May 26 - May 30, 2017

I rode a Giant Ibis Bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh for $16. I rarely recommend a bus over a flight but I truly enjoyed the ride and view. Also, seats were comfy, wifi worked well, and there was an electrical plugin by each window seat.

Phnom Penh (pronounced “per-nom-pen”) is vibrant and sprawling, dotted with wats and men asking if I’d like to ride a tuk-tuk (”Today? Tomorrow?”). I stayed at a few different places: Sundance Riverside Guest House ($12.74/night), Grand Waterfront Hotel ($22.91/night), and The Local Riverside ($12.48/night). I liked staying by the riverside but never found the right accommodations. 

I started my trip by walking the riverfront and paying $1 to walk up to Wat Phnom, the city’s namesake. I was also able to walk to the Royal Palace to see those famous sloping gold roofs. Then, returned to the riverfront around Sisowatch Quay for a meal and also Bodia Spa (on street 178) for a $65 3-hour relaxation massage. This massage was three times more expensive than average pricing in the area, but I felt it was well-worth it. 

The next day I paid $20 for a tuk-tuk. We had three stops. First, we went to the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek; just one of hundreds of sites all over Cambodia where people were slaughtered and left in mass burials. At Choeung Ek there is a stupa made of skulls, and outside of that, there are placards noting where administrative buildings once stood and walking paths through the small grassy enclosure. There was a small body of water to walk around, benches under shady trees, and here and there are depressions in the ground with signs like “100 women and children, naked, found here” or “about 150 bodies found here, without their heads." 

As the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh was immeasurably affected by the Khmer Rouge regime. If you want to see a living example of resilience then Phnom Penh is a good place to be humbled by as every person I met had a smile and positive attitude.

On the way back into town, I went to the Russian Market (aka Psar Toul Tom Poung). I bargained a couple items cheaper than I was able to in Siem Reap. I purchased two medium-sized leather carvings for $53. Always bargain with a smile is my main tip. 

I continued on to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the site of the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21). It was a high school converted into the most brutal of the Khmer Rouge’s prisons. According to a guide at the museum, of the more than 14,000 men, women, and children who passed through, only 7 are known to have survived, and all of them escaped from the killing fields, none from the prison itself. The rooms full of photos and the barrage of information were soul crushing and the cells were haunting. It’s ironic that a premier prison of a regime that tried to exterminate anyone educated still feels like a high school; in the hallways, in the stairwells, and in the torture cells which still have chalkboards on their walls.

After Phnom Penh, you could take the bus to Sihanoukville to relax on the beach or to Kampot for a beautiful internet-free riverside. 

I instead was ready to end my trip. I flew to Seoul with Vietnam Airlines ($166). I took a tuk-tuk from the riverside for $10. A bumpy, breezy ride in a tuk-tuk can be eye-opening and wonderful. A tuk-tuk journey is one that involves all of the senses, and it’s one of the best ways to get to the airport. However, remember to take care of your belongings and hold them tight!