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About
PHNOM PENH
Phnom Penh
does have an eccentric charm. Seen from the river, palm trees and
the pagoda-like spires of Khmer royal buildings rise over French-era
shophouses and villas. In the 1950s and 1960s this was one of the
finest cities in Southeast Asia. The riverine city’s yellow-ocher
buildings, squares and cafes, and frangipani-lined boulevards give
it the atmosphere of a French provincial town. The city is located
at what the French called Les Quatre Bras (the Four Arms), where two
arms of the Mekong meet the Bassac and Tonle Sap tributaries. The
city’s original name, Chaktomuk, means Four Rivers.
Phnom Penh
has witnessed rapid and bizarre changes of fortune. After Angkor
fell to the Siamese in the 15th century, Cambodian King Ponhea Yat
founded a new capital at Chaktomuk. This city was soon abandoned as
well, and from the mid –17th to mid-19th
centuries the Cambodian capital to Phnom Penh in 1866. The city is
largely a French colonial era, and Phnom Penh quickly became an
important commercial centre. The city was and still is the only
major port on the Mekong above the delta; it is navigable by ships
of 7,000 tons. From Phnom Penh, smaller vessels can navigate upriver
to Siem Reap or Kratie.
In the late
1960s prosperous Phnom Penh had a population of perhaps 600,000.
Almost two-thirds of the population consisted of Vietnamese and
Chinese merchants and workers. The Chinese, Vietnamese, and Khmer
ethnic groups occupied their own distinct neighborhoods. Business
and trade congregated in basket making or silver smithing. By 1975,
swollen with refugees from civil war, the city had a population of
over two million.
On the 17 April 1975, Phnom Penh
became a ghost town, emptied out by the Khmer Rouge within 48 hours.
During the 1975 –1979 reign of terror, the city’s inhabitants were
mostly solders and prisoners. By 1978 there were only 15,000 –
30.000 people in the city. The Khmer Rouge painted over all signs in
Phnom Penh – traffic signs, advertising signs, markers of any signs.
Wrecked cars lay where they were abandoned in 1975. All shops and
hotels were closed. A number of buildings were blown up or
demolished, including the Catholic Cathedral and the National Bank.
Up to two-thirds of the city’s houses were damaged. The plumbing
system was destroyed.
Traces of the city’s former
splendor are visible at the Royal Palace, enclosing the Silver
Pagoda. The National Museum houses the world’s finest collection of
Khmer artifacts. The proud achievements of the Khmer culture are
offset by the horrors of the Tuol Sleng Holocaust Museum.
The Royal City
The southern
sector of Phnom Penh close to the Tonle Sap River exudes a strong
royal Khmer presence, with a wealth of Cambodian traditional
architecture. The city was once rich in temples; many were destroyed
under the Khmer Rouge, but some are being reconstructed. This tour
starts at Wat Ounalom, opposite the Phnom Penh Tourism Office.
Wat
Ounalom
is a Mahanikai Buddhist temple and highly respected
institute of learning, with 50 monks in residence; before 1975 there
were 500 monks here. This is the residence of the supreme Patriarch
of the Mahanikai sect. The temple was founded in the 15th
century; a large number of its buildings were destroyed under Pol
Pot, including the library. The temple has since been partially
restored. The compound contains two residences and a three-floor
building which functions as a temple; the interior are stark and
bare. On the ground of floor is a marble Buddha from Burma – smashed
by the Khmer Rouge, but pieced together again in 1979. On the second
floor is a brass statue of the patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism,
Somdech Huot Tat, who was murdered by the Khmer Rouge. The statue,
made in 1971, was flung into the river, but retrieved in 1979. On
the third floor the walls depict scenes from the Jataka Tales.
From Wat
Ounalom you can skirt round past the National Museum. The
Museum is notable not only for its outstanding exhibits but also for
its superb traditional-style architecture. To do justice to the
place, you really need several hours. In this area is the Ecole des
Beaux Arts (School of Fine Arts) where students often work on
reproductions of famous Khmer artifacts. The souvenir and gift shops
in the surround blocks are especially good for paintings, wood
sculptures, and crafts. The school of Fine Arts has its own retail
outlet.
