Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh has been a bit of a functional city this time round as we have arrived three different times. The first couple of nights we stayed we were pretty tired from travelling so simply wandered about and got some food… I like Phnom Penh, it is a busy place full of decaying French architecture, fantastic old Colonial buildings with balconies spilling out over the roads. It is not a polished city, but it has odd bits of green space and although it can be scary crossing the roads it is manageable! Even for moi. We spent one evening sampling the nightlife and managed to down a few cocktails in glasses shaped like a naked woman- very jean paul gaultierre! There is definitely a seedier side to Phnom Penh than a lot of other places I have been and there are a lot more “girly”bars it seems than normal ones. Oh well –we’re not easily shocked! As I have been to many of the tourist sites before I did not go and repeat the same things, with the exception of Teul Sleng Prison. It was one of the main prisons during the Khmer Rouge where they think around 20,000 people were killed. Apparently there were only 7 survivors. I wanted to revisit it as it is a good source of information about the Khmer Rouge and the people that died ( a quarter of the population). As depressing as it sounds it didn’t seem right to spend time in Phnom Penh and not visit at least one site like this again. I don’t understand why it is not talked about more in the West or taught in Schools- it bldy should be! Hopefully history will never repeat itself like this again.One more place I did revisit however which was a little more uplifting was Romyda Keth’s shop! Keth is a French/Khmer Fashion designer with a lovely collection of clothes in central Phnom Penh… needless to say I have converted Alex too!