Phnom Penh

What to say, what to say...hate is a strong word, but I think its safe to say that we strongly disliked Phnom Penh.   

I do not like you Phnom Penh.  I do not like you here or there. I do not you anywhere.  I do not like you in a house or with a mouse. ..you get the picture.

Disclaimer:  Our perspective is a little skewed because Kerry's cell phone was stolen here (damn you teenagers on the moped).  Pur impression-the city was hot, dusty, dirty, and seemed to be in a strange state of flux with abandoned buildings next to shiney new high-rise construction projects. Overall less than appealing. 

That being said we made the best of our time there with some visits to the historic highlights (see below for the short history lesson) and enjoying some decent eats and cheep beer (which...go figure...included a locally brewed stout).

The border crossing, which we expected to be a shit-show (as they generally are) was actually very organized and our bus company took care of everything.  You never can shake that unnerving feeling you get when you hand over your passport and visa money to a total stranger, assuming his broken english means that he will take care of everything.  That juxtaposed with the "I knew it would work out okay" and "thank goodness" feelings you have when you get your passport back. 

                                                                     

Fast forward to our history lesson: Pol Pot was a son-of-a-bitch!  Cambodia's recent past has been marred by the rise of the Khmer Rouge and the systematic killing of over 2 million people during their 4 year reign.  It was quite a sobering experience visiting the school (nicknamed S-21 Prison) that the Khmer Rouge converted to a torture and detention center and the "Killing Fields" where locals were brought for...you get the picture.   Pretty terrible stuff, but interesting from a historical perspective.  Class dismissed.  

We biked around town visiting some local temples (go figure) and the royal palace (less impressive version of its neighbor Thailand's palace in Bangkok).  Like I said earlier the city was less than impressive and we were ready to head to Angkor Wat. 

Buddhist temple

Another temple (Buddhist in case you were curious)

Hindu version of Neo from the Matrix

Part of royal palace

View from second floor of S-21 (the Khmer Rouge put up the barbed wire to keep detainees from jumping)

Cell blocks in S-21

Sugar cane (makes a tasty drink when crushed and the juices are extracted)

Memorial for those who killed during the Khmer Rouge (it contained thousands of bones from the Killing Fields)

Grounds of the Killing Fields - and yes those are bones! They continually surface (along with tattered clothes) during the rainy season...very disturbing