Cambodia: Phnom Penh and National Highway 6

The National Highway 6 connects the northern town of Siem Reap with the capital Phnom Penh. Although it is sealed, in some places this means just one lane is sealed. Thus, the oncoming traffic ends up playing a game of chicken to see who will stay on the sealed part, and who gets run off onto the gravel shoulder. It is a game where inevitably, the biggest vehicle, or occasionally the one with the loudest horn, wins. Needless to say, we felt much safer the first time we drove from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh in a large coach bus, and much more vulnerable the other times when travelling for our clinic in a minivan.

Whenever we stopped along the way, we would be met by a throng of locals wanting to sell us their wares - usually bags of fruit, post cards or drinks. As soon as the van stopped, a mass of bodies and arms pressed themselves up against the windows displaying what they had to offer. We had the opportunity to sample some of the local delicacies - the locusts were actually quite nice, crispy like potato chips and not mushy in the middle as you might expect. But we did not feel obligated to try the spiders.

Just whipped up a batch of locusts

Ended up buying a bagful of the locusts, they were that tasty. Of course, Jill was pressured into trying one.

Phnom Penh, a 6 hour bus ride from Siem Reap, is a cool capital city, owing a lot of its charm from the French colonial buildings which herald from the time of French Indochina (The French controlled Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam from 1887 and the colonies became independent just after WWII). With over 2 million people, it is by no way a small city, but easy enough to get around by Tuk-Tuk.

One of the more interesting places we visited in Phnom Penh was the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, where about 17,000 people were executed and buried in mass graves by the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979. Overall, an estimated 1.7 to 2.5 million people from a total population of 8 million died as a result of Khmer Rouge policies. At Choeung Ek, you are able to walk amongst the mass graves, some of which are yet to be unearthed.  Occasionally, when it rains, bones and items of clothing are revealed showing the location of yet to be discovered mass graves. There is also a memorial filled with skulls of victims which have been recovered. The site is eerie, moving, and it is quite difficult to begin to contemplate the nature of the genocide that occurred here. Though the photos we took here are interesting, we have decided not to post them on this blog.

Cambodia is a beautiful country, and it is sad that so much of its recent history is taken up by the atrocities that occurred during those years. It is still very much a young country, and one that we recommend you visit to see for yourself.

Next stop, Vietnam.