Visiting Phnom Penh is like going back 30 years in time

The Royal Palace

Le Pain Quotidien (The daily bread)

The Phnom Penh experience

Posted on Six Degrees (www.6d.fi)

Phnom Penh is like the Berlin of South East Asia – a hectic but fascinating construction site, slowly coming to terms with layers of turbulent history.

It is only a one-hour plane journey from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, but my Thai colleagues said it was like going back 30 years in time. Whether this was a fair description or not, it intrigued me. My first taxi ride in Phnom Penh quickly revealed that Cambodia really does exist in a different world from neighbouring Thailand, having been marked by European colonisation, civil war and, ultimately, genocide.

The French colonial legacy in Phnom Penh can be discerned without much effort from the baguettes sold at every street corner, the imposing colonial-style buildings, and the French shops and streets names. Today French has largely given way to English as the language of communication between tourists and locals.

The more recent legacy of the Khmer Rouge years is also noticeable, perhaps in a more disturbing way. The many people with missing arms and legs, trying to make a living on the streets of Phnom Penh, are a constant reminder that Cambodia still has a huge number of active land mines scattered around the country. Cambodia’s culture of violence is also reflected in some of Phnom Penh’s restaurants and clubs, where you are kindly asked to deposit your weapons at the door before entering.

A painful past

The city’s two major places of interests are synonymous with its tragic past under the Khmer Rouge regime – the Cheung Ek ”Killing Fields” and the Tuol Sleng security prison, also known as S-21. Neither place is for the faint-hearted.

The Cambodian way of dealing with the genocide is a far cry from the European approach to the Holocaust. The former school now hosting the National Genocide Museum at Tuol Sleng and the new Holocaust Museum in Berlin are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. At Tuol Sleng, the torture rooms and instruments have been left untouched, the way they were after the downfall of the Khmer Rouge regime. There are bloodstains on the walls, the doors are off the hinges, the building is crumbling and surrounded by broken barbed wire. It seems as if the building was deserted in haste only a few months ago. The absence of Do not touch signs or any supervision by the museum staff is most striking.

At the Killing Fields, the excavation and identification of the human remains from the numerous mass graves is still ongoing and many graves remain unmarked. Quite recently, a small open-air exhibition opened on the site. The language used to describe the atrocities is emotionally charged and grammatically rough rather than polished or politically correct. In Berlin, many of the Holocaust Museum exhibits need to be accompanied by a lengthy written explanation, whereas the Killing Fields speak for themselves.

Dollars and traffic

It is clear that in terms of its economic and social development, Cambodia is indeed currently lagging far behind Thailand. This is a country where most common tourist services such as accommodation, transport and food can only be paid for in US dollars. Most locals prefer to get paid in US dollars and even the smallest supermarkets seem to operate in dollars only. This is hardly surprising considering Cambodia’s continuing economic instability.

Coming from Western Europe, prices are more than affordable – expect to pay around $5-8 for the airport taxi and about $4-7 for a good quality lunch in one of the numerous restaurants lining the waterfront promenade. Hostel rooms start from 10$ per night and many new hostels are springing up around the city keeping the prices down.

Phnom Penh’s green parks and riverbank boulevards, a legacy of French rule, give a very spacious feel to the city. However, from dawn till dusk they are filled with motorbikes, scooters, bicycles, tuk tuks, and cars, in that order. Motorbike taxis are probably the most convenient way to get around due to their superior manoeuvring skills. At the time of my visit, arguably the most convenient way to go outside the city was by hiring a tuk tuk as those opting for the motorcycles were half covered in mud by the time they reached their rural destination. Outside the city, vehicles frequently got stuck in the mud and the passengers had to push their tuk tuk through the rougher patches of the road.

Urban pulse

A city’s urban pulse can be best felt in its market places. Phnom Penh’s two key markets are a must – the New Central Market and the Tuol Tom Poong Market, locally known as the Russian Market. Both the markets and their immediate surroundings are crowded and chaotic but an extremely rewarding experience, at least in small doses! To make the most of these places, leave your over-zealous sense of hygiene at home and bring along some haggling skills. And even if you don’t intend to buy anything, you can still enjoy people watching at the markets while negotiating the narrow lanes between the stalls.

The food stalls at the centre of the Russian market are a great opportunity to mix with the locals and see your meal prepared from scratch using the ingredients sold by nearby vendors. I certainly had the most delicious shrimps with my noodle soup and it was even possible to pay in the local currency for a change!

Rewarding destination

Cambodia has opened itself to tourism quite recently and it was only in the 1990s that foreign tourists considered it safe to visit the country. Now more and more tourists venture into Cambodia every year. As in Thailand, with its sublime beaches and nature reserves, Cambodia’s main tourist attraction lies outside the country’s capital in the small but vibrant town of Siem Reap, home to the magnificent ancient temples of Angkor Wat. But Phnom Penh also has an intriguingly complex character, whichever way your look – the Angkor, the Khmer or the French cultural influence – and its modern face is finally emerging from the shadows of Cambodia’s past.

------------

Getting there
Finnair flies daily from Helsinki to Bangkok, where several low cost airlines, including Air Asia, have flights to Phnom Penh.
www.finnair.fi
www.airasia.com

Don’t miss
The one place where all travellers and expats come together is the legendary Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC), famously featured in the novel and film “The Killing Fields”. The view from the rooftop bar is a must.

Sleeping
For that touch of former colonial grandeur, try Hotel Renakse which has no frills on the inside but a rather imposing presence on the outside, as well as an unbeatable location near the riverbank promenade, right next to the Royal Palace and the National Museum.

Before you go
Visit the official Tourism of Cambodia website:
www.tourismcambodia.com