I didn’t realise how much we did in Kampot until I just wrote that chapter. We aren’t even out of Cambodia yet. But have no fear, we only spent two nights in Phnom Penh. It was the time to get our Vietnamese visa and get a history lesson.
We took the bus from Kampot up to Phnom Penh and checked in at our hostel ‘Lovely Jubbly Villa’. It was a nice hostel this one, good location in the city, clean and with a pool. (Full review and link found on my ‘Hostel Reviews’ page).
As a city, neither of us rated it too highly. It had a nice area along the river but not a huge amount going for it. There were some Russian markets someone had recommended, but after going to the markets in Siem Reap we weren’t too fussed on this. It’s all a lot of the same thing most of the time anyway. The most important reason for coming here was to have the stop before heading into Vietnam to get our Visa. This MUST be done before you go to Vietnam, particularly when travelling via road into the country. You can do it at the Vietnamese embassy in your own country or find a Vietnamese embassy in the city you are in. We didn’t know when we would be entering Vietnam so we wanted to just do it on the way round. It was very easy to get it done. We found the embassy on Google maps and set off from the hostel early to get there for when it opened at ten in the morning. We stood in a short queue, paid them the thirty dollars, had relief that we knew this would be the official visa. We told them when we were planning to enter the country, stamps were added, and passports were handed back. Job done.
The second main reason for heading to Phnom Penh was to get clued up with the history of the city and the country. I am referring to the S21 museum and the killing fields. I need to prepare you for this one. It’s a tough day to say the least. A full-on day, and a tough day. I don’t know if you feel the same as me, but for me to truly understand a country’s history, I have to almost live it. I have to be in that country, I have to visualize the same things historians would have seen. This is why I struggled so much with history class in school, I can’t have someone stand and talk at me about history. I didn’t understand it, I didn’t care about it and it just doesn’t spark the same interest inside of me as being there firsthand.
We took a day tour which consisted of: us, a tuk-tuk and a Cambodian man. He wasn’t a guide; just a Cambodian tuk-tuk driver. He took us from the outside of our hostel and drove us to the start of the first stop of the day; the S21 Museum. He dropped us at the front it and pointed to where we had to go to pay for our entry and our headset, then off we went. This wasn’t a museum the same as the National History Museum or the National British Museum, where it is one building and you just wander around. This Museum told the whole story, you start at checkpoint one, press the start button on the console attached to the headset and you listen to each section while moving from area to area, room to room. You do this until you have completed the thirty-something checkpoints.
As agreed, our Cambodian friend was waiting patiently out the front for when we were finished, to take us to part two of two. We had a snack on the way – I can’t quite remember what it was, but I remember it involved chocolate. This was to give us a quick rush and our spirits back up a little before continuing. When we arrived at the killing fields we completed the same order of events with the headset and checkpoints. When finished again, our driver was waiting for us to take us back to our hostel. When we got there, we felt depleted. The two parts in total took us around five hours to complete. It was as though all the energy and happiness was drained from us. We were in shock almost. It was a horrific time for Cambodia and to re-live it really made you think long and hard about how grateful we are for where we grew up and the time we live in now. Even though it is a tough day for the brain I wouldn’t miss it if you have time in Phnom Penh. Just make sure you have something to look forward to in the evening afterwards.
Luckily the two English boys we met in Kong Rong arrived in the city that day, so they asked us if we wanted to join them for an Indian meal. Absolutely. We had a few hours to kill so we had a swim and then headed out. We had a few beers and a nice evening, not too heck-tick or late. It was just what we needed that night, some light company and a few pints.
The next morning we felt back to our normal selves. We showered the following day off and were fresh for our next border crossing to Vietnam. We learnt our lesson the first time not to be too hungover, as it just made the whole experience for us worse.
We boarded our minibus just outside the hostel, which took us to the main bus-station just down the road, we hopped onto the coach and off we went. This crossing was a breath of fresh air. It all looked official this time. The bus pulled up to the stop, everyone got off, walked into one end of the building, showed your passports, looked at the visa, stamped the passports, handed them back, and we hopped back on the bus at the other end of the building. That was it, onward to Ho Chi Minh!
LEAH HANCOX 