Phnom Penh

We had wanted to go to Battambang.... but after speaking to locals it was badly flooded and people had been evacuated!!!
So we caught a bus straight to the Capital city, Phnom Penh.
Journey from Siem Reap to Phnom Pehn.....

lots of houses on the side of the main road...

Pot holes in the roads...

Still evidence of the floods..

Phnom Penh
The capital city has a contrast of Classic Cambodian style buildings and temples, busy bustling markets, many restaurants and bars, and a riverside, but also hidden depths of killing fields and S-21 Museum which we both found unbelievable and an emotional experience.

The Royal Palace, Independence Monument and Temple of Wat Phnom.....

The riverside

The Killing Fields and S-21.
Tuk Tuk to the killing fields.... Our driver gave us masks as the roads were dusty and dirty!!!

We wont go into details of this horrific time, (we would never do its justice and you can read about it if you so wish), but basically between the time of 1975-1979 3 million people were brutally killed by the Khmer Rouge.

We visited one of the Killing fields in which people were transported to be killed just outside the city centre. The killing fields consisted of Mass Graves, a Memorial Stupa and educational museum telling the tragic story.
We were given an audio guide so that we could listen to the stories in our own time as we walked around the grounds...

Stupa Memorial, - housing victims skulls, bones, clothes.

Audio Tour

Mass Graves

Storage of odd Bones

There were still remains of bones and clothes as we walked around..

Next we went to the S-21 Museum....
This was converted from a school to a prison, where people were tortured and held before being transported to the killing fields...

The cells...

Each Victim was photographed and recorded. All people, men, women, children and babies fell victim to the Khmer Rouge. There were thousands of faces just staring back at you....

The graves of the 14 people found alive when the Khmer Rouge were eventually driven out..

Memorial...

The Museums were really well kept - telling the stories and paying tribute to all those who died. It was a very somber experience for us both and we couldn't believe it happened less that 40 years ago. This being considered Phnom Penh appears to have done well rebuilding itself after such a horrible time.

On a more cheerful note we had a lot of free time in the city and much it was spent trying out the local foods and taking advantage of cheap beer! (75cents a pint).

And a few cheap cocktails..

Next stop Sihanoukville - on the coast so hoping the rain stops and for some sunshine!!