A place to learn of real hardships after its people suffered one of the world’s modern genocides, only 40 years ago.
Areas of Cambodia have an unfair discredit for being unsafe and “dodgy”, but as soon as we stepped off the plane in the capital of Phnom Penh, we were greeted with warm faces and sincere interest.
Starting with the sim card man. “Today, train free”, he muffled behind the counter glass. Tom and I turned to each other and quietly confided: “What train? Is this a scam?” For all we knew, there was only a bus. We continued out of the airport and were led by blue signs in English announcing the railway – “Royal Railway”. It was legit.
On 10th April 2018, Phnom Penh reopened an old railway line leading from the airport to the city centre and back. We landed in Phnom Penh on the opening day of the train, so we bagged the service for free, and it remains so until July of this year to celebrate.
As we sat down in the breezy air-conditioned waiting room for the train, a grinning man joined us wearing an orange Boonie hat. “Gin” was the traffic coordinator for the train. “Where are you from?” he smiled. We brushed off a tired reply of “England” before Gin hit back with an unexpected real of English – we spoke about our travel plans, he called us “rich”, and he taught us some Cambodian, which we instantly forgot. But for the full conversation, it was difficult to not laugh with him.
There were no barriers to stop the traffic before the train came rolling in, so it was Gin’s job to run out into the road and wave his little, orange flag in front of the many scooters and cars to get them to begrudgingly grind to a halt. Gin saw us off like a proud parent.
Excited children poured onto the only carriage and were taken aback when they saw our unusual features. But more so by the train itself, as I’m assuming most hadn’t travelled by train before. There certainly isn’t this delight in England.
They kneeled on the soft seats and placed their hands against the glass pains to shield their reflection so they could easily look out of the pitch black window. One father was telling his young boys to practice counting one to three in English beside us. When I held up my camera to take a photo, a second conductor on board the train wearing the same orange Boonie hat made a peace symbol with his two fingers and smiled for the camera click.
The charisma and positivity that shines through the local Cambodians is truly commendable after the recent devastation that their country is still grieving from. Only 39 years ago, in 1979, they were awoken from a horrific nightmare that was the multiple, barbaric crimes of the Khmer Rouge regime. They inflicted a mass genocide on the innocent. 20,000 people were murdered, including foreigners and babies, and it’s estimated that another 1.3-2.8 million died of starvation and disease after the population was forced to live off two bowls of rice soup a day.
Because of the tragedy that occurred in the capital of Phnom Penh, the main draw for tourists, albeit horrifically sad, are it’s Tuol Sleng museum, commonly known as S-21, and the Choeung EK Genocidal Centre, aka The Killing Fields. S-21 was a former school that the Khmer Rouge deployed as a top-secret security prison, one of at least 150 other prisons and torture centres, where there still lies blood stains on the walls and floors.
The Killing Fields is a site of 129 mass graves which also houses 8,000 human skulls that bear testimony to the heinous crime. You can read about what exactly happened under the Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot in my detailed but concise summary here. You can hire a tuktuk to see both centres for $7.50 each and the whole trip takes about six hours because they’re quite far out of town.
The friendliness and warmth continues in Phnom Penh with its hospitality, where I can wholeheartedly recommend Onederz Hostel. The staff here cheer “Welcome back” even if you’ve just nipped out for 10 minutes and could often be seen laughing away over a game of cards (playing for money) in the main foyer, that guests get invited to join.
The hostel is right along the riverfront which has a whole host of western and Asian restaurants to choose from, for around $3-7 a meal. Also just a few minutes walk away from Onederz, you’ll find yourself in the Night Market. It has more of a community feel compared to other markets in Asia as there’s a big stage for singers and performers, and a huge blanket area for locals and tourists alike to sit down whilst they munch on the tasty grub on offer. We ordered a refreshing vanilla ice cream bowl for $1.50 that came in a coconut, with sprinkles of crunchy nuts on top.
There’s also a huge, extensive Central Market in Phnom Penh that has different avenues leading off from a central clock tower. There’s original artwork, fake designer goods, watches, and even nail salons. It has an Art Deco feel to the impressive building and there’s not much pestering from stall holders so you can leisurely stroll around it.
A two day stay in Phnom Penh is just enough time to navigate your way around the city on the first, with a visit to the Royal Palace, and to spend the second day at the genocide museums taking in the tragedy that happened here not so long ago.
Our experience of Phnom Penh was a pleasant surprise and I wrote this article before we returned to Phnom Penh during the New Year, to get a bus to Siem Reap. On our return to the hostel, we saw that a woman from New Zealand had been mugged that afternoon – her bag was snatched from her shoulder by a man on a scooter. This just shows how quickly your experience of a city can turn, so do be careful with your possessions but don’t let that stop you from enjoying the real Phnom Penh.
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