From Bali we continued to Cambodia. We flew through Kuala Lumpur and had to stay overnight at the airport. We had slept already many times at airports so we decided to take a room from an airport hotel that actually was inside the terminal. It was just a 30 sec walk from our arrival gate! 😁 Then one more flight and we were in Phnom Penh. We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel. The traffic was chaotic and it looked like the whole city is under construction. Our hotel, Aquarius Hotel, was very nice and it had a cool rooftop pool to relax in. They had even upgraded us a bit so we got a room with a balcony. 😉
After check in we were hungry and Edda had checked few restaurants where we could go to. We went to Artillery cafe. They served fresh and healthy food. They have also a small art exhibition with local art. The food was really good and we tried different smoothies there as well. We didn't have many plans for Phnom Penh but we wanted to see the Royal Palace and the killing fields. Royal Palace was just few blocks from Artillery so we decided to go there but on the way a tuk-tuk driver told us that Edda cannot go inside the temple because she had too short shorts. Both men and women have to have their knees and shoulders covered at the palace. He offered his services to us and we went with him to the central market. We also agreed to use his tuk-tuk to go to the killing fields next day.
The central market was quite big and they sold everything: flowers, food, clothes, cosmetics, electronics, jewelries, you name it. But as in most markets in Latin-America and Asia we have been to, you can find Nike, Adidas, Sony and all the other brands for just few dollars... 😂 They even tried to sell huge jewelry as jade stone for around 15 USD. During our stay in New Zealand, we didn't find any jade jewelry for under 35 USD, not even a tiny one, and the one they tried to sell at the market was in a size that should cost around 200-300 $. They had also fresh sea food, so fresh it was still alive but at the same time they had fish and other meat just in the shade or sun in the hot air... 😷 We bought just a small travel speaker with few dollars. We thought it was just some random no name brand but later we noticed that it was a brand that belongs to a famous rapper. 😂
In the evening we went to a restaurant Edda had found. It is called Mok Mony and if you are not happy with your food for any reason, they do not ask why and they give you a new meal. It can bee too spicy or there's some herb you don't like. The "waste" food they give to poor people. It was a cozy place and the owner was really friendly. Markus had coffee ribs, and it was the first time a coffee food was really good and tasted like coffee! 😋
The following part contains text about genocide and some may find it disturbing. If you do not want to read it, scroll down past the pictures to the next chapter.
In the morning we had a delicious breakfast at our hotel. It was the best breakfast we have had in any hotel we stayed on our trip. A lot of fresh fruits, salads, pancakes, warm dishes one has to order etc. With our tummies full, we went out and there our tuk-tuk driver was waiting already. We headed out to the place of horror, one of The Khmer Rouge's Killing Fields, Choeung Ek. It was a rough 30 min drive there through small villages. The tickets were 6$ and included an audio tour. In the beginning people were still talking a bit, but it didn't take long before most of the people started to look quite serious and quiet. It was not a surprise when you listen to the stories about the fields. This killing field is the most known of all the hundreds of killing fields here in Cambodia. At this place there have been found about 9000 remains of bodies. The tour is very well made and it is informative and touching. There are over 20 sound clips to be listened and they told how the innocent people were brought with trucks at night and killed almost straight away.
Pictures and explanations of some places and buildings at Choeung Ek killing camp:
The leader of Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot was a communist and wanted a clean communist country and one of his quotes was that "it's better to kill an innocent man by mistake than let an enemy live by mistake". During the four years (1975-1979) when Khmer Rouge was in power, they killed around 1,7 million people, and over a million died in hunger, deceases and in other ways, in total around 3 million people. It was almost every third Cambodian that died during those years. The tour went through the places where everything happened just about 40 years ago. There were hundreds of mass graves and they had even separated where they put whom. One grave was really terrible, it was mainly for women and children. Next to the grave was a tree full of small bracelets. It was the killing tree. The soldiers took babies and smashed their heads on the tree and then throw them to the grave after that. The researchers have found remains of brains and other parts of babies and children under the tree. First Pol Pot started to kill educated people, then rich and people from cities. Even eye glasses or soft hands were a reason to be sent to the fields. Pol Pot wanted the rice production to be tripled so everyone had to work. During the four years, normal people were not allowed to have anything of their own but everything belonged to the State.
