Asian Adventure - Exploring Phnom Penh, 16 May 2019!

5/12/2019

This is penultimate day of our Asian adventure, before we fly home tomorrow. We were up bright and early, ready for a packed day of sightseeing and exploring in this city of two million people. When one considers the nine million residents in London, it doesn't seem a huge number in comparison, but it felt far busier than that. As I sat in the restaurant and the top of the Pasteur Hotel, I could see the thronging crowds of people, making their way to work through the streets below. This was indeed a busy city, spectacular in its grandeur, often poor in its construction, but typically modern in its mechanics.

The breakfast at The Pasteur was the best of all the hotels we had stayed in. For someone who doesn't like heights, I felt quite at home and safe in this roof top restaurant. Peering out, I could see the city for miles around. Great Buddhist architectural wonders, mingled awkwardly next to tall imposing tower blocks and wide boulevards of traffic seemed to flow haphazardly, towards the central business district of Phnom Penh. All the wile stark, utilitarian housing, overcrowded and in disrepair, in the middle of constant building works, told me I was in a foreign land. As an observer, looking in, I saw the harsh realities of life in this small Asian country; fascinated by the contrasting sights, sounds and smells, I was surprisingly transfixed and relaxed on this final stop of our tour of the region!

Outside the sun was hotter than anything we had seen on our journey before, as we made our way to our first stop of the day, the Royal Palace. We queued briefly outside and paid our ten American dollar fee to enter the extensive grounds and numerous buildings that made up the palace complex. Lush oriental gardens, stunning monuments and vast cavernous structures, adorned with gold and richly woven fabric greeted us around every corner. By now, as we slowly made our way around this historic compound, the heat was blisteringly balmy and my Aunt and I took shelter whenever we could, buying water from several stalls that had been erected to cater for the needs of tourists.

This impressive Royal Palace, still used by the King of Cambodia was a living piece of history and was the highlight of my stay in the Capital. Cats were everywhere, also trying to take shelter from the sun. Two kittens laid in a flower pot, shaded by green shrubbery, content and happy, unable or unwilling to move. As I walked over to stroke the pair, I noticed messages written on palm leaves, gently swaying in the warm morning breeze; the more I looked, the more words I found. This was a beautiful place, very serene, despite the tourists and a joy to observe. As a fan of all things 'Royal' I have a particular interest in this aspect of a countries history. Whether in Cambodia or at home in the UK, I am always happy to pay homage to a Monarch that gives his or her subjects identity and a link to the past that would otherwise be forgotten. Cambodia's recent history is a reminder of man's inhumanity to man and the Kings role in bringing his country together after terrible conflict, has ensured his place in the hearts of all those who live in this nation!

We left the Palace at lunch time and took a walk back to our hotel to freshen up. On our way we passed through the diplomatic quarter, where government buildings sat next to foreign embassies and expensive real estate. As we reached the end of the road, we noticed a small, eclectic looking cafe and decided to pop in for a drink. The Freebird Cafe was owned and run by a rather accommodating gentleman called Henry, who sat with my Aunt and I and his two beautiful cats outside.

The conversation started well enough; talking about our travels around Asia and his life living in Cambodia, but soon we realised Henry was a little different from the norm. Originally from Germany, he described life living with his Father, who was involved in local politics. He spoke of his Father's comrades and his role during the Second World War. By the end of our conversation we were both under no illusions as to Henry's extreme political views and his unorthodox perspective on World War II. Looking back to that day, I really should have been more guarded about who I was and my beliefs, but blinded by the holiday atmosphere, I along with my Aunt agreed to return to 'Freebird' later that evening for a final meal, before we left.

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Henry and his Cats, but I wasn't entirely comfortable with the tête-à-tête I was taking part in, it just didn't feel right.

Henry was clearly a bit of a local character. An Australian woman who lived just along the road, near the British Embassy came in to the cafe and had a brief chat. An elderly Ozzie Ex-pat living in a country she had fallen in love with many years ago. Henry seems to be a well known personality and rightly so. Of all the people I met on this trip, he is the most memorable; a person with a story to tell!

I do get uneasy feelings at times around certain individuals and detected radical undertones during our conversation. Henry clearly has a past he wasn't afraid to speak his mind on subjects that are not usually discussed in this small Kingdom. After an hour and a half we left for our hotel to prepare for the next part of our day, at the Killing Fields, just outside Phnom Penh!

We were picked up at the Hotel by our guide for the afternoon. There were about twenty of us travelling to our first stop Prison S21 in Phnom Penh and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Here between 1975 and 1979, the Khmer Rough imprisoned, tortured and killed anyone who spoke out against their regime. This was a high security facility at the time and reminders of its terrible past could be seen everywhere.

There was room after room, dingy and dark where beds used for torture, were in situ, very much in the same way they were abandoned in 1979. Everything has remained untouched, blood still staining the walls and floors, bullet holes and chains attached to bars on windows. As one walks along the walkways outside, looking down one can see the gallows, implements used to subdue victims and graves of those who had died. This was a deeply depressing place, commemorating all those who lost their lives during the reign of terror the Khmer Rough perpetuated.

Respectful tourists walked in silence around this macabre compound. Concluding the tour, we observed three areas filled with the photographs of the victims. By the end of it I was left feeling deflated and disturbed at what I had just witnessed. I understood the meaning of this place and am glad I went to pay my respects, but I would never choose to do it again. The harrowing nature of what I saw, will remain with me forever as a reminder of just how evil humans can be!

After Prison S21, we drove outside of the city to the infamous 'Killing Fields.' Thousands upon thousands of people died here. The region is still littered with the debris of the fallen. As one walks around the fields, one is conscious of the bones and fragments of clothes still left in the dirt beneath ones feet. You are told to leave the artifacts in place, as they are still collected each morning carefully by volunteers and preserved for future generations, to understand what transpired in this corner of Cambodia.

Unlike Prison S21, the Killing Fields left me with a feeling of hope for the future. Even the large tree, below which many thousands of people died, now adorned with bracelets of remembrance, left me feeling grateful for the life I lead and thankful that all those who died are remembered each and every day. These were brutal years and the Cambodian people have grown to accept their dark past, hardened to the crimes that were committed in their name. This was a poignant place to end our time in Cambodia, if only to remember all those that made our journey so memorable and giving us the opportunity to understand the history of a Country so recently ravaged by war!