Phnom Penh: Heartbreaking and Heartwarming

Travel can inspire, it can help us relax from our everyday lives, it can bring adventure and… sometimes… it can break our hearts. We decided to front load the important historial sights to the first day of our stay. Our visit to the S21 prison on the grounds of a former school (Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum) and to the Killing Fields (Choeung Ek Genocidal Center) has left us feeling more sadness, anger and confusion at the world than I feel I can meaningfully describe on this otherwise food and fun filled blog. We took a car for four of us (with Juke) for $30, hired a guide at the S21 and used the very well produced audio guide at the Killing Fields. How such barbaric, devastating and heartless actions could have been inflicted on a whole population (and so recently) reminds us that the world did not learn from the atrocities of the past. Sadly, turning on the news it seems likely these continue in our present. I won’t go into the history in detail as it would not do it justice. As with many experiences it is only by being somewhere, standing on the grounds where the events happened, and seeing them with your own  eyes that you can truly feel the impact. 

We met the two last remaining adult survivors from S21 who are earning an income now from brief memoirs that have been written on their behalf by foreign authors.  The kind old men offer photos with tourists. You will not see any photos of the survivors or the piles of skulls in the memorial on this post, it just doesn’t feel right to me. I do include pictures of the monument and fields in memory of those whose lives were so cruelly and prematurely ended. 

Moving past the horrors of the history of Cambodia, we really enjoyed Phnom Penh as a city. We were there for New Year’s Eve with Jen and Luke (Juke) and Luke’s cousin Turtle (aka Matt) who also joined us for the celebrations. Much of our time was spent by the fantastic pool at the Plantation hotel especially in the build up to the NYE countdown where we enjoyed some bubbles and pizza (possibly delivered by a remorkaroo. Tuk tuks are referred to as remorks).

For the last few hours of 2016 we went to the very hip Bassac Lane  (a Western name for a small bar area on 308 Street). The ride there was an adventure as we got caught in the absolute chaos that is peak hour in Phnom Penh. We arrived lungs filled with CO2 and had a couple of beers at the Red Bar but unfortunately its roadside seating by the traffic meant we soon had to leave in search of oxygen. Next stop was upstairs at Harry’s bar where we sat and chatted to (possible the world’s smiliest) bartender Sok Leang while sipping a few cocktails.

After the countdown we headed over to a speakeasy, Bar Sito – a very cool bar that would not be out of place in London or New York (other than the fact the staff were so friendly and gave us 8 free beers for us donating to an HIV charity that they were raising money for). This bar is hidden down an alleyway off 240 Street and easily missed but well worth a visit.

The city has some beautiful architecture  – the most obvious tourist attraction being the Royal Palace. We went on New Years day which meant that we paid a little bit more to get in ($10pp) but at the same time meant less tourists. To my eyes there were an even number of tourists as visiting monks. Sadly I failed to capture a great photo of a group of monks taking selfies on their cell phones in front of the palace.

Food in Phnom Penh was good. The highlight being dinner at the moderately upmarket Chinese House Restaurant. The unique and stylish setting and good quality food make this a standout and worth the higher than usual price tag in this city. At the other end of the spectrum we had good quality local style food for $6pp including a beer or two at Dave’s (a homemade noodle shop). Phnom Penh provides the ethical traveller with plenty of good opportunities to support the community including many fair trade shops and restaurants that provide training and employment for vulnerable women or the underprivileged. We had a great lunch at Friends restaurant (not far from Royal Palace) which is one of the more well known and larger of these.

There is much more to see and do in Phnom Penh. We balanced some down time with our top must dos and will try get back for another day or two after we’ve covered more of Cambodia.

We fly out tomorrow with Juke to Siem Reap to check out Angkor Wat. I’m hoping we may convince Jen or Luke to sign on as guest bloggers!