Days 53/54 - Siem Reap/Phnom Penh
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Thursday 30th September
Friday 1st October
Another early start as I was picked up from the guesthouse at 8:20am for transfer to the office of the company for which I'd booked the mini-van to Phnom Penh. We departed at 9am with 3 Westerners (all Aussies) and a few Cambodians in a spacious mini-van for the 165km trip. For the 4.5 hour trip (!) we were even supplied with a bottle of water and cake. We stopped halfway at Kampong Thom for a bathroom/snack break - I was just glad to be stopped, as even though the road is sealed all the way, it is not a very smooth ride!!
We arrived into Phnom Penh at about 1:30pm, and the fight for customers was on from the tuk-tuk drivers. I wasn't even out of the van when a man had grabbed me and started pulling me towards his vehicle!
First impressions of Phnom Penh are that it's a town of complete contrasts. On one side, there are numerous mansions and impressive embassies lining the streets - very similar to Hedges Avenue on the Gold Coast, with large walls and security out the front. There must be a big ex-pat community here as well, as there are an equally impressive number of large apartments. Then on the flip side, there are UN and Unicef vehicles roaming the streets, and children and amputees beg at every opportunity - even in restaurants or the middle of traffic.
The guesthouse was located in one of the 'nice' areas, and I quickly dumped my bag and handed in my washing (almost every outfit!) for cleaning. I had assumed whilst in Siem Reap that there would be ample malls and 'Western'' style shops everywhere in PP, given it was a city of 1.3 million people. Except of course, that was not to be - which is good, the fact that Western culture has not completely infiltrated here! (Still no signs of a McDonalds!!) I asked at the front desk where the 'best' mall was, as I needed to stock up on a few things - a razor, pair of shoes, Delhi guidebook etc. He directed me to Sorya Mall, so I headed over in a tuk-tuk. Except ... this was nothing like I was expecting. It was more like 6 stories of market stalls, with each level having a different theme (shoes; accessories; IT). Epic fail for what I wanted ...
I decided to acquaint myself with PP streets by walking and attempting to find somewhere for lunch/dinner. On the way to the guesthouse we'd passed numerous tempting bakeries (the French influence), and I thought it would be easy to find one. Um ... no. I must have walked in the wrong direction, because I found nothing like what I was looking for! In the end I asked a motorbike taxi driver to take me to Lucky Supermarket (like Siem Reap, they sold Vegemite and Aussie Cadbury chocolate) but I left empty-handed, catching another motorbike back to the guesthouse.
Next door to the guesthouse was a nice looking cafe, so I had my normal lunch/dinner at 5pm, consisting of a spinach burrito. It tasted absolutely foul and took up the whole plate - I had a few bites and then retreated nicely into the internet cafe next door for an hour on the web. Last item on the agenda was a manicure, and I stopped in at the beauty salon under the guesthouse for the worst manicure I've ever had ... shoddy old polish poorly applied ... I could have done better myself, and that's saying something!
Friday was my only real full day of sightseeing (Saturday was a write-off with the AFL Grand Final). I had a 'minor' sleep-in, waking at about 9am and wandering down to a nearby cafe for breakfast of an omelet and toast. Whilst the toast was relatively normal (nice thick rye toast - not full of sugar thank goodness!), the omelet had two special ingredients - onion and chilli. Whilst I love my onions, my tastebuds have not yet been de-sensitised to chilli, despite efforts in Singapore and Thailand, and I hate to hunt them out for fear of burning my throat further.
The number 1 'attraction' (I use that word very loosely) for the day was the 'Killing Fields', about 15km out of town. I enjoyed getting a look at the 'real side' of Cambodia on the trip out. A few fascinating sights - a remork completely cover with chickens, hanging upside down off the rim (feet tied down) - making them look like feather dusters; and wooden shacks with numerous chairs set up inside, resembling a cinema (as the shack housed the community TV).
Arriving at the killing fields, the mood was somber, as you'd imagine. Paying the admission fee of $2 granted you access into the space where Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime had brutally killed and then disposed of millions of innocent Cambodians, during their reign between 1975 - 1979.
