Cambodia's Capital

Trip Start Apr 22, 2012

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Cambodia Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Saturday, May 26, 2012

The bus ride to Phnom Penh could only be described as eventful. After sorting out our visas at the border we were soon racing through Cambodia, overtaking everything in front of us, as clearly buses are the fastest things on the road in Cambodia... However, our bus driver attempted one daring overtake too many and as a lorry tried to turn off onto a side road we slammed straight into it, ploughing into the front left side and sending it spinning, its rear end then smashing into the back of our bus and scraping along the side. Sitting at the front of the top floor I happened to have the best (and probably most dangerous) view of the whole accident. Everyone quickly rushed out of our bus to inspect the damage on the lorry we had hit (our bus was dented on the front and had scrapes down the side, but that was nothing compared to the lorry). After seeing that no-one was injured we all stood around for less than a minute and suddenly it started raining - heavy rain! We all rushed back onto our bus and as the monsoon ensued the drivers contacted the bus company to see what to do next

On the border

. Then after about 10 minutes, in true Cambodian fashion, we left. Driving through the torrential rain and gale force winds, having just left the scene of an accident that was clearly our fault, it was now time for the bus to board a ferry! After making it safely across the river, with every single person on the bus fearing for their lives, the rest of the journey was fairly straight forward...
Phnom Penh itself was a wonderful city, much more developed than I had expected anywhere in Cambodia to be. On our first evening there, Fred showed us a traditional Cambodian restaurant that was filled with locals and served some of the best food I have ever eaten. After stuffing ourselves with the wonderful Lok Lak, fish fresh from the river and other Cambodian dishes we explored the city a bit more. In the main square there was a water fountain which lit up in time to music which was playing, and even more interesting, a group of locals doing synchronised dancing - of course we had to join in! The next day was a moving day for us, as we visited some of the sites from Cambodia's violent history, First we went to the Choeung Ek "killing fields" - a site where the Khmer Rouge executed around 17,000 people, just on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Later we headed back into the city and visited S-21, an old high school, which during the Khmer Rouge regime was converted into a prison where inmates were usually tortured and then killed. After a long day it was time to move on to Siem Reap, where we would see some impressive rather than depressing history.

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