Our First Day in Cambodia

9^th April 2013

Last night we anchored just downstream of Phnom Penh, and just before breakfast ,  the anchor was raised and we headed up to Phnom Penh and berthed at the wharf there, alongside our sister ship, The Jahan, which is sailing in the opposite direction back to Vietnam.

                                     We tie up next to our sister ship "Jahan"

Our first impression approaching Phnom Penh, is the amount of construction going on, and the presence of US take away food outlets.

Just opposite the wharf, is KFC and down the road is Gloria Jeans

To get ashore at 8.30 am for our first activity of the day, we had to walk through the Jahan, to get to the wharf. She is a newer vessel than ours, but seems to have a similar fitout.

This morning, our first excursion is a bus trip to the Killing Fields, and then on to Toul-Sleng “S21” Prison and genocide museum. We have an excellent guide who has a very good command of English, and a good sense of humour.

One of the areas where the mass graves we excavated

A monument erected at the killing fields, filled with skulls of victims

As we already knew, the story of Pol Pots’ regime was one of the darkest points in history, anywhere in the World, but to hear the detail of what went on, and to see the remains in person is a grim affair. The net effect of it all, was the death of almost 50% of Cambodias’ population either through execution, or mostly from starvation and malnutrition.

We spent some time at the Killing Fields (which is only one of over a hundred areas where they discovered the same scene). They guide does an excellent job of relating the history and the story of the mass genocide as we walk around. It is hard to believe all of this went on for so long as the rest of the World stood by and watched.

Our next stop was back in Phnom Penh, to visit “S21”, the prison where captives we held and tortured until they confessed to being CIA or KGB spies, before being taken to the killing fields for execution. The prison, was previously a school, and school rooms became prison cells.  

S21 prison

One of the classrooms converted to a cell. Prisoners were kept isolated and were not allowed to communicate with each other

The prison rules

Whilst there we were able to talk to one of the only two survivors left that survived the ordeal (through our guide as he spoke no English). 

                    Mr Chum Mey, one of the only 2 survivors of S21 prison. He is now 82 years old

The amazing thing was all of this was able to occur without the locals having any knowledge, as all of Phnom Penh had been evacuated, as everyone was sent to the countryside to become farmers, and the killing fields were well separated from the prisons.

After a fairly confronting morning, it was off to lunch at a very nice Cambodian restaurant in Phnom Penh (Malis restaurant). The food was excellent and the Angkor beer went down very easily, as the temperature had now soared to 39 C, and everyone is dripping wet.

Malis Restaurant

Following lunch, it was time for another visit to a market !

This time it was The Russian market which was just like any other market, a mixture of food market, clothing, trinkets, copy watches and DVD’s etc.  One unique feature was the section devoted to motorbike spare parts. You could build a complete bike from the parts available. 

Its amazing how much you can fit in one stall

Motorcycle Spares (there was a whole aisle of these stalls)

It was now very hot and we were glad to be out of there and back onto the air conditioned bus.

We have a busy program today, and after the market, our next stop is the Royal Palace, a spectacular assembly of buildings. Unfortunately we cannot go inside the Palace today, as there is a special religious ceremony taking place, so we have to entertain ourselves looking around from the outside.

The Royal Palace

The one building we are allowed in, The Silver Pagoda, is very interesting, the complete floor is covered with solid silver tiles and it house a Buddha made of solid gold encrusted with diamonds, and another Buddha made of jade.

The Silver Pagoda

Stupa near the Silver Pagoda

One of the buildings was being renovated and was surrounded by scaffolding. A couple of monkeys decided to join in and help, but were not appreciated by the workers.

The buildings are stunning, are the gardens surrounding them.

We still have one more site to visit, The National museum. The guide gives us an option to continue on, go back to the boat on the bus, or go back to the boat on a cyclo. Joy opts for the bus, Carole decides on the cyclo, and Mike and I decide to go and see the museum.

It is another stunning building, full of artifacts recovered from all over Cambodia, including Angkor Wat. We have a private guide from the museum to take us around the displays, which are mainly sculptures and artifacts from different periods of Cambodia’s history. No photographs are allowed inside the museum.

National Museum

On completion of our tour, we have a cyclo ride back to the ship. The cyclo design here is a lot more comfortable, and our drivers seem to be all intent on being the first one back, so we dive in and out of the traffic, getting to see what the traffic is like very close up!

Mike giving last minute instructions to his driver

Off we go

 By now we are soaked from the heat, have a quick beer, and head back to our rooms for a shower. It is now about 5.30pm, it was a long but very interesting day, but it is not over yet.

At 6.15pm we have a lecture from a local French academic, on modern Cambodian history 1953 – 1993. It is a fascinating presentation and fills in all the gaps of knowledge we did not pick up from the guide. He particularly focused on the Leaders of the Revolution and the Royal Family’s role it this terrible part of Cambodia’s history. Since 1993 there has been peace, a rare commodity throughout Cambodia’s history, and apparently it has only been the last 10 years that have seen serious economic progress. The amount of construction going on in Phnom Penh is impressive, and there is a lot of Western outlets and product brands around.

At 7.15pm, the lecture ends, and after a few questions it is straight off to dinner, which tonight is a BBQ buffet on the sun deck, with traditional Cambodian Dancers as the entertainment. The food was great, as was the entertainment.

Aspara Dancers provide entertainment over dinner  time