We arrived in the city at around 2pm and found a reasonable hotel near the river. We actually heard about places that could be had in the city for $2/night, but never let it be said that I take my babe to a place like that, we travel in style (ours was $10!)
Once again, we were ready to get to exploring, so we went out and had lunch on the Tonle Sap River.
Notice anything strange in that picture, Texans?
Mattie tried a local Cambodian dish, chicken amok, which came served in a coconut and turned out to be very good. From the restaurant, we took a stroll to see the main sights in the city, which are all pretty central. There's the Royal Palace:
The Liberation Monument:
and The Independence Monument:
From here, we walked down a street full of embassies on our way back to the hotel, bought our bus tickets to Siem Reap for the next day, and called it a night.
In the morning, we wanted to visit the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum on the southern side of the city. This is where many Cambodians were imprisoned, tortured, and killed under Pol Pot's rule in the late 70's. Many of the bodies were later uncovered in the mass graves at the Killing Fields outside of town in the 80's.
The place was reminiscent of Dachau, a concentration camp outside of Munich, Germany. Our knowledge of Pol Pot is limited, but the evidence presented at this museum speaks to the terror that many experienced during his reign. However, we can't know how accurate any of it is without further research, because, as we have already learned, history is told differently from opposite sides.
From the museum we took a very comfortable Tuk Tuk back across town to pick up our bags and head to the bus station. It was worthy of a pic:
We boarded our bus to Siem Reap at 10am and are excited to finally get to see the greatest set of ruins in SE Asia, Angkor Wat!
- Mattie and Julian
Location:Phnom Penh, Cambodia
So is that actually a Texas flag--- with the Lone Star-- flying there? Or am I just really gullible?
ReplyDeletePlease explain...
Ha! I see the Tuk-Tuk driver is wearing a helmet...They must get run over by crazy drivers, too !
Great to get so many blogs. The same day you went to the Tamarind cafe I saw a show on PBS where a woman goes around the world and visits famous cooking schools. Well, that night it was the tamarind cooking school and restaurant! They showed how they made the exact same things youy ate; the wate buffalo, the stuffed lemon grass, the sticky rice tect. The only thing you did not sample, I think, was the "tea" made of the poop of silkworms; the woman was a good sport; she drank some.
ReplyDeleteJulian, how much did you pay for that haircut: 3 cents?
ReplyDeleteWe had to look up the flag too, it's actually a Chilean flag.
ReplyDeleteAbout those tuk tuk drivers - they only wear their helmets when they have passengers, we have no idea why. And they don't give us helmets.
Thanks, mom. The haircut was actually $4.
ReplyDelete