Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital city as well as the wealthiest and most populous city in Cambodia.
In Phnom Penh we visited the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda and strolled through the well kept grounds admiring the architecture. The Silver Pagoda (as its name implies) has an interior that was all silver, including the floors and walls. One building was quite out of place in the surrounding colorful Cambodian architecture. It was a small grey Victorian house that was a gift from Napoleon III.
We then drove to National Museum which holds one of the most extensive collections of Khmer artifacts in the world. The Khmer empire (not to be confused with the notorious Khmer Rouge) started around 9th century and lasted into the 14th century. One interesting fact about the national museum is it holds the record for the largest collection of living bats in a structure. As you look at the exhibits you can hear the rustling and occasional squeak of the bats overhead. In fact the Australians built a second ceiling in the museum because the bat droppings were destroying the exhibits! At night I would suggest going to the Foreign Correspondents Club across from the museum and watch the bats fly out from the museum. It was truly an amazing sight to watch over a beer. Although you have to watch carefully or you might miss it.
A visit to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (formerly S-21) or the Killing Fields is required but depressing stop. We chose S-21, which was originally a high school before the Khmer Rouge took over in April 1975. The Khmer Rouge took methodical notes on their victims, so we know more than 17,000 people were tortured and killed at S-21 over 4 years. Prisoners were tortured to get them to confess to crimes against the state. Killing them was discouraged, at least until they had their written confessions. Most of rooms were left as found when the Vietnamese army took Phnom Penh from the Khmer Rouge in 1979. But one set of rooms is dedicated to the people who where tortured and died at S-21and their small pictures line the wall, a sobering reminder of man’s inhumanity to man.
These photos from my 2001 trip to Cambodia.
Read MoreIn Phnom Penh we visited the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda and strolled through the well kept grounds admiring the architecture. The Silver Pagoda (as its name implies) has an interior that was all silver, including the floors and walls. One building was quite out of place in the surrounding colorful Cambodian architecture. It was a small grey Victorian house that was a gift from Napoleon III.
We then drove to National Museum which holds one of the most extensive collections of Khmer artifacts in the world. The Khmer empire (not to be confused with the notorious Khmer Rouge) started around 9th century and lasted into the 14th century. One interesting fact about the national museum is it holds the record for the largest collection of living bats in a structure. As you look at the exhibits you can hear the rustling and occasional squeak of the bats overhead. In fact the Australians built a second ceiling in the museum because the bat droppings were destroying the exhibits! At night I would suggest going to the Foreign Correspondents Club across from the museum and watch the bats fly out from the museum. It was truly an amazing sight to watch over a beer. Although you have to watch carefully or you might miss it.
A visit to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (formerly S-21) or the Killing Fields is required but depressing stop. We chose S-21, which was originally a high school before the Khmer Rouge took over in April 1975. The Khmer Rouge took methodical notes on their victims, so we know more than 17,000 people were tortured and killed at S-21 over 4 years. Prisoners were tortured to get them to confess to crimes against the state. Killing them was discouraged, at least until they had their written confessions. Most of rooms were left as found when the Vietnamese army took Phnom Penh from the Khmer Rouge in 1979. But one set of rooms is dedicated to the people who where tortured and died at S-21and their small pictures line the wall, a sobering reminder of man’s inhumanity to man.
These photos from my 2001 trip to Cambodia.
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