Back on
Samdech Sothearos Boulevard you can cruise past Chan Chaya
Pavilion, which doubles as a front gate to the Royal Palace and
a public events podium. Above the pavilion is a huge portrait of
King Sihanouk. At the southern end of the palace grounds, you can
drop in and visit the Silver Pagoda. Skirt the walls of the palace
and head south to Wat Botum.
Wat Botum
is known as the ‘ Temple of the Lotus Blossoms” the
original site was a small island surrounded by a lotus-filled pond.
This temple is the centre of the Thammayut (royalist) sect of
Buddhism in Cambodia. The royalist sect has been revived since the
return of Sihanouk; about 85 monks now reside at Wat Botum. In July
1992, more than 150 bonzes (monks) were ordained here. At the
front of the temple is an unusual cluster of stupas with Bayon-style
four headed tops; the ceremonial stupas hold the ashes of members of
the royal family.
Opposite Wat
Botum in a park is the Liberation Monument, carved from Angkor
marble by the staff of the School of Fine Arts in 1989 to
commemorate the 1979 liberation of Phnom Penh by Vietnamese troops.
Process south and turn onto Preah Sihanouk Boulevard to see some of
the best-preserved colonial mansions and manicured gardens in Phnom
Penh. Over the boulevard to the west is the Independence Monument,
looming like a kind of Cambodian Arc de Triomphe. Also called the
Victory Monument, this Khmer-style prasat (tower) was built in 1958
to commemorate independence from France, but has since assumed the
role of a war memorial. Wreath-laying ceremonies honor the dead.
Like the towers of Angkor Wat and the four-headed spires of the
Bayon, the monument is a national logo.
From the
Independence Monument you can detour about 300 meters south to the
Prayuvong Buddha factory. In the grounds of Wat Prayuvong, a
neighborhood of workshops produces statuary and “spare parts” used
in repairing temples smashed by the Khmer Rouge. The workshops turn
out stupas and Buddhist artifacts, including gaudy cement Buddhas,
Bayon heads, nagas, and mythological figures. You can walk around
the various workshops and watch the artisans at work.
HIGH TEA
Back on
Preah Sihanouk Boulevard, head east past the naga fountain and along
Samdech Scothearos Boulevard to the Hotel Sofitel Cambodiana. The
Cambodiana is a peculiar structure: it looks like the architect
decided at the last minute to cap a European building with a
pseudo-Khmer tile roof. Drop into the foyer to see the huge wooden
model of the Bayon. A small gift shop sells books on Cambodia. High
tea at the Cambodiana is held between 14.00 and 17.00 -stuff
yourself with sandwiches, pastries, fruit, and drinks for around
$7-10 live classical music will ease your digestion. A plunge into
the swimming pool will set you back $5. Khmer-style roofing also
caps the nearby Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which looks like a
converted Wat, and Chaktomuk Theater.
WATERFRONT PAVILION
The locals
turn out for a stroll at the day past the tiny slope-roofed pavilion
fronting the Tonle Sap River, opposite the Royal Palace Gates. At
sunset impromptu picnickers frequent the place; police pursue food
vendors up and down Sisowath Quay. Cyclo drivers arrive for river
baths, and roving photographers work the crowds. This is an
excellent place to mingle. There are two shrines for offerings of
garlands of jasmine and coconuts spiked with incense sticks and
lotus buds. North of the pavilion are many sidewalk vendors. For
drinks, try a beer stall on the banks of the Tonle Sap. For a more
refined drink, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Cambodia (FCCC)
top-floor bar is a colonial-era throwback, with swishing fans and
elegant furnishings. The bar affords great views over the river.
EXCURSION FROM PHNOM PENH
Around Phnom
Penh are a number of destinations within day trip range – nothing
too special but a chance to get into the countryside and receive a
blast of oxygen after the fetid air of Phnom Penh. With the
exception of Choeung Ek, the sites described here are picnicking
destinations, popular with the weekend escape crowd.
