Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Cambodia is a hard country to experience but I feel like it is a place we had to see. I had been warned before arriving that both Vietnam and Cambodia will leave you with a heavy heart and my aunt wasn't joking. Nothing can prepare you for getting off an airplane and being faced with the poverty and destruction that has happened to this country in the past 30 years. About 20% of the people here live on just $1 a day, few have running toilets, go to school, and many don't have enough food to feed their families. I can't say this will be an easy post or full of happy thoughts or sights but it is an honest post of what we heard, saw, smelled, and experienced in our 2.5 days in the city.

Day 1:

We flew from Saigon to Phnom Penh on a small prop plane and before we even reached our highest altitude we were coming down for a landing. As the capital's airport there were few hassles through customs and just a small runway. We had accidentally checked our extra passport photos so we had to pay $4 to the government for our visa since we didn't have them along with $40 for visas. In Vietnam we secured our visas before we left, but here it is advised that it is quicker at the airport.

After collecting our luggage we took off in an old 1980's era Toyata Camry to our hotel. It was the same car my sister had that lasted for over 300k miles. We noticed shortly after leaving that almost 90% of the vehicles are Toyata's or Lexus's with a preference for Toyata Camry. The ride only took about 20 minutes but we felt like we stepped back in time. The hustle of people, honking, and noise of Saigon had passed and we seemed to be in a small city. Since people here make such little money most take tuk-tuk's or open air trailers pulled by motorcycles. We saw everything from mattresses, lunch carts, foam, and up to 8 people being transported at once.

One thing we noticed when trying to get currency at the airport is that Cambodia's main currency of use is the United States Dollar. They do have a local currency but it is only used when making change from $2 for something that is $1.5. It is funny to be in Cambodia and go to an ATM and get out USD. The Khmer Rouge abolished all money systems in favor of bartering and it wasn't until 1995 that the French government assisted Cambodia with printing Riels to encourage use of their money over USD. As a result items are more expensive, such as food and transportation, compared to Vietnam. In Vietnam we would have paid $5 for a nice dinner but here we pay $15.

We chose a hotel in central Phnom Pen (PP) which was about 4 blocks from the water and a great starting point for our sights. We dropped our bags off, at an upgraded room with a window, and left for Wat Phnom. The temperatures here are were over 100 so we were slower travels on foot, but travels on foot nonetheless.

Wat Phnom is on a hill overlooking the northern part of town and part of the central French Quarter. Legend has it that in the 14th century Madame Penh discovered four statues of Buddha originally from Laos that were carried to Cambodia by the river. With the help of villagers she built a pagoda to house the Buddhas on the hill. Phnom means hill, so this town is the hill of Madame Penh. We paid $2 (foreigner visit fee) to walk to the top, take a few photos, and hang out with the monkeys.

After the wat we tried to walk the French Quarter and view old restored villas but the heat got the best of us and took a tuk-tuk to town for $2. We had a nice dinner along the water and just people watched for the rest of the evening.

Day 2:

We hired a tuk-tuk for the day for $30 and it was money well spent. The driver recommended going to Choeung Ek, the "killing fields", for the morning since it was a bit overcast and we might beat the heat. It was about an 45 minute drive and a long one. All along the way Billy and I were very aware that this was the path thousands of Cambodians took from town in trucks to be executed. About 20,000 people were taken here from Tuol Sleng, the interrogation center in PP and killed and put in mass graves, much like Auschwitz. The Khmer Rouge was trying to cleanse people for being traitors to the cause which included doctors, teachers, journalists, and their own soldiers. In all about 2 million people died under Pol Pot's genocidal regime from about 1975-1979.

There are 120 graves at Choeung Ek, and about 85 have been excavated and catalogued. A pagoda has been built out of glass to show respect for the victims. It consists of 17 levels, each with a distinct purpose. When walking around it was hard not to see the pain in others. There were tears, heads shaking, and lots of silence. Regardless of whether they were Germans, Japanese, English, American, or French the emotions were all the same. We spent about 1.5 hours walking the fields, reading, and slowly trying to understand what happened. Even after walking around we both felt feelings of anger. It was ironic as we walked because with a cloud of sadness came laughter from a school just next door. There were about 100 kids playing just outside the fence where 30 years ago their fellow countrymen were buried. I wasn't sure whether to think of it as progress or just a strange joke.

After the killing fields we went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21). It is a series of four buildings where interrogation, cataloging, and torture of victims took place. Some were housed in small cells and others in large rooms depending on their class. Large numbers of the people were catalogued with numbers, photographs and biography taken. After confessing their sins their confessions would be attached to their photos so on display you could see the entire biography of a Cambodian citizen. When the Vietnamese entered PP in 1979 they captured S-21 and saved most of the archives, which with the help from East German experts they turned into the Auschwitz type museum.

After a heavy morning we headed to the Russian Market for lunch and some casual shopping. Our tuk-tuk driver Pen would just wait and sleep as we toured the sights. He even told us that what we paid was a good deal on some items. Billy and I don't do much negotiating on prices here in Cambodia. We both had nice shakes for lunch to try and escape the heat but it didn't work to well.

Our final stop of the day was the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. We only had about 1.75 hours left before it closed and we had to leave Pen so we hired a guide so we weren't guessing at the what we were seeing.

We were able to go inside the Throne Hall and Silver Pagoda but unfortunately the camera battery died just before the Silver Pagoda. We did learn that the stupas in the courtyard house ashes of the deceased kings. There are three levels to each. The first has their physical items such as combs, clothing, food, etc that were their favorites and they might need in their next life. The second has their ashes, and the third has a Buddha.

The Silver Pagoda is the royal chapel and has an estimated 5,000 silver floor tiles on the floor. It has wonderful Buddhas on display and our guide gave us a wonderful description of each and what each hand position means.

After being dropped off by Pen we rested for an hour in the AC and then went out for dinner. We settled on a traditional Khmer restaurant for dinner and an American bar for drinks and smoothies. After dinner we had a one hour leg massage. I didn't think it was as good as the one in Saigon but it did the job.

Day 3:

Billy woke up not feeling 100% so we decided to take it easy. He thinks it was due to all of the dust from driving the previous day so he is trying to cleanse his system with drugs the pharmacist said would work wonders.


We ate breakfast at a restaurant along the water which supports disadvantaged youths and watch the progression of the monks going to collect food and offerings from citizens. Our waiter went out five times to great different monks and receive a blessing. We didn't take photos out of respect but it was a beauitful thing to watch.


First on our agenda was the main market. It is currently being restored so most stalls are in the streets. People here don't hassle you as much as other cities but we left after an hour of not seeing anything that spoke to us.

Next we took a tuk-tuk to the National Museum. It is a relaxing open air museum that shows the greatest collection of remaining Angkor work. Billy and I then walked around the artist area and a second area known for lots of ex-pats and fun shops. We didn't buy anything but stopped for a great lunch of pineapple juice, apple juice, and two orange ice creams.

We took a tuk-tuk from here to a pepper store to buy some peppers for the owners of The Spice Tin in Murphys and returned to the hotel for a nap.

We finished the day with a nice cheap dinner and time at the internet cafe. Tomorrow we catch the 7am bus to Siem Reap.