Khmer Rouge didn't have much money so they wanted to save ammunition so they used even palm leafs to kill. When bodies were dumped to the mass graves they spread DDT over the graves to cover the smell, but also to kill those who maybe were still alive. They kept really good control about who was sent to the fields and who was killed etc. They counted the prisoners often and checked that nobody had escaped.
It is strange to think that when we walk on the streets in Cambodia and we see people who are 45 years or older, they remember those things and have either survived the genocide or been executing it either voluntary or not. The genocide and Pol Pots regime was ended in 1979 when Vietnam attacked the Khmer Rouge and occupied Cambodia. After that other unfortunate things happened but it's another story. The government has built a memorial to this site and it's a big tower. Skulls and bones from this killing field are placed to the tower and people can visit it, and one can see the skulls even from distance because there are glass walls. It is terrible how people can kill each other and how they can kill their own people and even family. After the tour we felt sad and it felt absurd to think that its not that long ago. Even today, despite that they have taken almost 9000 bodies away from he mass graves, the workers have to clean the area every second month because bones, teeth and clothes are still rising up from the graves. It was a tough and sad, but teaching experience. Even if it is a terrible subject, it is important that people know about it and hopefully these kind of things would not happen again.
The Killing Field Ends
After the killing fields, we went again to Artillery for lunch. Our tuk-tuk driver would have wanted take us to some "good" Khmer restaurant, probably his friend's, but we wanted to Artillery so he god really angry and didn't speak to us anymore. Before the restaurant incident he was really friendly and told a lot of things. Maybe he had promised to the restaurant that he bring us there? After the lunch we went to see the Royal Palace. The admission fee in April 2017 was 10$. We walked there for few hours and every now and then it felt quite spooky when there were only few people.
Later in the evening we went to the supermarket to find water and some snacks for the next day. Even this was quite interesting. The mall we went to was quite big, but it was very empty. It felt like we had been in some old soviet market during bad times when there were not that many things on the shelves. There were many other shops as well but most of them were closed. The whole place were almost empty but there was a small group that sang, played really loud music and danced there.
The next day we were chilling at the pool because almost everything is closed when its the Khmer New Year. We had some fun at the pool with the glass wall and took some photos. In the evening we went to check to the river if there would be some New Years celebrating, but there were people mainly having picnic. No party. The Royal Palace looked really nice with the lights. We found one OK restaurant where we had dinner, but it was quite challenging to order because they didn't speak English. After the dinner we went to take some night photos at the pool and the glass wall. Later we did some packing and prepared us to a buss ride to Kampot the next morning.
Nice view from our pool
Our room and lovely breakfast
After check in we were hungry and Edda had checked few restaurants where we could go to. We went to Artillery cafe. They served fresh and healthy food. They have also a small art exhibition with local art. The food was really good and we tried different smoothies there as well. We didn't have many plans for Phnom Penh but we wanted to see the Royal Palace and the killing fields. Royal Palace was just few blocks from Artillery so we decided to go there but on the way a tuk-tuk driver told us that Edda cannot go inside the temple because she had too short shorts. Both men and women have to have their knees and shoulders covered at the palace. He offered his services to us and we went with him to the central market. We also agreed to use his tuk-tuk to go to the killing fields next day.
Healthy food at Artillery
Artillery is in the end of this ally
The central market was quite big and they sold everything: flowers, food, clothes, cosmetics, electronics, jewelries, you name it. But as in most markets in Latin-America and Asia we have been to, you can find Nike, Adidas, Sony and all the other brands for just few dollars... 😂 They even tried to sell huge jewelry as jade stone for around 15 USD. During our stay in New Zealand, we didn't find any jade jewelry for under 35 USD, not even a tiny one, and the one they tried to sell at the market was in a size that should cost around 200-300 $. They had also fresh sea food, so fresh it was still alive but at the same time they had fish and other meat just in the shade or sun in the hot air... 😷 We bought just a small travel speaker with few dollars. We thought it was just some random no name brand but later we noticed that it was a brand that belongs to a famous rapper. 😂
Central market and chaotic traffic
Master piece of electric cables
Flowers at the market
The roof was quite nice
Walking around Phnom Penh central market
In the evening we went to a restaurant Edda had found. It is called Mok Mony and if you are not happy with your food for any reason, they do not ask why and they give you a new meal. It can bee too spicy or there's some herb you don't like. The "waste" food they give to poor people. It was a cozy place and the owner was really friendly. Markus had coffee ribs, and it was the first time a coffee food was really good and tasted like coffee! 😋
Markus got his coffee ribs
The following part contains text about genocide and some may find it disturbing. If you do not want to read it, scroll down past the pictures to the next chapter.
