After we had our fill of ancient ruins at Angkor Wat, Sean and I headed south to the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. A lot of people had recommended avoiding the city altogether since it is not particularly scenic or a huge tourist attraction. But Sean and I had some friends we wanted to meet up with there as well as some historic places we wanted to visit.


The bus ride was a long, slow and bumpy one. We also had to stop repeatedly for huge herds of cattle during which the bus driver honked his horn uncontrollably. It was amusing only first two or three times. During the drive I mostly looked out the window and aw the countryside, the many houses on stilts and muddy and wet rice paddies.

The Lonely Planet guidebook wasn't that encouraging either. Here's what it said about the city: "It's exotic, it's chaotic, it's beguiling, it's distressing, it's compulsive, it's repulsive. Every day brings a different experience, some a shock to the senses, others that bring a smile, some that confound all logic, others that wrench the emotions. Many cities are captivating, but Phnom Penh is unique in its capacity to both charm and chill to the bone."


The "chilling" quality that the guidebook refers to represents the hellish history that the city has gone through. Once known as the "Pearl of Asia" it was evacuated under the Khmer Rough in 1975. Many of the well-educated and political leaders were killed or forced to do hard labor as they were considered a threat to the Khmer Rouge and its vision of a new agrarian society. Because of the the gruesome past even now the city feels a little haunted. Many aspects of the city is struggling party because an entire generation of the most intelligent leaders and engineers was wiped out.

Our first impression of the capital was one of blessed relief. Phnom Penh was much less touristy and crazy than Siem Reap, the location of Angkor Wat. People were less pushy, there were fewer scams and it seemed a lot quieter. We stayed in a hostel outside of the down town and away from the night life and tourist scene.

Our plans for the next few days included meeting up with friends from Holland and hanging out with some team members of Sean's ultimate team that we had gotten to know in Bangkok who now live and work in Phnom Penh. We also braced ourselves for a day-long tour of sites related to the killing and torture by the Khmer Rouge - important and interesting but many had warned us that it would lead to depression and fear of the human condition in general.

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