Penm Phen - part 1

We've noticed a habit when we visit cities: at the time, we feel like we're not doing much, but then when we look back, we realize how much we actually did see and do.

On our first day, we decided to head just outside town to the Killing Fields, an important historical landmark. But before we got there, our tuk-tuk driver went down a blocked, unfinished road, which ended in him trying to drive through deep sand. James and I then had to get out and push the tuk-tuk while he maneuvered from the driver's seat. After 5-10 minutes of us pushing in the hot sun, we finally got it out and turned the vehicle around to go the longer paved route.

For those who aren't aware, from 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, ruled Cambodia and implemented radical policies aimed at transforming the country into a communist agrarian utopia. This regime resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 to 2 million people due to forced labor, starvation, disease, and mass executions. The Killing Fields were one of many sites across the country where people were executed and buried in mass graves. We wandered around the area with the audio guide, getting an in-depth understanding of the horror that hundreds of thousands of people experienced here and seeing the scars it left on the land. Even though they've excavated the graves, there are still lots of bones and bits of clothing scattered around, pointing to the sheer volume of people buried here. It was intense and very moving but incredibly important to hear. We left feeling emotionally spent and returned to our hotel to decompress and enjoy the pool. In the evening, we went for drinks on a fancy hotel rooftop, which had a lovely view over the palace opposite it, and then went for some authentic Italian pizza.

On our second day, we ended up doing very little. We woke up feeling very lazy and decided to embrace it and take a day off. We lazed by the pool, wandered the streets getting coffee and iced tea, and wandered to a shopping mall, in search of nothing in particular. We played air hockey in the arcade and then headed back for more chilling. We went out to the city's night market, which had every fake designer clothing you could imagine, and were wowed into taking a ferry ride along the river, which was beautifully lit up. We then wandered along the banks, taking in the lights and bustle of the city, and headed back to our accommodation.Читать далее