuated from the city (and most others) and cruelly tortured and murdered. Therefore much of the city had to be rebuilt. It has a lovely waterfront area and some large new hotels and government buildings but is otherwise rather a maze of narrow streets, filled with vehicles, scooters, local markets selling meat, fish and veggies, and, sadly, garbage.
Buildings along Sisowath Quay
Phnom Penh
Inside Wat (temple) Phnom
The old, the new, the wires!
January 7
Today we first visited the Royal Palace, not far from our hotel. It is a massive complex of buildings where King Norodom Sihamoni, son of Norodom Sihanouk, lives. The current king took the throne in 2004. Prior to that he had lived in Paris. He has little actual power, chosing instead the role of figurehead. The Palace property has been well maintained and is quite exquisite.
As a drastic contrast to the Palace, we were then taken to see two of the sites that showed us all too graphically what happened during the Pol Pot regime, first the Museum of Genocide. It had previously been a high school but was turned into a prison in the last half of the 1970s. As many as 20,000 prisoners there were later killed. It was one of about 150 extermination centres throughout the country The museum contains pictures of many of the prisoners held there, and also the conditions under which they were detained. Awful!
Next we went to the Killing Fields (Choeung Ek), a short bus ride from the City. At that site they have built a commemorative stupa, holding the bones of many of the people brutally exterminated there. According to Wikipedia, the Khmer Rouge exterminated up to 2.5 of the 8 million people in the country, including supporters of the former government, intellectuals, professionals and monks. At the Killing Fields they were buried in mass graves after being brutally tortured.
The day ended at a vegetarian restaurant discovered by my fellow Canadians, both vegetarians. Several of us shared a number of dishes. Very good!
Grand Palace
Prison cell at Genocide Museum
Stupa at Killing Fields
January 8
Today was a transfer day, getting by bus the 350 km. between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, our last stop on the trip. That journey took us 8 hours, because of the condition of the roads. Almost the entire distance is under construction, and has been for about 4 years. Heaven knows when it will be completed. We have always stopped regularly along the way on these long journeys, for bathroom and lunch breaks Thank goodness. Our lunch stop today was beside a lake and a welcome relief from the bumpy ride.
We arrived in Siem Reap about 4:30, and checked into our last hotel for this trip, the Ankor Holiday. Again, well situated just outside the busy downtown area. Just time for a walk about and meal before ending the day. This town is filled with markets!! Oh my!
Homes beside the road
At our lunch stop