Choeung Ek
There are
killing fields all over Cambodia, skull and bone cairns that stand
as stark memorials to Khmer Rouge atrocities. At Choeung Ek, 15 km
to the southwest of Phnom Penh, an estimated 17,000 people ware
killed, most clubbed to death to save ammunition. Many were taken
from the interrogation centre at Tuol Sleng. There are over 120 mass
graves in the area. Half have been disinterred. A stupa like tower
of glass panels was erected in 1988 to house the gristly remains,
with shelf after shelf of skulls . . .
KoKi Beach
Koki Beach,
about 12 km east of Phnom Penh on the Saigon route, is a popular
weekend and public holiday destination. Residents of Phnom Penh
decamp to river and rent huts raised on stilts for a day of
picnicking, tacking, or romance. Cafes here sell grilled fish and
chicken. Most of visitors rent a tilt hut to take a nap, ward off
the heat or counter the floodwaters of the monsoon season. You can
hire a boat to tour the lake, water borne vendors come alongside to
sell food. Crowded on weekends, with lots of food vendors, but
nothing much happening during the week.
Mekong trip
The trip
called Mekong island is actually Oknhateyn island about one hour by
boat from Phnom Penh. The island is a theme park with Cambodian
culture sample - village, handicraft production, zoo, traditional
dance and music ensembles, and restaurant. Another, longer trip
organized by Phnom Penh tourism is to Koh Dach, a silk weaving
village northeast of Phnom Penh, a boat ride up the Mekong to Koh
Dach take three hours round trip. You can also visit the fishing
villages and see river life along the way.
Udong
Udong, 40 km
northwest of the capital along Route 5, is the site of an ancient
capital, in a cluster of king’s tombs. This is another popular
picnic site, affording great views of surrounding area. Udong was
the seat of Cambodian kings from 1618 to 1866. Almost all the
buildings of the former royal city was razed when Lon Nol launched
air strikes against Khmer Rouge hideouts in the 1970s; another sites
were later blown up by the Khmer Rouge. A Khmer Rouge prison was
located here. A memorial to the Victims was erected in 1982, with
torture devices and bones from mass graves on display, as well as
murals depicting Khmer Rouge atrocities.
Tonle Bati
About 33 km
south of Phnom Penh on Route 2 is a turnoff that leads several km to
Tonle Bati.
This is
popular picnic spot, with a lake and two temples, Ta Prohm and Yeay
Peau. On weekends the place is full of footstalls and picnic guests.
12th-century
Ta Prohm Temple looks similar to Angkor temple. Some attribute the
handiwork to king Jayavarman VII, who ruled in Angkor from 1181.
According to legend, the temple was built by Ta Prohm. While
traveling through Tonle Bati, an Angkor king fell in love with Yeay
Peau, the beautiful daughter of a fisherman. The king passed three
months with her and she became pregnant. Upon leaving, the king gave
her a ring with instruction to send the child she bore to Angkor.
When her son, Prohm, duly presented the ring at Angkor, he was
welcome at his father’s palace and given an education the king later
sent him back to govern Takeo province. Prohm built a temple similar
to those he’d seen at Angkor, and named it after himself. For his
mother, he built Yeay Peau temple.
Phnom Chisor
Some 20km
south of Tonle Bati is a hilltop ruin dating from Angkor period. The
turnoff to Phnom Chisor is 55km south of Phnom Penh; temple is about
4 km from Route 2. The main sanctuary what’s left of it is an 11th
century structure dedicated to Brahma. This spot is quite isolated,
so do not go alone. The temple is reached by a staircase on the
northern side of the hill. From the top are expansive views over the
countryside you can see 2 other temples ruins to the east. Leave the
hilltop by the southern staircase.
Takeo
The town of
Takeo is 75 km south of Phnom Penh on Route 2. It can also be
reached by Route 3; the trip is 87 km from Phnom Penh, but the road
is in better shape. This is stretching the limits of a day trips
from the capital because the travel time alone is six hours round
trip by taxi. About 20km east of Takeo is the modern village of
Angkor Borei, which is thought to have been the site of Vyadhapura,
the latest capital of Funan Kingdom. South of town is a hill called
Phnom Da by French archaeologists, which are displayed at Phnom
Penh’s National Museum. The Phnom Da style was identified as the
first stage of pre-Angkorian art. On top of Phnom Da is a small
building made from heavy basalt blocks.
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