Our journey to Phnom Penh
Today, we had a long transfer to Phnom Penh. 5 Hours in the car after 30-45 minutes boat, we were not looking forward to it! Especially not because the traffic is terrible, so were the accidents that we saw during our trip. From time to time it was better to close your eyes.
When the driver picked us up, he had another passenger in the front seat. Half of the trunk was also filled with a package in styrofoam. It did not look at first that our luggage would fit inside. But after a lot of tries, the driver managed to find a way. During the journey, the styrofoam made a lot of noise. The kind of noise that gives you chills. We were very glad the moment that we could get out of the car !
We arrived in Phnom Penh just after 3pm. The driver first had to drop off the other passenger and then to deliver the package. He subsequently asked us if we knew how to arrive at the hotel. We were again lucky with the app that we had installed, so we told him how to drive.
The Pavilion Hotel in Phnom Penh
We had booked another hotel this time because we wanted to have a different experience. The Pavilion, was a boutique hotel with colonial charm. We received an upgrade to a suite, OMG, the room and the attached terrace were huge! Really beautiful. Also the breakfast was very good, so we were very happy !
Before dinner, we still went for a little swim and we were lucky, it was happy hour. The hotel had two fantastic swimming pools, which were totally not crowded so it was not difficult to find a nice spot.
Tuol Sleng (S-21), Phnom Penh
The next morning we visited memories of the dark past of the country. We started at Tuol Sleng (S-21), a top secret prison in a network of nearly 200 centres, where people were tortured by the Red Khmer.
Of the nearly 20,000 prisoners in this prison, only 12 survived. After the confessions, the prisoners (when still alive) were taken to the killing fields. There they were beaten to death on the edge of mass graves. The pictures and paintings of the torture are gruesome. The torturers were sometimes fellow prisoners. They knew that it was forbidden to let people die unless the order was given. Otherwise they awaited the same fate.
The Killing Fields
The killing fields are actually one big cemetery consisting of an enormous number of mass graves. Those lying here are all people who were seen as counterparts to Pol Pot’s ideal communist agrarian society that had to be self-sufficient.
Within 48 hours, everyone was driven from the cities to the countryside to end up in working farms where the harvest had to be tripled. This was of course impossible, especially for city dwellers who had no idea of rural life. Thousands died from malnutrition. In total, a quarter of the population was exterminated and anyone who had an intellectual appearance (e.g. glasses), risked being taken to torture prisons.
The 2 visits of today made us reflect on human beings and what they are capable of doing...
Lunch, Sunset Cruise and Dinner in Phnom Penh
We drove back to the city and had Lunch at Romdeng, a sister restaurant of ‘Friends’. The menu was quite exotique : grasshoppers, red ants, tarantulas… Koen decided that he should at least try the tarantulas, so he ordered a plate. In the end, they were a bit chewy and not that delicious. I thought he was very courageous to have tried this delicacy!
We had a nice afternoon with a sunset cruise on the Tonle Sap river and then the river promenade to experience Phnom Penh by night. There were lots of food stalls and even Cambodian Zumba in the square.
For our last evening, we decided to eat at the One Eleven restaurant which was apparently one of the best for local cuisine. We were very happy with our choice, the food was so delicious.
