I arrived Friday in the afternoon. It was raining. The typical tropical shower. The interesting part about this was going with a Tuktuk from the airport to the hotel, while a few streets where flooded. I did not get wet, but it was still a near call.
I was watching the football game in the evening and then went to bed early. The next day I had a fairly light program. Just going around the corner and visiting Wat Phnom. That is a temple on a small hill in the northern center of Phnom Penh.
 |
| Von 20100705-PhnomPenh |
Like so many times in the last few weeks, I could not keep my attention at the task at hand. I had more fun watching other stuff instead of the culture.
 |
| Von 20100705-PhnomPenh |
After a look into the temple, I found the museum. 2 USD for the entry. I went inside and was fairly disappointed. They are renovating, maybe next year You will find more interesting stuff.
The payment in USD is quite funny actually. Because the cambodian currency is quite unstable all stuff is paid in US Dollars but they did not import the coins. So every small stuff worth less than one USD will be paid in cambodian Currency. I have never been to a country where I am paying in US Dollars.
The evening approached and the tension reached it's limit. This time I was the only german guy around but after a while maybe after the first goal there were other Germany supporters. It is quite interesting everybody I tell that I am german citizen praises the german football performance in this WC. And my standard reply has become: Yes, they are good, but there is Team X next. Replace X with Englang, Argentina and now Spain. Surprisingly Germany did not only beat Argentina, in my opinion you could see it in Maradonas eyes that they are going to lose after Germany scored the first goal.
There was no big celebration for me. I just went to bed. The guy in the bunk above me had a really tough time. Dehydration Fever. (He even did not come home yesterday and stayed at the clinic.)
So yesterday was my day walking around the town. It was hot and quite challenging for my constitution.
 |
| Von 20100705-PhnomPenh |
The ultimate destination was the royal palace, but I was not correctly clothed. My trousers left my knees bare and I could not convince myself to zip the legs onto my cargo pants. So I took a Tuktuk back to the hotel and fell asleep on my bunkbed.
For today I had the ultimate Phnom Penh sightseeing trip planned. Surprisingly I ordered a Tuktuk for the day and I got a motorcycle. I thought what the hell but went with it. Our first stop was a bank. I changed my last Thai Baht and got a nice present from the bank. I gave them 3260 Baht and got Dollars for 3620 Baht. The exchange rate was around 1:32.
The next surprise was that I actually felt safer on the motorcycle in Phnom Penh, than I felt on a bicycle in New Zealand. Heed my words. ;)
After a long ride we arrive at Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields).
 |
| Von 20100705-PhnomPenh |
 |
| Von 20100705-PhnomPenh |
 |
| Von 20100705-PhnomPenh |
You can say what You like. I still think it is quite depressing that humankind is able to do such atrocities on its own species and even more depressing is the fact, that this happened after the second world war and there are still genocides happening today.
During the reign of the Khmer rouge several million people where killed. The main difference between Germany and Cambodia in that respect is, that in Cambodia the killing was done by hand and not industrialized, like in the KZs. But it surely needs some really insane people who pickup children at their legs and bash their heads against a tree.
Depressed I made my way to the next stop: Tuol Sleng (S21 Prison Museum).
 |
| Von 20100705-PhnomPenh |
 |
| Von 20100705-PhnomPenh |
 |
| Von 20100705-PhnomPenh |
S21 was the interrogation prison where the Khmer rouge detained all sorts of people, before transporting them to the killing fields.
In the afternoon I made the next try for the palace.
 |
| Von 20100705-PhnomPenh |
 |
| Von 20100705-PhnomPenh |
 |
| Von 20100705-PhnomPenh |
A lot of stuff is closed to the public and I think it is not worth the 6 USD entry fee.
On a happy note, I went to a massage after this tour. Now I am feeling fairly beat up, like I was in a street fight and I am the winner. The woman was standing on me. Walking around on me. And finally beat me with her fists. If this is Khmer Massage I don't want it again.
Tomorrow I am leaving for Siem Reap. I am looking forward to finally see the ruins of Angkor.
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen