Phnom Penh

We arrive in Phnom Penh in the early afternoon. The journey from Battambang went fine, and as we arrive we decide to start walking towards a backpacker area Hannah stayed in last time she was here. A lot has changed since Hannah was her last though, and we find the area mostly deserted and it looks nothing like it used to - there even used to be a large lake next to the strip of guest houses, but even that has disappeared. We quickly decide to get out of there and head into the centre and a guest house mentioned in the Lonely Planet. The guest house is unfortunately full so we have to look around for alternatives. We suddenly realise the guest houses on this road are the ones that used to be located near to where there used to be a lake - they've all moved together and created a new backpacker area here. We decide to stay at Number 9 Hotel, it's the same guest house as we had planned to stay at but at their previous address. It's very basic and has not got much light coming - there are only windows into the hallway - however it's quite a spacious room. We're happy as it's fairly cheap and clean.

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Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1786" align="aligncenter" width="533"]

Hannah's new Sandals.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1778" align="aligncenter" width="545"]

Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1779" align="aligncenter" width="545"]

Phnom Penh.[/caption]

After freshening up we head out for a bite to eat and head to the riverside. Along the way we encounter the mourning of King Sihanouk that passed away in October 2012 - it's almost at the end of their period of mourning the king and there is a huge procession of mourners lining up for a ceremony in front of the royal palace. Quite a sight - we've never seen so many monks before. We're not alone in our astonishment though - everywhere people (tourists and locals alike) are taking snaps of the endless line of monks in their orange robes.

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Cambodia comemmorating former King Sihanouk who died in Bejing on the 15th of October 2012. Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 26th of January 2013.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1772" align="aligncenter" width="545"]

Cambodia comemmorating former King Sihanouk who died in Bejing on the 15th of October 2012. Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 26th of January 2013.[/caption]

We don't have time for a very long stay in Phnom Penh, but we get to visit the S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide) and The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek while we're here. We decide to use our feet and walk down to the S-21 Prison Museum. As we approach the Museum we pass other tourists with shocked faces and tears in their eyes - it's a warning of what is awaiting us inside the prison. The Khmer Rouge documented their prisoners/victims very thoroughly and a lot of the photos are displayed in the museum. Hundreds upon hundreds of portraits of men, women, children and elderly - very few survived this prison where they were brought in on fictional charges and tortured until they confessed (or died), and then scheduled for execution. Many died at the prison but the majority would be sent to the Killing Fields about 17 kilometres south. This is our next destination and we hire a tuc-tuc to take us down to the site where an estimation of up to 20000 people was executed during the four years of the regime. There were more than 150 killing-fields in Cambodia.

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The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1781" align="aligncenter" width="545"]

The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1782" align="aligncenter" width="545"]

The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1783" align="aligncenter" width="545"]

The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1784" align="aligncenter" width="545"]

The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1785" align="aligncenter" width="533"]

The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1787" align="aligncenter" width="533"]

The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1788" align="aligncenter" width="545"]

The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1789" align="aligncenter" width="545"]

The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1790" align="aligncenter" width="545"]

The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1791" align="aligncenter" width="533"]

The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1792" align="aligncenter" width="545"]

The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1793" align="aligncenter" width="533"]

The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1794" align="aligncenter" width="533"]

The S-21 Prison Museum (Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide), Phnom Penh.[/caption]

The Killing Fields are now a very tranquil place, but at the same time chilling to the core as you can't help stepping on fragments of bone and rags of clothing that has come up to the surface over time with the natural movement of the soil. At the centre of the site there is a magnificent memorial stupa which contains over 9000 sculls on the lower levels and other bones and larger fragments on the upper levels - not all the graves have been excavated so they can't be sure of the numbers of people were killed here and they've made the decision to leave many of the graves as they are in order to leave the victims in peace.

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The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1796" align="aligncenter" width="545"]

The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1797" align="aligncenter" width="533"]

"Killing Tree, against which executioners beat children" The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1798" align="aligncenter" width="533"]

The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1799" align="aligncenter" width="533"]

The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1800" align="aligncenter" width="533"]

The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1801" align="aligncenter" width="533"]

The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, Phnom Penh.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1802" align="aligncenter" width="545"]

In the tuc-tuc on our way back from the Killing Fields.[/caption]

It's been a day with a bit of a history lesson to say the least, and to top it up we go to the Mekong River Cafe in the evening for a screening of a documentary of the history of the Khmer Rouge. We get a bit more of an explanation of the political scene and how the Khmer Rouge came about, and you would think it then would make more sense - although not justify what happened - but it's still makes no sense as the change was so sudden, drastic and incredibly cruel that there seem to be no logical thinking behind it.

From Phnom Penh we head for the beaches of Sihanoukville. It's a fairly short journey by bus with little legroom so a bit crammed, but at least the suffering is short lived.