We sailed from Tan Chau, Vietnam and arrived at or near the Cambodian Border at around 2:00pm, where we had to wait for Cambodian Border Force and Immigration officers to board our ship.
When we first got on in My Thon we had to forfeit our passports and Vietnam VISAS which was a bit too uncomfortable for my liking.
I was watching the action from the deck and was invited into the Bridge with the ship Captain and first officer as they circled waiting g for the Cambodian team to join us.
This was a very cool experience – just me and the Boss and his mate.
We then waited until about 4:00pm for the Immigration staff to process our Cambodian visas and then we had to do a “face check” individually against our passports and an immigration officer.
It was wild – and they kept our passports until we depart Cambodia !
Once these formalities were completed we set sail for Phnom Penh which is an overnight sail.
Dinner was almost a PB – finely sliced rolled beef (almost like carpaccio) with a watercress salad followed up with hoisin duck on freshly made rice noodles
Brilliant.
Last to leave the restaurant – again.
We arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s Capital at around 6:30 and the hustle and bustle around the port area was on.
Phnom Penh has approximately 2.8million permanent residents which is swelled to approximately 3.3 million with transient or workers from Vietnam. It’s a busy town and much more modern than we expected.
Typically, the architecture again features French influences alongside recently built tower complexes so the mixture is exciting.
After breakfast our first excursion was going to be a tough one – visiting the “Killing Fields” and “Prison S21” from the 1975-‘79 Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge regime.
During this short time frame, millions of Cambodians (Kampucheans) were downright slaughtered by this evil dictator who wanted a one class population and went to every method possible to achieve it.
“S21 Prison” also now known as the “Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum” was originally a secondary school, but was taken over by the Khmer Rouge to be used as the Interrogation and Detention centre from 1975-1979
During these four short years, over 20,000 men, women and children were incarcerated at this barbaric facility with only 8 people surviving.
Eight.
(one is missing from the below photo)
The inmates for want of a better term were placed in tiny cells and tortured day and night before being shipped off to the “Killing Fields” if they survived that long.
There was a gallows set up in the yard for public executions alongside a list of “rules” which needed to be obeyed – what about Number 6.
One of the survivors is still alive today and was a guest at the site when we visited- he is now 94 years old and speaks sadly of his time there. He’s also written a memoir which is quite detailed and moving.
If the “prisoners” survived a few weeks at S21 – so named as there were a hundred or more similar facilities scattered around the countryside with the “S” standing for “Security” – they were gathered up, blindfolded and told they were being released to a new home in the countryside, loaded into a truck 39 at a time and transferred 40 minutes up the road to the local “Killing Field”.
There were another 388 similar “Killing Fields” across the countryside.
First impressions are that this is a gorgeous green parkland u til you learn of the atrocities undertaken here.
Originally a Chinese cemetery, the lunatic Pol Pot regime turned it into a torture chamber of death.
No one knows the full number of men, women and children brutally and barbarically executed here.
Most were just shot point blank as soon as they got off the truck from S21 and thrown into freshly dug open graves, or pits. Lime thrown over the bodies until the next batch came through.
It’s impossible to understand what Pol Pot and is “men” were thinking when they were doing this to their fellow countrymen – and for what ?
He remained Secretary of the Communist party of Kampuchea until 1981 and died in 1993 aged 72 after overseeing the deaths of over 2,000,000 Cambodian/Kampuchean countrymen which at the time was 1/4 of the nations total population.
For a bit of much needed light entertainment we headed into the Phnom Penh Central Market to explore and try and pick up a bargain or two.
As usual it was hot and humid and busy and wall to wall people with more 100% Genuine Copies of clothes and shoes and watches than you can imagine.
Who doesn’t want a $7 Rolex 😎
The economy in Cambodia is based on two currencies – the local Cambodian Riel which works out at 2,619 Riel (KHR) per Australian Dollar. So you do the calculations.
The other currency is the US Dollar. Much easier to navigate. ATMs give you the option of withdrawing either Riel or USD
Most change is given in whatever currency you use unless the US amount is too small when they give you Riel as change
Confused?
There are a number of Cambodian beers available and most of them are fantastic. I saw one near the market that I’d not seen before so had to buy a few to sample. It’s called KRUD. Not the best name but as a fresh tasting Pilsner it’s a winner – especially at 70c a can.
After dinner a local student dance group boarded to give an exhibition of traditional cultural dance. It was a really nice experience.
Then a local guitar and singing duo came on board and punched out some tunes – which of course turned into karaoke
Which of course meant the few beers and wines I’d had led me to the microphone. several times.
The rest of the night was history ….
Ralph and Karen's Tours 