It was late Thursday when we got off the bus at Phnom Penh and I got exposed to the closest I've been to being on the trade floor of the NYSE in the middle of the biggest rally of all time. There was about 50 tuk tuk drivers being held back by police shouting and roaring offering their business. It was totally manic, they were crawling all over each other to get our custom, we could almost name what we wanted to pay. We picked one, almost like Eddie Murphy at the end of Trading Places, to many disappointed drivers who were clutching straws by asking if we wanted to get a tuk tuk each! The fare was $2!
After checking into our hotel too a stroll around the city to half to get orientated and half looking for food. We weren't too easily pleased on the food scene and we were walking around for an hour with hungry bellies but we did see the Royal Palace on the way, and the banks of the Mekong river etc. We also found out that the next day was the Kings Birthday - a national holiday. Swinging back by the hotel, we finally found Blue Dolphin with good food and a had our fill and retired early for the night. It was our first night staying in a hotel in the whole trip - as it was all hostels up to then - but it was a nice change from dorms.Friday morning, 31st October, Halloween, and we were to do all to be done in the city, and also squeeze in the 2nd Ireland Australia game if we can get it. Hence, the day started with a hunt for a sports bar and we found that the Gym Bar would be showing the game at 5.30pm in the evening. Now to start the real touring, we got the city tour from our hotel, the Royal Guesthouse. It was the guesthouse owner that was giving the tour, and would take the 4 of us around to all the sights we wanted for $6 each - a bargain since it was what ever we wanted. We started by heading to a shooting range - we you can fire American and Russian guns of all types.
On the way out, I had a good chat with the guesthouse owner. He was asking about Ireland etc and I told him a little background etc. He's being operating the guest house for 10 yrs - and I tried to tie that into the recent history of Cambodia without asking too much. He seems like a fairly well to do man. He's daughter was off school due to the holiday, and came along with us for the drive. She mentioned that she was suppose to go to Thailand and had to cancel since Cambodia and Thailand are fighting. When we asked more - the father said that was not true, and we got the impression we shouldn't ask more. Check the Internet later to find that a week before we crossed the border, there was 3 soldiers shot dead, 2 on the Cambodia side and 1 Thai, when they exchanged fire at the border. They are both claiming a temple that is right on the border and that is the cause of the conflict. Glad we didn't know that when we were crossing the border !! Back to the shooting range - it was on a Cambodian army training base. Since it was a one off - myself and Derek shared 30 bullets of an AK-47 - and we were taken to a shed with a target and told how to shoot. It was fairly cool to shoot a few shots - and also to switch to automatic for a few rounds. My aim was fairly crap, so my enemies haven't much to worry about for a while!
After that, we proceeded to the Killing Fields - the main attraction in Cambodia. I remember watching the film in religion class in secondary school, and had read a little about the Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge regime but this did not prepare me for what I saw. Basically this was a site of mass execution of thousands of people between 1975 and '79. We got a tour from a guide who had many family members executed. There is a shire with hundreds of skulls, as a sort of memorial to them on the main site. We then took a 15 minute tour to see the mass graves. They still have many bodies buried there and also - they showed the cruel methods of execution they used to save bullets. Basically, it was all the educated that were executed - as Pol Pot didn't want to see any opposition and wanted to build a society from scratch. This explains how the country was taken back so much, and is only regaining its foothold now. The whole experience was fairly overwhelming - and I can only imagine its similar to visiting one of the holocaust camps in Europe. 
Once back in the jeep, we were fairly quiet and the guesthouse owner just said "Interesting, yes ?" and we answered "Yes" and said no more. Next it was on to S21 - a former prison under the Khmer Rouge era that was a high school before. This was more of a museum with exhibitions etc on the events of the time. Some of the rooms had a bed and a picture of someone who was found dead there. 
Others had photo exhibits and stories of the healing process that is still underway. What was a shock for me to learn was that it took to Vietnamese invasion in 1979 to stop the genocide - and even 10 years after that, the American, Thai and Chinese governments still supported the Khmer Rouge who committed the war crimes. There was much more the see here than the Killing fields and there is a program to bring local Cambodians to the museum to help in the healing process. It was late afternoon when we wrapped it up and headed back to the jeep and when asked 'Where Next?', we simply said "Gym Bar" - to watch the 2nd Ireland Australia test....priorities! The bar was fairly quiet and we'd a few refreshing pints of "Ankor" beer as we watched the Irish take the Cormac McAnallen trophy after a great game. It was so funny to hear Kieran Donaghy say he was heading for a few pints with Tadhg Kennelly - and I hearing this live from the capital of Cambodia.
We headed back to Blue Dolphin for food that night as we knew it was good - and even played a few board games with the staff. Leaving, we realised that there was a few around town for Halloween, and after being sent on a Red Bull run on the back of a motorbike, it was off to Heart of Darkness.
Once back in the jeep, we were fairly quiet and the guesthouse owner just said "Interesting, yes ?" and we answered "Yes" and said no more. Next it was on to S21 - a former prison under the Khmer Rouge era that was a high school before. This was more of a museum with exhibitions etc on the events of the time. Some of the rooms had a bed and a picture of someone who was found dead there. Others had photo exhibits and stories of the healing process that is still underway. What was a shock for me to learn was that it took to Vietnamese invasion in 1979 to stop the genocide - and even 10 years after that, the American, Thai and Chinese governments still supported the Khmer Rouge who committed the war crimes. There was much more the see here than the Killing fields and there is a program to bring local Cambodians to the museum to help in the healing process. It was late afternoon when we wrapped it up and headed back to the jeep and when asked 'Where Next?', we simply said "Gym Bar" - to watch the 2nd Ireland Australia test....priorities! The bar was fairly quiet and we'd a few refreshing pints of "Ankor" beer as we watched the Irish take the Cormac McAnallen trophy after a great game. It was so funny to hear Kieran Donaghy say he was heading for a few pints with Tadhg Kennelly - and I hearing this live from the capital of Cambodia. We headed back to Blue Dolphin for food that night as we knew it was good - and even played a few board games with the staff. Leaving, we realised that there was a few around town for Halloween, and after being sent on a Red Bull run on the back of a motorbike, it was off to Heart of Darkness. 
Saturday morning, we were picked up at the guesthouse after breakfast to get transferred to the bus to Saigon, Vietnam. The bus was a very organized affair, that took us right into Saigon and helped us with all the border formalities etc. They even handed out immigration cards on the bus, and took our passports en mass as we had to get off the bus twice at the border crossing and take all our bags etc. Met a few fellow travellers en route and also caught up with some reading on the bus. Arrived into Saigon in the late evening.
Having spent just under a week in Cambodia, it came across as a very poor country still recovering from the problems of its recent past. The people remain cheerful, wearing a smile at all times and could go a long way if given the chance. Ankor Wat and the sunrise was of course the highlight - and I hope to find Khmer food back in New York or Killarney. 
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