Phnom Phen: A city without waste management

I arrived in Phnom Phen a little bedraggled early Saturday morning after a big V-day club party the night before. Nonetheless, I made my flight, slept on the plane and was ready for a full day of sightseeing after meeting Julia at the hotel and dropping off my small bag. My ride from the airport was definitely interesting--Phnom Phen was nothing like what I expected it to be! It was a big, spread out city; I expected it to be small and quaint like Vientiane or even small like Luang Prabang, I guess because my impressions of Siem Reap were that it was small and quaint.

Phnom Phem was much different--there were many big street and traffic, but none of the roads were paved and the entire city seemed light brown, like the dusty clay road. There were huge piles of waste everywhere and as we turned onto my street, there was a street side barber shop, which was really 5 chairs of men getting their hair cut, the hair falling to the ground on the road.
Our street was very quiet and the hotel turned out to be very quaint--it was painted all in blue and white, making it have a French seaside feel. It was called "The Billabong" and had a lovely little pool and cafe for breakfast right by its side.

Julia had already been there for a day and had gone to see the Royal Palace, so I would do that Sunday when she left and we decided to go to the Tol Sulong Memorial Museum for those killed under the Khmer Rouge, and the Killing Fields. We had my taxi driver take us first to the museum. On the drive to the museum, we passed through a gorgeous neighborhood with big houses, lots of trees, nicer roads; it felt like we were in a totally different city! But I guess that's a developing nation for you, huge, astounding disparities in wealth, though I think the people who lived in these houses were government officials too.

The museum was a children's elementary school before it was converted into a prison. The barbed wire was still up and a lot of the cells were intact. There were photos, torture devices, chains--it was all very numbing and chilling. I learned a lot about the Khmer Rouge--for example, I didn't know that Pol Pot ruled for only 4 years, but the terrors continued through the early 1990s; I'd assumed Pol Pot was in charge the entire time. I also didn't know about The Khmer Rouge's hatred of Communist Vietnam (even though the Khmer Rouge was communist too) and their many clashes with them; nor did I know about the UN and the US's backing of the Cambodian government, or about the kinds of people the Khmer Rouge killed (intellectuals, urban city-dwellers, women, men, children) or why they killed them.

It's so sad that many people don't know about the extent of the atrocities; I know it was a very eye-opening experience for me. It's also sad to see the difference between Phnom Phen, the capital of Cambodia, and Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, it's neighboring country. The museum said that Phnom Phen was in a period of prosperity before the Khmer Rouge; looks where it could have been (something like Bangkok) versus the state it's in now (it's lawless feel with people peeing on the streets that aren't even paved).

Next we were off to the killing fields, the place where prisoners were taken to be shot and killed. For me, this wasn't as powerful as the museum, though it was shocking. About 10km outside the city, it's a big countryside area where there are huge pits--pit after pit--where bodies were put. The bodies have been removed so now all you can see are the pits, which are huge. It's daunting to think of how many bodies could fit in there (the Khmer Rouge killed about 1.7 million people). The only evidence of bodies is the huge glass-encased tower of skulls that stands tall in the center of all the pits. Julia and I each lit incense and made a small donation in memory of the victims.

After the killing fields, we had our driver take us back to town where we stopped quickly at Wat Phnom, the biggest temple in the city, and then headed to lunch, where we parted with our driver. The place we went to lunch was one of the many NGO restaurants in town; Phnom Phen is filled with NGO workers and NGOs (definitely a good sign I think) and many of them make money by running restaurants for tourists, this is like the famous Cabbages and Condoms in Bangkok. The famous one in PP is called "Friends," but we went to the smaller, sister restaurant which served Khmer food; all of the money went to a Cambodian NGO that takes children off the street and educates them, teaching them useful skills and also gives them hospitality training in the restaurants. I forget its name, but it was adorable--it was decorated all in Cambodian textiles and art and it had a light and airy feel to it. The food was also incredible; I remember thinking in Siem Reap that Khmer food wasn't anything special, just a plainer, less spicy version of Thai food, but I loved it! And not just at this restaurant, but also where we went for lunch on Sunday too, a small Khmer restaurant by the Tonle Sap River. I had some sort of curry called "amoke" served in a banana leaf, one time with vegetables, the next with fish, but both times and it was incredible and different at each place.

After lunch, Julia and I took a tuk tuk back to our hotel, admiring the French colonial architecture which stood in stark contrast to some of the shacks and piles of trash. We then walked to the Central Market and were amazed by the number of motorbikes, they were everywhere! Sometimes it was difficult to walk because we were in a sea of bikes! The market though was a shoppers treat and so cheap; I got a watch, sunglasses, glasses frames, a pretty glass bracelet and a few other small things.

For dinner that night, we headed to the Raffles Hotel for a happy hour cocktail--it's certainly a lux hotel that has the feeling of colonial life and leisure. We took a few photos in the well manicured garden and elegantly decorated bar. After we headed to a riverside restaurant near the Palace for dinner. In the tuk tuk, I definitely understood why so many people call PP a "lawless" city because it certainly has that feel--like I said, people peeing on the streets, no waste management, but you also get the sense that it's probably not safe, all the dark alleys make you wonder.

Near the restaurant was the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC), a big expat hub. Next door was a cute little shop where Julia and I each bought some nice jewelry (a necklace for me). After we went to the "Heart of Darkness Bar," one of the big nightlife hubs of the city. We got "searched" before going in and this is where the lawlessness trickled back--my breasts, backside and ribs were all touched a little too much, and it made me uncomfortable; I was only wearing a cotton sundress, where was I going to hide a gun?! The bar had a bit of a tribal feel and we ended up not staying for too long.

The next morning after breakfast, I went to the National Museum which was very interesting--it was filled with Cambodian art and history about the Khmer empire and the previous empires. I tried to go to the Palace but it was closed because the King was in town!! Just my luck; it did look lovely. Instead, I went to Wat Ounamoun, the country's most sacred Wat. At the temple, there was a small man guarding the gate who opened it up for me to enter. I had to duck my head to go into the space where the shrine and Buddha statue was. He performed a ritual that involved blessing me and splashing my face with water; being in that small cave-like shrine was very peaceful and it did have a spiritual feel, minus the neon lights over the Buddha's head which made it look somewhat 70's-era Hare Krishna.

After Wat Ounamoun, I went back to meet Julia for lunch and then headed off to the airport, just in time to make my evening rehearsal for V-day after an interesting and unexpected Cambodian weekend. As I left, I was perplexed by Cambodia--many people often become obsessed with it or absorbed by its history, but Laos still remained my SE Asian favorite. I guess different strokes for different folks, but I'm happy I went all the same.