Phnom Penh

On Sunday my aim was to cross the border from Laos into Cambodia, something I really wasn't looking forward to as I'd read it was a pretty corrupt border crossing. I got there a lot earlier than expected as a local farmer kindly gave me a lift there after I left the waterfall. In Vientiane I exchanged a large amount of NZ Dollars into Laos Kip for the crossing, although I later read that apparently you can't exchange Laos Kip outside of Laos so I exchanged that into US Dollars to confuse matters even more. The crossing actually went really smoothly although I definitely paid a lot more than I should have done, with random additional fees being implemented as I progressed through. I just paid up though instead of arguing as I knew it was corrupt so it wasn't really worth wasting my time for the sake of a few dollars here and there.

The border itself was literally in the middle of nowhere, so my next aim was getting to the nearest town of Stung Treng about 45km away. Luckily one of the locals crossing the border gave me a lift and I was in Stung Treng in really good time. As I'd done so well I was debating between pressing on to either Phnom Penh or Siem Riep. In the end my only option leaving that day was going to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, arriving in just as it was getting dark. It was a very long day in the end, and I arrived at my hostel just in time before there was another massive thunderstorm!

The following day I went out and explored Phnom Penh, although my first job was to sort some money out which is slightly confusing in Cambodia. They basically use the US Dollar and Cambodian Riel together. The majority of places quote their prices in US Dollars, although you can pay in either currency. Where it gets confusing though is that if you pay in US Dollars, they give you change in a combination of the two currencies, and vice versa. I definitely think I'm going to need to be on the ball because I think you could quite easily be scammed if you're not careful. My hostel was located right next to the Central Market so I had a good look round there after breakfast.

As it was the Cambodian Day of Remembrance, some of the major attractions like the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, and National Museum were all closed for the day. I still managed to get a glimpse of the palace from outside though at the Royal Palace Park, heading there via the Independence Monument. There were a lot of locals there laying flowers to remember those who died during the Khmer Rouge. I then followed the river along Sisowith Quay which is where all the bars and restaurants were based, before reaching Wat Phnom. By this point is was extremely hot outside, so I went and checked out some of the shopping malls which were very modern. I spent the rest of the afternoon at the hostel just relaxing, heading out to the night market and Sisowith Quay for dinner in the evening.

On Tuesday I visited S21 and the Killing Fields, which were a couple of museums showcasing some of the horrific things which occurred during the Khmer Rouge. Between 1975 and 1979 Cambodia was ruled by communist leader Pal Pot, who believed Cambodia should become a completely agricultural country. He therefore emptied the cities and sent everyone to work in the countryside on labour camps. People were forced to work extra long hours and were given insufficient food, causing many people to die of exhaustion and malnutrition. He also banned things like religion, and anyone caught exercising their religion were sent to be executed. He also executed all intellectuals, and anyone who was deemed lazy or complained were also executed. During his reign, of the 8 million people living in Cambodia an estimated 3 million died.

The first museum I visited was the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, also known as S21. The former high school was converted into a notorious prison by the Khmer Rouge and over 17,000 prisoners were tortured there and then sent to the Killing Fields close by. The Khmer Rouge kept detailed records of each prisoner and these were on show at the museum, including displays of black and white photographs of the men, women and children who passed through and the instruments used in their torture. Some of the torture methods used were absolutely disgusting which I won't go into. S21 was just one of many prisons around Cambodia used during the Khmer Rouge.

I then visited the Choeung Ek Genocide Centre, also known as the Killing Fields located just outside the city. Those who were tortured at S21 were sent here to what they thought was a quiet farming district to work. Yet the thousands of innocent Cambodians were in fact sent here to be executed by some absolutely horrendous methods. Perhaps the most horrifying method was this tree they used to kill the children, where they grabbed their legs and repeatedly smashed their heads against it before chucking them in the mass grave beside it. Many of the original buildings where the atrocities occurred have since been destroyed but some of the mass graves have since been unearthed, where they have built a memorial stupa housing over 8000 skulls of the victims. This was just one of many killing fields around the country.

It's sad to think those atrocities were occurring less than 40 years ago, but it was definitely worth visiting to understand Cambodias recent history. I spent the afternoon just relaxing at the hostel as it was raining, although it cleared by the evening. I therefore headed back to the Independence Monument and surrounding boulevard which had this light show on the side of one of the buildings. Like in Vientiane, it was funny watching the locals doing their aerobics classes! I then went for dinner down Sisowith Quay again.