The space, smaller in size than a football field, has been preserved to ensure the atrocities here are learnt from and not forgotten. Two buildings have been constructed on the site - the first, a small museum, housing a theatre and items found on the site (including victims' clothes, bones and killing instruments); and the second, a 17 story structure built in Khmer architecture.
To provide some context, a 20 minute movie played inside the museum, horrifying all who watched it. But it made me remember the lessons I learnt in my high school history class - 'We must learn from our past to ensure history doesn't repeat itself'.
Each storey of the Khmer structure contained a different grouping of victims' bones that had been found on the site (i.e. skulls of men 25-50; femur bones). There is also a box full of clothes found on/near the executed victims. I felt bad taking photos, but felt it was important to 'get the story out' for discussion, rather than pretend it didn't happen.
I was also moved to find numerous strings of colourful paper cranes that had been left, as are found in abundance at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (For those that don't know the story, Sadako (a Japanese schoolgirl) diagnosed with leukemia after the bombings, was told that if she made 1000 paper cranes her wish to get better would come true. Unfortunately, she died before completing 1000, but this story has lived on in Japan,k with paper cranes becoming a symbol of peace and hope).
Around the building were the 'mass graves' where the Khmer Rouge had dumped their victims. Wooden plaques revealed the atrocities committed at each site - '160 headless victims found here'; '10 women and children found here'. Quite often, to save on bullets (and to ensure the upcoming victims didn't know what was to come), the soldiers would bludgeon the victims to death rather than shoot them, and most of the skulls revealed large fractures. The signs also revealed that with each downfall of rain, more items would come to the surface (i.e. teeth and bone fragments).
The most depressing story of all (WARNING: GRAPHIC, DISTURBING STORY AHEAD), was how the soldiers would take babies by their legs and bash their heads against a tree. The 'killing tree' still remains on display at the killing fields.
Needless to say, it was a moving experience, and had me thinking of all of the needless atrocities in history - Hitler and the holocaust; the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Back in Phnom Penh city, my next stop was Central Market. This was a large market dominated in the centre by jewellery merchants. I enquired as to the price of a shiny bracelet. "$2000 madam!" responded the smiling shopkeeper. "Real diamonds!" Oh ... I hadn't realised they were real!
The market sold all types of things - souvenirs; clothes; kitchen utensils; even razors and soap. I purchased an 'authentic fake; Marc Jacobs wallet (forward planning for Canada) and tried on a pair of wide length cotton pants - my wardrobe consists of short skirts and shorts which may attract unwanted attention in India. I refrained from buying them though - I just refused to join the fisherman pant wearing, hippy backpacker crowd.
One of my favourite moments of the trip came shortly after. Whilst idly perusing the stands, I came across a tiny stall with a dirt floor, consisting of 2 ladies and their sewing machines. The singlet I was wearing had a rip in it, and I'd been trying to find a seamstress for a while. Not speaking English, I lifted my shirt to reveal the rip, and then pointed at them. They nodded. 'Now?' I acted. Again, they nodded. I changed out of the singlet in the tiny stall, the women holding up a sheet to try to protect my modesty, and they sewed up the rip in less than a minute. 'How much?' I asked. 25c!!!
On the way back to the guesthouse, I took a detour to City Mall, which Wikitravel had described as the best Western mall in PP. Another epic fail - although the supermarket wasn't too bad, and I bought a few snacks. The motorbike ride back to the guesthouse was an experience - the driver couldn't speak English and thus had no idea where I wanted to go, so there I was, riding side saddle on the back of the bike, Lonely Planet out trying to determine where we are and playing charades to give directions, all in the middle of heavy PP traffic!
An hour out of the sun and I was back out, this time down to 'Sisowath Quay' (the riverside), which was made up of numerous cafes and travel agencies. I was dropped at the far end and proceeded to walk down the river, past the Silver Pagoda and Royal Palace, before stumbling into a bookstore and purchasing Shantaram for my trip to India. (It's an international best-seller written by an Aussie who escaped prison in Australia and fled to India. The book is made even better by the fact that he had to write it 3 times, as prison guards ripped up the first two copies).
Having skipped lunch, I had an early dinner of crepe and salad, whilst intermittently being interrupted by beggars (yes, even in the confines of a restaurant). I finally got a hold of Mark and then spent some time on the net before retiring to my room.
