Phnom Penh

Our hotel is quite nice, clean and has air conditioning and is close to just about everything. Good night sleep.

Full day of site seeing today, Killing fields, The Royal Palace, The National Museum, The Pavilion of Napoleon 111 and the Silver Pagoda. Have taken a tuk-tuk for the day at the Cost of $20.00. He has taken us out to the Killing Fields which is 15 KM outside the city and back and has been our hire for the whole day. Was really great to have someone that knows the area and was very informative as to the areas that we have visited. Phnom Penh is much cleaner that Ho chi Minh City, has wider streets and a lot of open areas that you can walk in, also has a area to walk along the river. The street on which our guest house is located has lots of restaurants and other guest houses and it is very safe to walk around at night. Staying two nights and then will travel by bus to Siem Reap.

Phnom Penh 1975/1979, 3 million people before the Khmer rouge and just 50,000 during the expulsion of most of it, inhabitants. In the prison of  Tuol Sleng only seven persons survived. More that one million people were killed in the 4 years of Pol Pot.  As you walk in the killing fields you notice odd things in the ground- fragments of human clothing and the odd bone fragment sticking out of the ground, where children were beaten against a tree and one hopes one is not walking over mass graves but I think that I am. One of the Khmer Rouge slogans was " If you want to take out the  grass you must take out the roots as well." So many people were directly affected - a integral part of the country. Cambodia is a beautiful place with a very dark underside, the government has still not tried those responsible for the killings and one person has been on trial for more that ten  years and has just put is prison, this is due to the fact that some of the persons in the government were complicit or involved in the genocide.
Today Phnom Penh is a bustling vibrant city and one would not know of this recent history by just looking around the city.  I loved Cambodia and would make a return visit.

Memorial Stupa at Killing fields

displays at the Memorial Stupa At the Killing Fields

Pagoda on way to Muesum

At National Muesum

National Museum of Cambodia

Royal Palace

Part of Royal Palace

Silver Pagoda named because of the silver floors

A Building within Royal Place

What one did not know about the Khmer Rouge and the killing fields, one will know when you have visited the Killing Fields, now called The  Choeung Ek Genocidal Center. Interesting but very depression to think that this was done to ones own people with the indirect help of the Russians, Vietnamese, Americans, etc..