Postcard from Phnom Penh
20.07.2012
33 °C
We've been in Phnom Penh the last few days and its been great. The city traffic is a law unto itself but it seems to work. Anywhere in Europe and there would be a traffic jam but here everyone just weaves around eachother, it doesn't matter what side of the road you're on.
Yesterday we split up for a while and Harry and myself visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum whilst the rest of the family went to the Russian market. It was pretty heavy going - Tuol Sleng was formerly two schools which were then used by the Khmer Rouge as a place of incarceration and torture before the unfortunate 'traitors'were sent to the Killing Fields in Choeung Oek. There are graphic pictures of the last 14 vistims and a multitude of photos of other unfortunate victims, taken prior to their interrogation. Their faces tell it all. It was a harrowing experience for me, I'm not sure what Harry made of it all.
Later that day we went out to the Killing Fields outside Phnom Penh. I had always imagined a vast landscape where bodies were dumped - in reality it was little more than an acre with the remains of over 17,000 victims of the Khmer Rouge.
Today we kept it a little lighter. We visited the Royal Palace and whilst the kids went to the playground with Caroline I hit the National Museum. It was pretty interesting but the funny thing about the visit was that the rains came and all of a sudden the museum was surrounded by a three foot moat of water. I had to stay in there for about an hour until it subsided and i could walk out again. Great craic.\
We hit Siem Reap tomorrow for three days of Khmer temple overload. Angkor Wat beckons. Great stuff.
Posted by goldenmaverick 07:17 Archived in Cambodia Tagged phnom penh.
ah three days of visits at Siem reap, overload will begin around the end of day two, or maybe that was just me... Don't forget the boat ride to Battanbung (spelling)
by Richie