In The Streets Of Phnom Penh

Pretty shaken we arrived in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, ,. In the last row of the fully stocked mini bus you could feel every stone and the bad road Huckel. The speed at which our driver was traveling favored this particular “Driving experience” more.
With 1,5 Mio Einwohnern ist Phnom Penh im Gegensatz zu den anderen Städten, we visited in Cambodia, really a huge city. Poverty and wealth is indeed very close to each other. On the one hand there are eg magnificent Wats and the Royal Palace, on the other side at night people sleep on the sidewalks or in their stalls.

We moved for the next three nights in the beautiful “Fancy Guesthouse” a. It was one of the cleanest accommodations we had on our trip. Am Abend kam Tamara, we had met at the beginning of our trip in Thailand, nach Phnom Penh. Together with her we met Britney, Joyce and Cliff again and spent the evening together.
The next day we strolled through the market hall “COAP Thmei”, a huge building with a large dome on the roof. There is probably nothing, does not exist. We ask ourselves again and again, who should buy it all: masse jewelry, Clothes, Cosmetics, Shoes, Bags, Electronics, Souvenirs, Books, Fruit, Vegetables, Meat, Flowers and more pile up there in the many small stalls. Es gibt hier wohl um die 3000 Händler. After that, it still went to a huge shopping center next door, aber nicht zum Shoppen sondern nur zum Eis essen 😉

We have also applied for nor our visa extension in Cambodia in Phnom Penh. Because there is still so much to see and we wish to explore the south of Cambodia and its islands, we decided to stay longer. After we had checked with several guest houses and travel agents and had called all the different prices and working lives, haben wir eine Agentur gefunden, that could get us the visa within 24 hours. Of course for a small fee. But since we were a little pressed for time and wanted to continue on the next day, We then opted for this agency.

The next morning we started with a late breakfast and relaxed a little. But I had not before the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (ehemaliges Gefängnis S-21) and to visit the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. Nicole did not want to see rather, since both are very distressing and depressing memorials are.
So I looked in the afternoon a tuk tuk, that would take me there again. A tuk tuk is also not difficult to find in Cambodia, much more you can find the tuk tuk driver. But I had seen the day before a, who knows how the business is running and the driver should be my. On his tuk tuk hung a sign with the following text: “I do not bother, But if they need a tuk tuk, they come to my tuk tuk. Reasonable price. The best driver Mr. Saddam“. Mr. Sadam was equal to a few meters. Auf dem Weg zu ihm musste ich nur noch 3 weitere Tuk Tuk Fahrer abwimmeln und dann mit ihm den Preis verhandeln.
First we went to the Tuol Sleng-Museum-Genozid. It was formerly a school, wurde aber zwischen 1975 und 1979 von den Roten Khmer als Gefängnis und zur Folterung der Insassen benutzt. Today it is a reminder- and Memorial. The exhibited pictures, Documentation and the place itself was very moving.
Nach dem Tuol-Sleng-Genozid-Museum fuhren wir auf einer extrem staubigen Straße 15 km zu den Killing Fields from Choeung Ek. The very good audio guide explained the history of this place and the terrible acts, who exercised the Khmer Rouge here.
So far we have discovered almost all the beautiful aspects of the countries visited. But I think it is also very important to deal with the history of the countries. A saying from the Killing Fields comes to me again and again in the sense: “An earlier lesson guarantees us a better future”.
By nightfall we started the return journey. For me it was very adventurous, exactly as we drove during rush hour through Phnom Penh. Aus 2-spurigen Straßen wurden teilweise 5 Spuren. Cars, Tuk Tuks, Mopeds and bicycles tightly clustered together and were always a gap. Red lights are almost always ignored here and at intersections without traffic lights you had to grope anyway, piece by piece to ever have the chance to cross the road. My driver also ignored basically one-way streets. He brought me safe but after over an hour through dense traffic in Phnom Penh's to our Guest House.
Nicole told me then, that they had almost forgotten to pick up our passports with the visa extended. Luckily, she thought, but at the last second because, otherwise we continue to Kampot the next morning could not have run.
In the evening we were still with Dana, Tamara essen und Echo, what was our farewell dinner of Dana and Kaja simultaneously.