October 13, 2010
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
I really wanted to like Phnom Penh. Send me to Rome, Bangkok, or San Francisco and I’m in my element. I get restless after a couple of days spent sitting on a beach or in the serene countryside because I’m a city girl at heart. I start to long for the frenetic hustle and bustle of the bright lights.
The last time I was here was 2002, on my first trip to Cambodiawith David. At the time, neither one of us liked Phnom Penh, feeling that somehow it could never shake its sinister edge. “This time,” I thought, “will be different.”I wish I could say that Phnom Penh now sits in my Top 10 Cities, but alas it does not. While it no longer feels as menacing to me, it did not feel welcoming. It’s not something I can really pinpoint, it’s just a general unease that I haven’t felt for a while while traveling. That said, I still think the city is worth a trip. Going to Tuol Sleng to bear witness to the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge is mandatory for the insight it gives into Khmer culture and history beyond the grandeur of the Temples of Angkor.
Because the timing did not work out for us to fly from Siem Reap and make our morning flight out of Phnom Penh, we decided to spend the night prior to departure there. Driving from Siem Reap was less expensive for the both of usso we made the trip back again by car, departing Siem Reap early in the morning and saying goodbye to Ponheary, Lori, and the entire family at the Seven Candles Guesthouse. I was sad to go, but I left certain that I would return soon.
The drive was fairly uneventful except for one point where our driver was pulled over …