Pictures and explanations of some places and buildings at Choeung Ek killing camp:
The sharp palm leaf was used to cut throats
The leader of Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot was a communist and wanted a clean communist country and one of his quotes was that "it's better to kill an innocent man by mistake than let an enemy live by mistake". During the four years (1975-1979) when Khmer Rouge was in power, they killed around 1,7 million people, and over a million died in hunger, deceases and in other ways, in total around 3 million people. It was almost every third Cambodian that died during those years. The tour went through the places where everything happened just about 40 years ago. There were hundreds of mass graves and they had even separated where they put whom. One grave was really terrible, it was mainly for women and children. Next to the grave was a tree full of small bracelets. It was the killing tree. The soldiers took babies and smashed their heads on the tree and then throw them to the grave after that. The researchers have found remains of brains and other parts of babies and children under the tree. First Pol Pot started to kill educated people, then rich and people from cities. Even eye glasses or soft hands were a reason to be sent to the fields. Pol Pot wanted the rice production to be tripled so everyone had to work. During the four years, normal people were not allowed to have anything of their own but everything belonged to the State.
The mass grave for women and children and the killing tree
There's a lot of bracelets and small toys under the killing tree
Khmer Rouge didn't have much money so they wanted to save ammunition so they used even palm leafs to kill. When bodies were dumped to the mass graves they spread DDT over the graves to cover the smell, but also to kill those who maybe were still alive. They kept really good control about who was sent to the fields and who was killed etc. They counted the prisoners often and checked that nobody had escaped.
It is strange to think that when we walk on the streets in Cambodia and we see people who are 45 years or older, they remember those things and have either survived the genocide or been executing it either voluntary or not. The genocide and Pol Pots regime was ended in 1979 when Vietnam attacked the Khmer Rouge and occupied Cambodia. After that other unfortunate things happened but it's another story. The government has built a memorial to this site and it's a big tower. Skulls and bones from this killing field are placed to the tower and people can visit it, and one can see the skulls even from distance because there are glass walls. It is terrible how people can kill each other and how they can kill their own people and even family. After the tour we felt sad and it felt absurd to think that its not that long ago. Even today, despite that they have taken almost 9000 bodies away from he mass graves, the workers have to clean the area every second month because bones, teeth and clothes are still rising up from the graves. It was a tough and sad, but teaching experience. Even if it is a terrible subject, it is important that people know about it and hopefully these kind of things would not happen again.
Memorial tower for all those who lost their lives in the genocide
This mass grave had 450 victims
Mass grave that they have not opened
Mass grave of 166 victims without heads
Here you can see places for mass graves. These were everywhere.
Clothes rising from the ground
A bone rising from the ground
Skulls of the victims in the memorial tower
The holes are also mass graves
These bones and skulls were left where they were found
The Killing Field Ends
After the killing fields, we went again to Artillery for lunch. Our tuk-tuk driver would have wanted take us to some "good" Khmer restaurant, probably his friend's, but we wanted to Artillery so he god really angry and didn't speak to us anymore. Before the restaurant incident he was really friendly and told a lot of things. Maybe he had promised to the restaurant that he bring us there? After the lunch we went to see the Royal Palace. The admission fee in April 2017 was 10$. We walked there for few hours and every now and then it felt quite spooky when there were only few people.
Later in the evening we went to the supermarket to find water and some snacks for the next day. Even this was quite interesting. The mall we went to was quite big, but it was very empty. It felt like we had been in some old soviet market during bad times when there were not that many things on the shelves. There were many other shops as well but most of them were closed. The whole place were almost empty but there was a small group that sang, played really loud music and danced there.
The next day we were chilling at the pool because almost everything is closed when its the Khmer New Year. We had some fun at the pool with the glass wall and took some photos. In the evening we went to check to the river if there would be some New Years celebrating, but there were people mainly having picnic. No party. The Royal Palace looked really nice with the lights. We found one OK restaurant where we had dinner, but it was quite challenging to order because they didn't speak English. After the dinner we went to take some night photos at the pool and the glass wall. Later we did some packing and prepared us to a buss ride to Kampot the next morning.
We saw few monks on our way to the river
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