Chad and Sharon Moore

We have had to hang about Phnom Penh for a few days in order to sort out our Vietnam visas.  It’s not the best place in the world but it does have a certain charm about it.  It’s a largely french designed city due to being part of the old French Indochina and was once known as the Pearl of Asia.  Wars have since ravaged the city and it wasn’t until the 1990’s with help from the UN that Phnom Penh really returned to life.

One of these wars that happened in our lifetime was when the ultra communist Khmer Rouge took control.  Many people will remember the film “Killing Fields”, the harrowing true story of a journalist trapped in Cambodia.  We took a tuk-tuk out to the Choeung Ek memorial which is built at one of the many killing fields across Cambodia.  There were over 100 mass graves and about 20,000 people, including foreigners, executed there.  The memorial itself contains thousands of skulls and does serve as a horrific reminder of what took place.

Sharon had read the book “First they Killed my Father”, a true story of a young girl’s fight for survival during Pol Pot, Khmer Rouge reign and was keen to learn more so we also visited Toul Sleng.  Toul Sleng is a former high school which was converted into a prison and interrogation facility and renamed S-21 by the Khmer Rouge.  It now serves as a museum and much of it has been left in the state it was abandoned in 1979.  It contains thousands of photos and extensive records which send a shiver up your spine.

It hasn’t all been depressing though, Phnom Penh Royal Palace and the National Museum were a lot more pleasant J  The Museum contains many Angkorian artifacts taken from the Angkor temples we visited when in Siem Reap.  It was good to see the real thing and helped lend context to the whole era.

We’ve once again been spoilt with delicious food, Cambodian food or Khmer food as its know here, continues the high standard of yummy asian tucker.  Especially loving the local curries, not spicy but absolutely full of flavour.

Being woken up early by the traffic isn’t really part of our plan but it has enabled us to watch the various types of exercise going on in the park across from our balcony.  Cambodians have waaaaaay too much energy in the morning, Thai Chi, football, badminton, jogging and general aerobics and all before 6.00 a.m !  It really is quite tiring to watch whilst straining with our own workout of drinking a coffee J 

Whilst touring around the city we noticed a queue outside a local hospital, I thought maybe they were there for free vitamin shots or vaccinations but later on we watched a news report from Cambodia on Australia tv which gave us a bit of a scare.  It turns out that Cambodia is in the midst of a dengue fever crisis and the hospitals are struggling to cope.  Deaths are at a record high so let’s hope our super tropical mosquito spray keeps up the good work!

Talking of watching tv, we have managed to watch the Aussie football team play terrible in the Asian Cup.  I can imagine the papers are saying “bring back Guus!” At least the mighty Sea Eagles are still soaring, it’s been more fun watching them J

The money situation is confusing here as they use both American dollars and the local currency, reil at the same time.  The reil isn’t that strong so sometimes you can end up with a wad of cash that is worth next to nothing but it does make you feel like a drug dealer J Have I mentioned that I have been asked many times if I’d like to buy drugs ? Maybe it is the way I look.  

Next stop is Ho Chi Minh City or the old name Saigon, so it’s goodbye to the strange smells and strange sights of Cambodia.  Once you get used to the beggers, landmine victims, dust, sewer smells and worst of all, using American dollars combined with the local currency riel, it’s not too bad