SE Asia Trip Dispatch: Part Five (Phnom Penh)

After leaving Siem Reap I decided to break up the impending grueling 12-hour bus ride and head to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, about 6 hours to the southeast. It’s likely secure to say most people do not know substantially if something about the city, and the first issue they wonder is how to pronounce it (for the record: drop the 1st “ph” in Phnom and the “h” in Penh and you have got it).

Far from the current, turbulent history of the city, Phnom Penh is now a bustling capital, a great deal like Saigon, with construction going on all more than the city, and a burgeoning middle and upper class emerging. Brimming with NGO workers, rural migrants, and, yes, Cambodian yuppies, Phnom Penh is a surprisingly lively, vibrant city.

The city’s most famous landmark is the Royal Palace, positioned close to the Mekong River near the center of the city. Built in 1866, the complicated is house to the King of Cambodia, and regardless of its relative newness (at least compared to Angkor), the grounds are amazingly lovely and nicely maintained.

Phnom Penh will probably forever be linked to the violent Pol Pot regime, from 1976 to 1979, when an estimated two.five million Cambodians died beneath his rule. Beside the killing fields — exactly where several Cambodians were killed and buried in mass graves — the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is probably the most notorious symbol of the violence. Once a higher school, the five buildings were converted into a prison and interrogation center.

Now, the prison has been preserved and turned into a museum. The cramped holding cells and dark classrooms where the torture took spot are a stark reminder of the violence and inhumanity that was commonplace in the course of this time period.

To lighten items up a bit, I headed to the Russian Industry, a sprawling marketplace in the city that is dwelling to, what at least some have billed, as the greatest iced coffee in Phonm Penh (it need to be true: check out his Facebook page). The iced coffee in Cambodia is famed, and the ones made by Mr. Bunnarith, are most likely the ideal of the bunch. Consisting of an further shot of espresso, ice brimming to the best, and a generous portion of sweetened milk at your disposal, Starbucks has practically nothing on this guy.