Our round-the-world couple Matt and Sharon Ward are now in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Here’s what they had to say about the area from a his and hers perspective…
After a 7-hour bus journey we arrived safely in Phnom Penh,Cambodia. Our accommodation, 88 Backpackers, kindly provided us with a free tuk tuk to our hostel, where we were met by the sight of lots of western backpackers and a swimming pool.
Matt’s ‘His Guide’
For our first afternoon we relaxed by the pool and researched places to go and things to do. After a quick shower, we headed out into the Phnom Penh evening. Sharon’s map reading skills suggested the main riverside area was only a 15-minute walk, so we decided to head off on foot. After walking through an area with no street lights and people staring at us we decided to flag down the nearest tuk tuk. The driver’s directional sense was almost as bad as Sharon’s as we sped off in the wrong direction. I brought this to the driver’s attention, which brought out a laugh, before we were back zig-zagging in and out of traffic in the correct direction. As we approached a roundabout, I noticed a motorcyclist cut up another cyclist while making a right hand turn, causing the second cyclist to spin off his bike with his head smashing off the road. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. We quickly jumped out of our tuk tuk and ran to his aid. Sharon was doing her best Casualty impression, while I shouted for someone to call an ambulance. Nobody could understand my request, instead they just wanted to move the motorbike and patient as it was blocking their route. I couldn’t get over how rude and uncaring the locals were. The American man came to and while a little shaken and with blood all over his face, he jumped back on his motorbike and didn’t want any medical attention.
Feeling a little shaken ourselves, we stopped off for a drink and decided to treat ourselves for dinner. We popped into the Riverside Bistro and ordered two ‘Australian’ steaks. Bad choice. The steaks were awful and taught us that while inAsia, we’ll eat Asian dishes.
The next day we paid our tuk tuk driver $18 for his services for the day. Our first stop was The Choeung EK Genocidal Center – ‘The Killing Fields’. I had no idea what to expect, and if I’m honest I had never heard of it before we started travelling. $5 each allowed us entrance with a UK audio guide for our tour. I was absolutely shocked at what I witnessed and heard. I firstly couldn’t understand how human beings could be so cruel to others. Secondly, I couldn’t understand how Cambodian’s could treat other Cambodian’s this way. As you looked around, you could see visitors sobbing at the sight of mass graves of men, women and children. Our audio guide then played out the music which rang out around the fields during those painful years, which was designed to drown out the screams from those being tortured and killed. This sent a shiver down my spin and will remain with me for a long time. From here, we jumped back into our tuk tuk and headed to the Tuol Sleng Prison, which was $2 each to enter. This is where thousands of Cambodian’s were imprisoned, tortured and murdered. If you were from a successful background then you were a prime candidate to be taken here as the Khmer Rouge saw you as a threat to their regime. From here the prisoners were transported to ‘The Killing Fields’, which was to be their last journey and more heartbreaking was the fact they were actually told that they were being freed or handed back to relatives.
That evening we had a very nice meal at Anjali Indian, which was located at the Riverside, before heading back to our hostel to relax and reflect.
I really enjoyed my experience of Phnom Penh, although 2 whole days were enough for me as apart from The Killing Field and Tuol Sleng Prison, I don’t feel that there is too much more to do. I would recommend this place to anyone wanting to visit Cambodia.
Sharon’s ‘Her Guide’
After we checked-in we went straight to our rooms to sort out some laundry. Our room was basic (bed and bathroom) but it still felt like we had upgraded in comparison to our last place.
We spend the rest of the afternoon by the swimming pool reading up on where to go in Phnom Penh and examining the map to familiarise ourselves with the streets. After enjoying a long hot shower we eventually went out for the evening and navigate our way through the streets down to the river. Not 100% confident in our (my) map reading skills, we eventually got a tuk tuk and asked him to take us to the riverside, his sense of direction appears to be worse than mine as we had to ask him to turn back and go the correct way down the river. Not far from where we wanted to be dropped off we witness a motorcycle crash in front of our tuk tuk. The rider comes off his bike and we had to yell at our driver to stop. We both jump off the tuk tuk and my instinct is to run to the guy lying on the ground with blood coming from his head. He was unconscious and people are trying to move him, I started yelling at someone to phone an ambulance and tell those people surrounding me he should not be moved. The rider eventually comes too and tries to get up. I did all the things I’ve seen in the movies like telling him to lie still, we have an ambulance coming, I asked him his name and if he knows where he is, I asked him what hurts and tell him he’s come off his bike. He completely ignores my nurse-like attempts, stands up and says he doesn’t want any medical attention. He sounds American and he wasn’t wearing a helmet. A little shaky he thanked me for my help, takes his keys from me and gets back on his bike. That’s not what happens in the movies.
We wandered around for a while trying to find somewhere to eat until we ended up in the Riverside Bistro. We decided to treat ourselves to an Australian Steak with Roquefort sauce. When it arrived it was not something any Australian would have been proud of and we decided then and there that we’ll only eat Asian food while in Asia.
The following day we were picked up by Somaile, our tuk tuk driver from yesterday. We paid $18 for the day and our first stop was Cheung Ek, “The Killing Fields”. We were navigated through a series of points in the field where the narrator described the atrocities that happened. We listened to the stories of those that survived and the remorseful speech of Duch who ran the prison and was responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent citizens. The final stop on the tour was the Buddhist Stupa filled with 5,000 human skulls. The tour was both harrowing and educational. To realise something so horrific had gone during your own lifetime seemed incomprehensible.
We made our way back to our tuk tuk where we are both travelled silently to our next point of interest; S-21, Tuol Sleng Prison. This is the place thousands of Cambodian prisoners are held before being, tortured, transported and then eventually executed at the killing fields. It was another sad and heartbreaking visit that displayed the pictures of those massacred during the Khmer Rouge Regime.
It was another silent journey in the tuk tuk. We were dropped off at the Blue Pumpkin where we ordered our lunch and eventually discussed the events of the day.
That evening we made our way back down to the riverside and enjoyed an authentic Rogan Josh curry with naan bread at an Indian Restaurant called Anjali. It was a good meal with big juicy pieces of chicken, something, I had noticed, quite rare in Cambodia. The bill came to $12 which included our drinks and rice.
As much as I found the killing fields and prison a real eye opener and reality check, I didn’t think there was much more to Phnom Penh. The riverside was nice enough but very little else to do in the city. Siem Reap was, by far, the better place to visit. However, I would encourage anyone to go and see both places. It is inspirational to see how a country and its people have been able to redevelop after being destroyed by a war and hit with the most heinous genocide.
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Gregor Swiderek spends 24 hours in New Hampshire and Vermont finding ‘rural perfection’ in the scenery he passes.
The minute I got off the bus at the bus-cum-train station I was once again accosted by people offering accommodation. I negotiated a room with a man who agreed to wait while I sorted out a train ticket for a sleeper to Zagreb for the following night. The man assured me that the room he was offering me was only a 15-20 minute walk from the station, and indeed it was, in a Tito-era block, in his mother’s tiny flat. He rattled off various things I might find useful and then left again. His mother, probably in her late 60s and with no apparent English, insisted on sitting me down with a slice of her apple strudel; no hardship on my part – it was delicious.
