Day 5 - Phnom Penh

From your reading, you can guess we had some pretty intense days, so we were grateful when we heard we would be leaving at 10am as opposed to 7 or 8am. We definitely needed the rest and felt more energized after our long night's sleep.

So we start the day and our guide is no where to be found. We wait and wait and wait. Then, after about 20 minutes, I say, let's call him to see what the problem is. Guides and drivers are usually earlier than the said time. Right as I was going for the phone, our driver comes in and hands Mike a cell...Our guide was calling to tell us he would be late as he was in an accident, where someone else ran into his motor bike while at a stop light. He was at the police station as the person whose fault it was, was asking for money.

Instead of 10am start, we finally left at 11am when our guide arrived and was perfectly fine. We headed over to the UNESCO site where the prisoners of the Khmer rouge were held. It was previously a school until the Khmer Rouge took control. It was interesting to see, but eye opening and sad as people were held prisoner here in meager conditions.
The barb wire....in front of the buildings and on the fence/wall that surrounded the entire complex

There were 4-5 buildings like this, each with 3 floors each

One of the cells...see how tiny it is and the windows were never opened.

Follow the rules or die...literally


After seeing the prison, we headed out of town to see where the Khmer Rouge killing fields were. Yes, killing fields, where they would take the prisoners and execute them. It was a very somber place to visit.
After you enter, this is where the truck, carrying all the bodies, would stop.

Large area, which was even bigger with grave sites all over the place


After walking around the fields and being mindful not to step in any of the grave sites, our guide told us to we could look inside this pagoda looking structure. He said this is where they kept the skulls and bones that they found after heavy flooding. He also mentioned that he would not accompany us inside as he believe his father was in there. Then he explained how when he was 2yrs. old, the Khmer Rouge came to his house and took his father...Mike and I definitely felt odd going in after that story, but didn't say anything...


After the killing fields, we headed back into town to see the famous Wat Phnom and the Russia market, where you can get anything you want, at cheap prices.
We stopped for a drink at a local cafe and then headed to the market. Here we are with our guide.

Literally anything you want as there are stalls and stalls of stuff to buy


Next we went to Wat Phnom, which was in the center of the city, but not that great...it was simply another stone pagoda structure surrounded by lots of greens.

Mike seemed to find someone he liked!


We were finally done with the sites for the day and it was only 3pm. As we were returning to our hotel, our guide tells us he will not be going with us tomorrow to Siem Reap. He proceeds to explain how is uncle, who was like his father, passed away, and he had to get to the village for the funeral. This guy couldn't catch a break..
Plus, our trip to Siem Reap was suppose to be by boat, but the river was too shallow, so now we had to go by car...NOT what we wanted.