Phnom Penh.

The bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh takes roughly 6 and half hours over mostly good roads through the rather flat Cambodian countryside. Quite a lot of houses on stilts, quite a few water buffalo, and an extraordinary amount of petrol stations. We had 2 pit stops so we could avail ourselves of the facilities and  to stretch our legs.

Our trusty bus.

The view from my window.

We arrived in Phnom Penh just after 3pm where it was warm and sultry, hired a tuk-tuk and arrived at my hotel. Not as luxurious as in Siem Reap but has a great view of the Tonle Sap river that runs through Phnom Penh where it merges with the Mekong.

On my first full day I booked a Phnom Penh heritage tour on an electric bus that wizzed its way through the crowded streets to look at (and sometime go in) different buildings from the differing architectural styles that Phnom Penh has to offer.

Old colonial building which houses a fancy restaurant.

Inside the temple of the Hokkien Chinese community

National Library of Cambodia

Another grand colonial building which currently houses UNESCO.

Outside the Royal Palace.

Interior of a building from the Chinese Community, now a coffee shop

And just before I started on my tour, I see a group of tourist being driven around on bicycle rickshaws.

A great introduction to Phnom Penh where I could get my bearings and fascinating to boot. In the afternoon I made my way to the National Museum of Cambodia. It covered pretty much the same as the Angkor National Museum in Siem Reap (which I preferred) but the building itself was very much worth a visit.

My second full (and last) day, was a much more sobering affair, visiting the notorious S-21 prison at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

I joined a tour for this as well, and there were only 5 other people in our group .We got to learn about the history of Cambodia following independence in 1953, the effects that the Vietnam War had, the coup of 1970, growth of the Khmer Rouge and the fall of Phnom Penh in April 1975. We then drove to the outskirts of the city to visit the Killing Fields site at Choeung Ek. After the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979 they discovered the many mass graves. Some of the remains were interned in a large Stupa.

We then headed back to the city. 

And that concludes my trip to Cambodia. In the morning I catch a bus to Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City.