After a very hard journey, from Yangon we finally reached Phnom Penh the capital of Cambodia. Normally the way is not this long, but all flights were extremely delayed, so it took us the whole day to reach our destination. Fortunately, the way from the airport to our hotel “The Plantation Urban Resort” was very fast, by taxi. It was really one of our favourite places on the entire trip.

The Red Khmer prison of horrible torture – Tual slang / 21

On the first day we went there with our Guide Lan to visit the Toul Slang prison, by Tuk-Tuk. Actually it was a school, but they were rebuilding it, to use it as a prison. They built very tiny prison cells for the prisoners. The Red Khmer was killing more than 25 percent of the population under the command of Paul Pots between 1975-1979 in a very horrible way. It’s unbelievable how unconscionable people can be.

Through the „change of the country” they were torturing a lot of good educated people, with a better income, until they died in a very horrible way. Until now it is not proofed how many people had to die or even died of hunger. You can see a lot of pictures in the whole prison from the former time and the procedure how they were torturing the people. It was terrible to see all the pictures. In some cells you could still see the dried blood on the ground and you could also see the instruments of torture! It is so hard to imagine how the people had to suffer in these barbarous times!!!!! At the end we had the opportunity to talk to one former prisoner who survived. His name was Chum Mey. It was really interesting to meet him. He even wrote a book about the time he spent in prison. For us it is hard to imagine how many cruel things and the suffering he had to go through in the time of the Red Khmer.

Chum Mey – A survivor who wrote down his story in a book and is still one of the most important witnesses today

Killing Fields 

A little bit outside of Phnom Penh is the killing field. It is really horrible and hard to believe what happened there. After the barbarous torture in the prison, they brought the people here to execute them in a horrible way. It is hard to believe but they were using bamboo canes and stones to kill the people just to save munitions. You can still see parts of the bones sticking out washed out of the ground by rain water – oh gosh, how terrible! We don’t want to mention all of the cruel rituals that have taken place there but you should keep in mind that all of this did not happen a long time ago.

The memorial with human remains

As a memorial they built a stupa. Inside you can see the parts of the victims bodies (skulls) and the rest of their clothes. Instead of praying for the victims a ceremony takes place every year  !!!

Buddha- and Hindu Nationalmuseum and Royal Palace

After we went to the killing field we really wanted to visit something that would brighten up our mood. That´s why we went to go see the National Museum of Cambodia which was built between 1917 and 1925 and renovated in 1968. The museum shows a lot statues and sculptures from the former Hindu time and it belongs to the most important museums in Cambodia.

Nationalmuseum of Cambodia

The Royal Palace which is actually the “must see´s” in Phnom Penh was not too interesting for us. A lot of people want to visit the Palace. It was very hot and the queue was full of sweaty tourists. You were not allowed to see the buildings from the inside, that means that you could only walk around on the compound.

Next to the Royal Palace is the Silverpagoda. This pagoda has about 5000 silver tiles and a Buddha in natural size. The Buddha is covered in approximately 10.000 diamonds and gems. Unfortunately taking pictures is strictly forbidden.

The Royal Palace with a lot of tourists

Wat Phnom, the Main Point of the city

Silk Farm

Cambodia is very famous for its textile production for a lot of different brands and even for producing real silk. It was very interesting to see how they produce the silk, knowing that its all handmade.

Every generation gives their skills to the next one. To entertain us our guide explained us how they make silk and  how they comb and weave it in a very amusing way. An incredible long process but with an amazing result!!! We decided to buy a couple of the awesome scarves  with great quality, handmade and believe it or not, for only 10 US-Dollars each!

Handmade

We together on Silk Island

Siem Reap

Siem Reap is for sure the most popular place visited by tourists. The flight from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap only took 30 minutes. It was very humid and extremely hot when we arrived. It was actually too hot to visit the temples, but we went to see them anyway.

On the next day we started our tour early in the morning and our guide picked us up in time! Unfortunately, this time we didn’t have a lot of luck with our guide.It seemed like the guide  learned a whole tour by heart but when we had questions, he couldn’t answer any and was talking like a robot. Normally we always take an English speaking guide but his English was even worse. But anyway he was showing us all the important temples in Angkor Wat. In the whole Ankor area you can visit 37 temples and we visited the 8 main temples.

In this case you really don´t need a guide, it is easier to rent a tuk-tuk with driver. He will bring you to every temple for a cheap price.

Favorit temple – Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm

For us the most beautiful temple was the tree temple (picture) Ta Prohm temple. A really incredible temple with very interesting huge tree roots, everywhere. It is like a real Jungle. It was the film location for the movie Tomb-Raider – Lara Croft.

Angkor Wat from the backside

Pub Street Siem Reap 

The pub street is a really nice place with a lot of tourists and it belongs to the best party areas in Cambodia. Here is really a lot of going on sometimes even a bit crowed. You can say it is a little bit similar to the Khoisan Road in Bangkok. In the evening there are of course a lot of young people. They want party till the early morning and for sure it is also a good place for backpackers. You are surrounded by so many nice pubs, bars and small shops. On the street you can buy very delicious cocktails and fresh fruits. And maybe as a dessert I can highly recommend a really awesome and fresh scorpion on the spit.

We spend 2 evenings at the pub street and enjoyed live music with a couple of drinks. The price for drinks are a little bit higher but still cheap. On the other side of the pub street you can see the Ankor Night Market. It is really nice to walk around there. You can buy a lot of different souvenirs and clothes. When you walk around in the evening it is the place to be!

Infobox

Hotel:

The Plantation Urban Resort

Visa:

An e-visa for tourists can now be requested electronically from home and costs about 35 US dollars.
Don´t forget your pass photo

Currency:

Cambodian Riel KHR
The current course you can look up at Oanda

Language

Khmerian
French
English

Local time

You can read the local times here

High Season

The best time for Cambodia here

Health:

The vaccination passport should be checked by a doctor and refresher courses such as tetanus, yellow fever and hepatitis A, B, C may be performed.

You can read more about this here.

Safety

You can find all entry requirements at the listed embassies

Embassies

For US Embassy: link
For UK Embassy: link
For AUS Embassy: link

Guide for Siam Reap not available