Phnom Penh- A pleasant surprise

It's always fun to watch the insane traffic in these countries. It looks chaotic to us but it has it's own flow and we rarely witness any road rage like we do at home.

Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, was only going to be a stepping stone to Siem Reap but we ended up really liking it here and stayed several days longer than we thought we would. We set ourselves up at the Number 9 Guesthouse which was within walking distance of the confluence of the Tonle Sap and  Mekong Rivers. The lovely promenade built along the water attracts the locals and tourists who like to walk it at night time. We spent a LOT of time exploring Cambodian cuisine and drinking the insanely cheap beer. In this regard Cambodia has been a pleasant surprise.
I have a very hard time looking past the garbage here though. If there is a river, stream, pond, or open sewer guaranteed it is filled with garbage. There is plastic everywhere and the locals seem to give little thought as to where they put it when they are finished with it. Generally it just gets thrown into the street. The markets here are some of the filthiest we have ever experienced which is sad because they are usually such great places to go to eat, shop and people watch. When we did find a clean one we visited often.
Cambodia is ranked as one of the top 50 poorest countries in the world but the people here are happy and welcoming and we are enjoying it immensely.

We see many cool bikes like this one in our travels.

We can't remember the Khmer name for this interesting snack but we were told it's a lotus flower. See next photo

Peel each compartment open, pull out the seed, peel and eat. It's kinda like a chestnut taste with a raw peanut texture, It's quite enjoyable.

Coconuts , incense and waterlily offerings for a visit to the nearby temple

It was very cool to watch the experts play shuttlecock especially after trying it out ourselves and knowing how difficult it is. 

The Royal Palace lit up at night. This is as close as we got. There was a .50c beer on a rooftop patio that had our name on it instead. 

Cocktail bar trucks are popular here too just like they were in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Casket shopping anyone?

WARNING: graphic images ahead.

You cannot visit Cambodia and not learn more about the torture and killing of the Khmer people by the Khmer Rouge and their leader, Pol Pot around 1975. Choeng Ek, otherwise known as The Killing Fields, was a sad and deeply disturbing place. We knew it would be good education for all of us including Bowen but we had no idea how depleted we would feel at the end of the day.
We spent the morning here then visited S-21 in the afternoon. S-21 was a former high school right in the middle of Phnom Penh which was converted to a prison. "Inmates" here were tortured before they were taken off to be slaughtered at Choeng Ek.
I remember hearing about the Khmer Rouge when I was eleven or twelve yrs old. Because of that I felt strangely connected to this place knowing these atrocities were happening while I was living a very comfortable life back in Canada.

The bracelets left behind by visitors to the "Killing Fields". The fence posts surround one of the many mass graves where you can still see human remains and pieces of cloth being exposed by the elements over the last 36 years.

The sign says " Don't step on bones" It was quite shocking to see human remains lying casually about.

Women were forced to watch their infants get their skulls crushed on this tree right before their own brutal execution.

"pieces of bones remaining after excavation in 1980"

Inside the large monument in the photo below. Skulls are stacked and colour coded according to how the person was executed. The Khmer Rouge didn't want to "waste bullets" so they usually used metal rods, hammers or axes to crack the skulls and kill these innocent people including women and small children

The monument from a distance.

Moving on to S-21. This is one of the many identical buildings on the grounds of this old high school. It was converted to a prison by Pol Pot and his people back in 1975 and is now a museum. It's located right in the centre of town and has nicely tended homes all around it just like you would expect in any city. We couldn't help think how weird it must be to live across the street from such a haunting place.

The wooden structure in the left of the photo was a water torture device. People would be strung up-side down by their feet and would be dunked head first into the water-filled pots below.

The Khmer Rouge kept detailed records on each of their victims including a photograph.

Walls were built inside the old classrooms to make hundreds of very small cells for the "prisoners".

Chains were bolted into the floor for holding their "prisoners". Most of the cells did not have a window like this one did.

A view from the terrace of the prison. You can see regular life carrying on just outside the gates.






Our mood was quite sombre after visiting these gruesome places so we felt like we needed to let off a little steam and treat ourselves to a nice view where the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers meet. We visited the famous Foreign Correspondents Club for a few .75c beers from their rooftop terrace and took some nice sunset photos to post on Facebook for our friends back home.

We found a wonderful Ramen restaurant that serves just 10 bowls a day. Why just 10 bowls you ask? See below......

.... because it pops out of a box built onto a motorcycle, that's why!

I loved the golden road in front of the Pagoda at the Royal Palace.

There are many cool, decrepit colonial buildings like this one in Cambodia.

We weren't sure exactly what was happening but the long line of monks were being fed a nice breakfast and there was a lot of incense burning.

I was lucky to be able to take a cooking class at the highly recommended Frizz Restaurant. Like any good cooking class we started our day touring the market collecting ingredients. These salted duck eggs were NOT on the menu as they are a Chinese thing but I was fascinated by them and thought they made a great photo.

Water was added to the freshly grated coconut to make coconut milk for our Fish Amok

We are all eager students! I really need one of these wooden mortars and pestles.

Clockwise  from the top- lemongrass, lime, turmeric, galangal- YUM!

I knew I had made a friend for life in Anat when after 5 minutes of knowing her she revealed the contents of her bag to me. In it was about 10 boxes of the world famous and very-expensive-back-home Kampot peppercorns of Cambodia.  I was carrying around a 1/2 kilo of equally famous peppercorns from Phu Quoc, Vietnam.  We're both nuts.

Fish Amok! A slightly spicy curry of coconut milk, lemongrass,  roasted peanuts,galangal, lime leaf and fresh fish that is steamed in a banana leaf boat until it is soufflé like and served with rice. A variation of this dish is offered on nearly every menu in this part of Cambodia and it's delicious!

Peanut free Fish Amok for Anat.

We insist on travelling when all the locals are travelling too. Waiting for a bus to Battambang a few days before the Khmer New Year. We thought we were leaving in plenty of time but we were WRONG. Can you spot Remy and Bowen in the mayhem? Keep in mind it's about 35 celsius.

The bus was way oversold so they put people on wee stools down the middle of the aisle.  Eventually I had to pee so not only did I need to run across the street while the whole bus waited on the side of the road but I had to gently step over all these uncomfortably seated people. They didn't seem to mind a bit.

We are looking forward to arriving in Battambang and celebrating our third New Year on this trip! Our first was Dec 31 in Sri Lanka, our second was Tet in Vietnam Feb 19 and our third will be in Cambodia April 13.

~Liz

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