Friday 1st October
Another early start as I was picked up from the guesthouse at 8:20am for transfer to the office of the company for which I'd booked the mini-van to Phnom Penh. We departed at 9am with 3 Westerners (all Aussies) and a few Cambodians in a spacious mini-van for the 165km trip. For the 4.5 hour trip (!) we were even supplied with a bottle of water and cake. We stopped halfway at Kampong Thom for a bathroom/snack break - I was just glad to be stopped, as even though the road is sealed all the way, it is not a very smooth ride!!
We arrived into Phnom Penh at about 1:30pm, and the fight for customers was on from the tuk-tuk drivers. I wasn't even out of the van when a man had grabbed me and started pulling me towards his vehicle!
First impressions of Phnom Penh are that it's a town of complete contrasts. On one side, there are numerous mansions and impressive embassies lining the streets - very similar to Hedges Avenue on the Gold Coast, with large walls and security out the front. There must be a big ex-pat community here as well, as there are an equally impressive number of large apartments. Then on the flip side, there are UN and Unicef vehicles roaming the streets, and children and amputees beg at every opportunity - even in restaurants or the middle of traffic.
The guesthouse was located in one of the 'nice' areas, and I quickly dumped my bag and handed in my washing (almost every outfit!) for cleaning. I had assumed whilst in Siem Reap that there would be ample malls and 'Western'' style shops everywhere in PP, given it was a city of 1.3 million people. Except of course, that was not to be - which is good, the fact that Western culture has not completely infiltrated here! (Still no signs of a McDonalds!!) I asked at the front desk where the 'best' mall was, as I needed to stock up on a few things - a razor, pair of shoes, Delhi guidebook etc. He directed me to Sorya Mall, so I headed over in a tuk-tuk. Except ... this was nothing like I was expecting. It was more like 6 stories of market stalls, with each level having a different theme (shoes; accessories; IT). Epic fail for what I wanted ...
I decided to acquaint myself with PP streets by walking and attempting to find somewhere for lunch/dinner. On the way to the guesthouse we'd passed numerous tempting bakeries (the French influence), and I thought it would be easy to find one. Um ... no. I must have walked in the wrong direction, because I found nothing like what I was looking for! In the end I asked a motorbike taxi driver to take me to Lucky Supermarket (like Siem Reap, they sold Vegemite and Aussie Cadbury chocolate) but I left empty-handed, catching another motorbike back to the guesthouse.
Next door to the guesthouse was a nice looking cafe, so I had my normal lunch/dinner at 5pm, consisting of a spinach burrito. It tasted absolutely foul and took up the whole plate - I had a few bites and then retreated nicely into the internet cafe next door for an hour on the web. Last item on the agenda was a manicure, and I stopped in at the beauty salon under the guesthouse for the worst manicure I've ever had ... shoddy old polish poorly applied ... I could have done better myself, and that's saying something!
Friday was my only real full day of sightseeing (Saturday was a write-off with the AFL Grand Final). I had a 'minor' sleep-in, waking at about 9am and wandering down to a nearby cafe for breakfast of an omelet and toast. Whilst the toast was relatively normal (nice thick rye toast - not full of sugar thank goodness!), the omelet had two special ingredients - onion and chilli. Whilst I love my onions, my tastebuds have not yet been de-sensitised to chilli, despite efforts in Singapore and Thailand, and I hate to hunt them out for fear of burning my throat further.
The number 1 'attraction' (I use that word very loosely) for the day was the 'Killing Fields', about 15km out of town. I enjoyed getting a look at the 'real side' of Cambodia on the trip out. A few fascinating sights - a remork completely cover with chickens, hanging upside down off the rim (feet tied down) - making them look like feather dusters; and wooden shacks with numerous chairs set up inside, resembling a cinema (as the shack housed the community TV).
Arriving at the killing fields, the mood was somber, as you'd imagine. Paying the admission fee of $2 granted you access into the space where Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime had brutally killed and then disposed of millions of innocent Cambodians, during their reign between 1975 - 1979.
