Passing through Phnom Penh

Once again, no blog post for ages! We recently did a bit of travelling in South East Asia during our December holiday so I plan to write a few posts on the various places we visited, over the coming weeks. First up, Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

We had a week in Cambodia lined up and due to the early morning arrival in Phnom Penh from Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia we thought we would travel straight up to Kratie, where the main tourist attraction is the Irrawady Dolphines. However, Air Asia had different ideas as they delayed our departure by about five hours! Fortunately we got the text at 4 am so could have the extra few hours in bed rather than in the terminal! It did mean though that our now lunchtime arrival in Phnom Penh was later than the last bus to Kratie. We changed our hotel booking and spent a couple nights in Phnom Penh before moving on.

So here’s our experience in Phnom Penh for you to read about or to use as a travel guide if you are planning on visiting.

We accepted the offer of a tuk tuk driver at the airport to take us to our hotel and then ended up using him regularly for the two days we were in town. Not a bad way to get round although easy to get ripped off I think. Be nice, but don’t be fooled is my advice.

The afternoon of our arrival day included a traditional Cambodian lunch by the riverside – I had Lok Lak, which was tasty. We then went up to Wat Phnom (temple) for a quick look round. It is easy to get templed out when in Cambodia – as you will see from upcoming blog posts – but it is worth looking at a few of them and they are all subtly different.

After Wat Phnom, Sam, our tuk tuk driver, took us to The Palace further down the riverside. If you have been to the palace in Bangkok, it is very similar. It is well worth the visit (check the opening times first) even if to just stroll round the gardens and admire some of the buildings.

We were staying in what would probably be classed as an ‘average’ hotel. It was pleasant enough and the coffee at breakfast was great. The only trouble we had was that as it was quite a new hotel, the tuk tuk drivers didn’t all know where it was. We finally learnt that the trick was to say it was near the popular night club ‘Heart of Darkness’, well, popular with the rich locals apparently – we never ventured there.

The next day we did the ‘must do’ for any (first time) visit to Phnom Penh – the killing fields. For those not familiar with the Khmer Rouge regime, you should read into it a little.

We started off by visiting the ‘prison camp’ S21, which is a former school building turned into the torture chambers of the Pol Pot regime. ‘Prisoners’ were brought here prior to being taken to the killing fields for execution.

Not all tourists pay this place a visit first, many choosing to go straight to the killing fields. I would recommend including it though as it certainly helps to give a better idea of the ‘story’. It is very hard to describe the atmosphere and even harder to try and comprehend what happened and why. Not only is it disturbing how recent the events occurred and how brutal they were but also that similar things must be happening in other parts of the world still today.

Following the visit to S21 our tuk-tuk driver Sam took us to the killing fields. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Near the entrance was a big monument that houses many many skulls along with some of their clothing. It really hits home just how many people were massacred when you see it. As you walk around the area even fragments of bone and teeth are visible on and to the side of the paths.

We did take a brief look in the attached museum after walking around – there is plenty to see and read about that helps make the history of it all a bit clearer. Worth a visit, even if only for 10 minutes before you travel back into Phnom Penh.

The remainder of our time in Phnom Penh was spent browsing the various shops, enjoying the numerous bars and cafes. The Russian market was quite good for all sorts of goods – especially factory seconds clothing. We visited quite a number of small cafes and restaurants of the “giving something back” variety. Some were linked with groups such as UNICEF etc. while others gave employment and training to the uneducated or homeless. I can’t remember the names of the ones we visited but take a look on various guide book websites to find out about some of them.

After a couple nights in Phnom Penh we were ready to make our onward journey. Due to the previously mentioned change in plans because of the late flight we decided we would visit Battambang on our way to Siem Reap. Details in the next blog…

All in all I would recommend Phnom Penh for a visit – as much to get away from the usual hustle and bustle of Asian capitals as to witness the scarred history of Cambodia which is really so recent.

Have you been to Phnom Penh? Let me hear your thoughts on it?

-PlaneSimple

Struggling to prove he is in control?

So, as his country’s football team qualify for the next round of the World Cup in South Africa, President Obama’s actions continue to be in the top news stories. His latest actions to grab the headlines come after much criticism following the BP oil disaster.

In previous blogs I have suggested that although much of the responsibility of the disaster does lie with BP, the United States are far from squeaky clean in all of this. Perhaps scathing attacks by Obama were part of his strategy to sideline this issue and place the blame, in the eyes of the public, solely with BP. Obama and his administration have stated that BP cut corners and knew something like this was going to happen.

I have two issues with this. Firstly, if the United States are so concerned about what has happened, why were they not monitoring and regulating the industry far better? Surely you should be well-informed and knowledgeable about the actions of those working in your back yard?

Secondly, Obama hardly promotes a climate for speaking up when things go wrong following his remarks about how he would have dealt with the BP head man. And this brings me onto the current headlines regarding Obama’s actions. I admit it was not the best forum or manner to criticise the US President and his policies. However, if someone in a high position who clearly understand his field of work extremely well has concerns about policy and military strategy and voices those concerns surely he should not get fired? Why would anyone ever suggest something is wrong if these were the consequences – as Obama is clearly implying they are?

Despite the promotion of Gen David Petraeus to oversee the US military strategy in Afghanistan receiving positive responses and backing that the correct replacement has been chosen, it is clear that there are many that are concerned about sudden change in leadership within the region. This is perhaps why NATO feel the need to emphasise all is still well. So perhaps Obama is not quite as in control as he wants everyone to think! There are those that fear progress will be severely hampered in Afghanistan.

So why has Obama acted in such a way over the past month or so? Is he trying to regain control he felt he was losing?This too leads to questions as to if he really knows what he is doing with the BP disaster. Does he really understand the complexities of the situation and the far-reaching consequences? The court blocking of the drilling ban imposed by his administration demonstrates that his ‘solutions’ are not so straight forward. Yet he still proceeds to try to have another ban issued.

I lead you to this column which suggests “When a US president talks directly to the nation it is often a sign of events spinning out of control”.

Okay, so I have been extremely critical of the president. However, perhaps he should consider how his actions would be received and how he would react if he was high up in BP or leading his countries troops in a foreign field.

What do you think? How might some of these issues have been better dealt with? Is Obama acting how the US public want him to react? Have I completely misunderstood the complexities of US politics?

Let me know your thoughts and if you think I am too far wide of the mark.

PlaneSimple