Phnom Pehn

The capital city of Cambodia is a mix of apparent affluence and desperate poverty. Our main reason for staying here so long was to soak up some of the recent history we have been reading about.


We stopped in a hotel by the river with views of the National Museum and Royal Palace. Our first outing was a cheery visit to the Killing Fields where thousands of Cambodians (and some foreigners) were slaughtered by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. All that is left now are skulls and bones. It was an eiree place and we did not linger.


Our pleasant tuk tuk driver then took us to the genocide museum for some more fun! The cells where the Khmer Rouge tortured its 'enemies' were still in the same condition as they were when the Vietnamese captured the city in 1979. Complete with torture racks, weapons and blood.... and a photo on the wall of a real life torture session just in case you haven't got the picture yet!!



We saw the French Embassy where the last of the foreigners baracaded themselves in after the KR emptied the city in 1975 and we searched for Don Cormack's church in the centre of the city (see http://www.omf.org.uk/content.asp?id=12768), but think it is a house now.


We visited an orphanage with 250 children -really, really sad as they were living in a hoval. There are some good parts to the city. The Central and Russian markets were a great place to shop and the lake and river front are pleasant places to walk or sit.