The space, smaller in size than a football field, has been preserved to ensure the atrocities here are learnt from and not forgotten. Two buildings have been constructed on the site - the first, a small museum, housing a theatre and items found on the site (including victims' clothes, bones and killing instruments); and the second, a 17 story structure built in Khmer architecture.
To provide some context, a 20 minute movie played inside the museum, horrifying all who watched it. But it made me remember the lessons I learnt in my high school history class - 'We must learn from our past to ensure history doesn't repeat itself'.
Each storey of the Khmer structure contained a different grouping of victims' bones that had been found on the site (i.e. skulls of men 25-50; femur bones). There is also a box full of clothes found on/near the executed victims. I felt bad taking photos, but felt it was important to 'get the story out' for discussion, rather than pretend it didn't happen.
I was also moved to find numerous strings of colourful paper cranes that had been left, as are found in abundance at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (For those that don't know the story, Sadako (a Japanese schoolgirl) diagnosed with leukemia after the bombings, was told that if she made 1000 paper cranes her wish to get better would come true. Unfortunately, she died before completing 1000, but this story has lived on in Japan,k with paper cranes becoming a symbol of peace and hope).
Around the building were the 'mass graves' where the Khmer Rouge had dumped their victims. Wooden plaques revealed the atrocities committed at each site - '160 headless victims found here'; '10 women and children found here'. Quite often, to save on bullets (and to ensure the upcoming victims didn't know what was to come), the soldiers would bludgeon the victims to death rather than shoot them, and most of the skulls revealed large fractures. The signs also revealed that with each downfall of rain, more items would come to the surface (i.e. teeth and bone fragments).
The most depressing story of all (WARNING: GRAPHIC, DISTURBING STORY AHEAD), was how the soldiers would take babies by their legs and bash their heads against a tree. The 'killing tree' still remains on display at the killing fields.
Needless to say, it was a moving experience, and had me thinking of all of the needless atrocities in history - Hitler and the holocaust; the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Back in Phnom Penh city, my next stop was Central Market. This was a large market dominated in the centre by jewellery merchants. I enquired as to the price of a shiny bracelet. "$2000 madam!" responded the smiling shopkeeper. "Real diamonds!" Oh ... I hadn't realised they were real!
The market sold all types of things - souvenirs; clothes; kitchen utensils; even razors and soap. I purchased an 'authentic fake; Marc Jacobs wallet (forward planning for Canada) and tried on a pair of wide length cotton pants - my wardrobe consists of short skirts and shorts which may attract unwanted attention in India. I refrained from buying them though - I just refused to join the fisherman pant wearing, hippy backpacker crowd.
One of my favourite moments of the trip came shortly after. Whilst idly perusing the stands, I came across a tiny stall with a dirt floor, consisting of 2 ladies and their sewing machines. The singlet I was wearing had a rip in it, and I'd been trying to find a seamstress for a while. Not speaking English, I lifted my shirt to reveal the rip, and then pointed at them. They nodded. 'Now?' I acted. Again, they nodded. I changed out of the singlet in the tiny stall, the women holding up a sheet to try to protect my modesty, and they sewed up the rip in less than a minute. 'How much?' I asked. 25c!!!
On the way back to the guesthouse, I took a detour to City Mall, which Wikitravel had described as the best Western mall in PP. Another epic fail - although the supermarket wasn't too bad, and I bought a few snacks. The motorbike ride back to the guesthouse was an experience - the driver couldn't speak English and thus had no idea where I wanted to go, so there I was, riding side saddle on the back of the bike, Lonely Planet out trying to determine where we are and playing charades to give directions, all in the middle of heavy PP traffic!
An hour out of the sun and I was back out, this time down to 'Sisowath Quay' (the riverside), which was made up of numerous cafes and travel agencies. I was dropped at the far end and proceeded to walk down the river, past the Silver Pagoda and Royal Palace, before stumbling into a bookstore and purchasing Shantaram for my trip to India. (It's an international best-seller written by an Aussie who escaped prison in Australia and fled to India. The book is made even better by the fact that he had to write it 3 times, as prison guards ripped up the first two copies).
Having skipped lunch, I had an early dinner of crepe and salad, whilst intermittently being interrupted by beggars (yes, even in the confines of a restaurant). I finally got a hold of Mark and then spent some time on the net before retiring to my room.
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