Phnom Penh is surprisingly clean compared to what I had seen before in Cambodia. It’s a quite modern city, I would say similar to Bangkok but smaller. The city has a doubtful reputation for being a favourite place for sex tourists. You can see plenty of establishments right in the centre, it’s really obvious. Nevertheless, it’s a place you can stay longer, with a nice atmosphere and good food. The people are very friendly. It’s normal that in the centre tourism is their business, but they are very polite and don’t get on your nerves.
I went to Phnom Penh with a French couple I have met several times before, the first time in Pai, which was 5 weeks ago! We checked in a nice guest house with a fantastic roof top terrace. My room was a bit musty and humid but still ok. Phnom Penh is quite expensive compared to other places in the region, really surprising because Cambodia is a very poor country. The guest house room was 12 USD and a decent dish for lunch or dinner can be around 4 USD. In Thailand for example you can eat great for 1 USD.
I did some of the excursions in Phnom Penh together with Guillaume and Aurélia (the French couple). On Tuesday morning we went first to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (also known as S-21), where the Red Khmer once tortured and executed their compatriots. It is really not easy to digest what you see there and it is unbelievable that all this happened only 33 years ago.
In the afternoon I went to the Royal Palace (a set of temples and other official buildings of the Kingdom), but it wasn’t too exciting. It is very similar to the Grand Palace in Bangkok. The late afternoon and evening was reserved for chilling at the roof terrace, having dinner, etc. Wednesday was quite similar. We went to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek in the morning. It is really unbelievable which kind of atrocities human beings are able to commit. I will not go into details here but it was terrifying.
In the evening I met a German photographer’s couple and I had a very interesting conversation with them. They travelled exactly in those countries which I plan to visit next and vice-versa, so it was very useful for both sides. They also showed me photos and videos from their trip, really great what you can do if you know how! I also said good-bye to Guillaume and Aurélia who continued to Sihanoukville this morning. I took a morning bus to Siem Reap, where one of the main highlights, if not “the” highlight of Southeast Asia is waiting for me – Angkor Wat. It is almost useless to mention that the bus ride was horrible. This time it was the air condition (in a bus without possibility to open windows) which failed. It didn’t have enough power for the whole bus – not nice taking into account the outside temperatures of 35°C.
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