Just go, C!
I'm Charity, a proud auntie, wine lover, semi-nerd, and dreamer who can't stay in one place for too long.
Quick personal note from me: RIP to Anthony Bourdain, 61, who lived a life far richer than most of us could ever imagine. While I will admit that he rubbed me the wrong way sometimes, I looked at his life and work in total admiration. I still do. At my former job, we'd have an occasional meeting where questions like, "If you weren't doing what you're doing now, what would you be doing?" were brought up. And my answer was, "I'd be like Anthony Bourdain." Thanks, man, for inspiring me and countless others to get out into the world, get our hands and hearts dirty, eat some fucking amazing food, and be graced by the kindness of souls all over the planet. You won't be forgotten. ********************************* My time in Phnom Penh could be best described as a roller coaster. The highs were tasting delicious Cambodian food for the first time, getting some wonderful hospitality, and admiring beautiful Khmer-style temples and French colonial architecture. The lows were visiting monuments from the days of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot, which were emotionally draining, but in my opinion, a very necessary learning experience. Read on to find out more about what I was able to see and do in Phnom Penh, Cambodia! Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21 Prison) and Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields) Okay, let's get the dark and depressing stuff out of the way first. I had watched First, They Killed My Father on Netflix a couple months before I visited these places, which gave me a bit of background on what happened during the Khmer Rouge regime, but nothing can prepare you for what you see and hear when you visit. While I won't get into all of the historical and gory details, I'll summarize in my own words by saying that Pol Pot took advantage of a suffering country much like many of the deranged lunatic leaders who preceded him in history. In pursuit of Pol Pot's so-called "agrarian utopia" mission, nearly 3 million Cambodians were slaughtered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Many died of starvation and extreme physical conditions. Thousands were beaten, hung, beheaded, you name it. Those most likely to die were the elderly, children, the disabled, religious folks (monks, etc.), the educated, and even those who wore glasses or had soft hands, which meant that they had "white collar" type jobs and were likely to be educated. All of these people were a "threat" to the Khmer Rouge. Ironically, even the Khmer Rouge was a threat to the Khmer Rouge, as many of its own members were executed on grounds of suspicious behaviors or whispers of their disloyalties to the regime. If and when you ever visit Phnom Penh, I would strongly suggest that you visit both of these monuments. I promise you, that if you have even a sliver of a conscience, it will not be easy for you. You will need to make sure to get the audio guide when you go, so you can hear the details of each place and hear personal accounts from those who lived to tell the gruesome tales. It is absolutely heart-wrenching, but it's essential to understand what happened here. It's not just about Cambodia. This sort of thing has happened, and CONTINUES TO HAPPEN, all over the world. I'm sure Cambodians prior to the 1970s thought, oh this sort of thing could never happen to us. Don't most of us think the same thing? We need to wake up before it's too late. I remember leaving and having SO many questions, all of them starting with the word, "why." I'll never get most of those answers, unfortunately. The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda The residence of Cambodia's king is certainly eye-catching and is often compared to the Grand Palace in Bangkok (though, in my modest opinion, Bangkok takes home the winning prize). Khmer-style, compared to temples in, say, Thailand or Laos, tends to be a bit more ornate. The temples themselves tend to have greater height and less width. The pagodas are also distinctly different, with Khmer-style often having more details and a squared-off base versus a rounded one common in other Buddhist countries. The palace grounds aren't nearly as expansive as the ones in Bangkok, so I was able to navigate and cover all of it within about 1.5 hours. You can hire a tour guide when you enter if you wish to have more background and details, but I opted to just walk around and take some photos. The entrance fee is $10 USD. After you leave, I'd recommend walking around the Royal Palace Park which is just opposite the palace grounds. It's a really nice setting with a view of the river. You can watch locals relaxing and having fun, little kids playing and running around, pigeons pooping on everything; it's awesome. (Joking aside though, check it out!) Where I stayed I had the best experience staying at La Lune Hotel in Phnom Penh. The owner is a native Cambodian who spent a good deal of time in France, so she speaks French fluently as well as Khmer and English. I arrived later in the evening and hadn't eaten dinner, so she insisted on whipping up a delicious dish for me. She always checked on me to make sure everything was going well with my stay and we would always greet each other and make a funny comment or something. She is just one of those good energy type people. I would definitely recommend staying here to anyone visiting. Other places and things worth noting
Daughters of Cambodia Visitor Center: Daughters is a faith-based organization that exists to empower young women who are caught in the cycle of poverty and human trafficking. They offer classes to teach real-life skills and also offer employment opportunities to keep them out of the sex tourism business. The Visitor Center has a café with delicious food and drinks/coffee, a nail spa (I treated myself to a nice pedicure), and a shop that sells clothing, jewelry, scarves, etc. made by their clients. Everything is very reasonably-priced and of course, it's a great cause. They have a convenient location along the river promenade, close to many of the attractions in Phnom Penh. Wat Phnom: Phnom Penh translates to "Hill of Penh" and this temple area is a tribute to the history of the city. Lady Penh discovered some Buddha statues in some trees or logs that were floating down the river one day and she encouraged some folks in her village to build a hill and temple to house the statues and provide a place for respect and worship. Hence, Phnom Penh. I will say that the story is pretty cool, and it's a nice shady place to hang out when you have been subjected to the typical weather conditions of the area, but unless you're really interested in seeing another temple, you could probably skip this place and not miss out on too much. Markets: There are at least three or four large markets in Phnom Penh, the Russian Market and Central Market being the more popular ones. I did not visit the Russian Market at all, but did briefly visit the Central Market, really just to walk around the outskirts and admire the Art Deco architecture. Other than that, it's very typical of all other SE Asian markets. So unless you've never really experienced a market in this part of the country, it's also probably ok to pass on. If you do visit, just remember that you need to bargain, bargain, bargain! Wat Ounalom: I did very briefly visit this temple because it looked really interesting and beautiful, but didn't stay long because there were a few guys chatting and looking at me and chuckling amongst themselves, which needless to say didn't exactly give me the warm fuzzies, so I quickly skedaddled. But, I would still suggest that people go and visit and hopefully get a little more time (and privacy) to enjoy it! Other than that, as I almost always recommend, just walk around and admire the French colonial architecture and soak up the locals doing what the locals do. For transportation, I would suggest using Grab, or there's another app called PassApp that seems to be popular with the locals. I downloaded it but saw that the prices were about the same as with Grab, so I stuck with my tried and true. Phnom Penh is a hustle-and-bustle city, but I didn't find it to be as overwhelming as, say, Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City. It's a great place to start your adventure in Cambodia, or in SE Asia. It's big enough to have a lot of cool cafés and shops, and small enough that you get a nice dose of Khmer culture. Thanks for reading and let me know if you go!
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AuthorHi! I'm Charity. I'm from Omaha, Nebraska, USA. I quit my job in October 2016 to travel the world. Archives
June 2022
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