After a lengthy journey of 6 hours (was supposed to take 5) we arrived in Phnom Penh on Friday 22nd January. Our trusty guide Clyde had mapped out the route to our hotel from the bus station so after hauling our backpacks onto our backs, and avoiding the taxi drivers fighting for our business, we began our walk 4 blocks down the road to find our home for the next few days. We stopped briefly at the second corner just to confirm we were heading in the right direction and a very helpful security guard stepped out of his post and kindly helped us on our way. This is the kind of friendliness we were to get used to during our time here.
Once we had arrived and checked into our rooms, we headed out for dinner as our tummies were grumbling quite loud! Our trusty guide already had it covered and Clyde managed to find us a great little spot a few blocks down which was filled with a number of bars and restaurants. We settled on the Herb Restaurant and tucked into some lovely meals served to us by a great local who was clearly in training. He was so softly spoken and the most apologetic when Lara’s meal got taken to the wrong table, one of the many Cambodians to steal our hearts in this town. After dinner and some cards the team were pretty shattered from our 5.30 am rise so we headed back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep in preparation for our day ahead.
We woke up nice and fresh on Saturday morning and made our way to Penny Lane for breakfast. Once we had taken in the days newspapers and eaten ourselves full we found ourselves a pair of tuk tuk drivers and negotiated a rate for the various spots we wanted to see. The first of which was the S-21 museum. This used to be a grand old school which was converted into a prison and torture centre during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. It’s a heart wrenching exhibition and brings to life the incredible pain and suffering which the Cambodian people suffered at the hands of these extremists not all that long ago in our history.
After a weary walk through the museum we took our tuk tuk to the Killing Fields. An area just 16 km’s outside of the city centre were Khmer Rouge soldiers took men woman and children to be executed. Over 100 mass graves were found at this spot and now an incredible monument stands in their place to commemorate those who died so needlessly there.
Once we had paid our respects we left with heavy hearts in search of a lighter sight and were thrilled when our fabulous tuk tuk drivers dropped us outside the Royal Palace. This was the point at which we said goodbye to this lovely pair of locals and Mr Wyt and his friend were ever so grateful for the tip we left them (every cent is so important to the people here who literally have nothing) and left us on the side of the road with beaming smiles and big waves as they drove off.
The Royal Palace is just incredible, it’s used to house the current King and sure is as sight to behold. Once we’d marvelled at the spectacle, we decided it was time for a snack and to rest our weary legs, so we set off along the river in search of a restaurant. Once again our team tour guide Clyde found us a lovely spot on the first floor which had incredible views over the river and down the street and some pool for the boys.
After a little rest back at the hotel we found our favourite tuk tuk driver and another one of his friends and headed for the famous “Gym” bar. While the girls enjoyed a bottle of wine and some dinner the boys got stuck into what eventually turned out to be a mammoth pool game. We ended up only leaving the bar at 2 am once the final victors where decided (If you guys didn’t hear Ali and Leise gloating about “The Greatest comeback of all time” from here I’m surprised..!!!) and were thoroughly exhausted and fell into bed.
Our stay in Phnom Penh was eye opening to say the least, here are our highlights and lowlights:
- What fabulous people, despite their desperate state of poverty you are never far from a smiling face happy to help
- This city is a little unsafe (not that we experienced any troubles ourselves) so we were a little nervous in the evenings and kept our bags and cameras close at all times
- The S-21 museum and The Killing Fields are an excellent history lesson on a fairly recent event which few of us knew that much about
- Riding the tuk tuk up the wrong side of the road in heavy traffic – these guys are crazy!
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