March/April 2016, Phnom Penh in Cambodia
The Mekong river speedboat ride from Southern Vietnam to Phnom Penh (PP) was enjoyable, comfortable and speedy. Halfway through we stopped at the border checkpoint for about an hour to get our visas stamped in. With an exception of an occasional individual or creature, there was no visible life along the riverbank. Not much to see at all. I am guessing the picture might have been different on the top. But at the bottom of the deep and steep riverbank, all that mattered was just the river, the waves, the wind, and the speed.
I loved it.
We arrived in PP early afternoon. The Jetty was right in the middle of town and I could have walked to my hotel in two minutes had I only known it was right there. And talking about the hotel – I loved it. Hotel 108 on 108th street is in a majestic colonial building with magnificent staircases, landings and large rooms overlooking the river. It needs a stroke of paint here and there but overall it is a gem.
NOTE 1: when purchasing tickets make sure it is a speedboat and not a slow boat you’ll be taking. Slow boats are not only slow but also bumpy, crowded and uncomfortable.
NOTE 2: walkway from the jetty onto the street is ‘straight up” steep and 100 or more meters long. Keep that in mind if you have a lot of heavy luggage with you.
Cambodia used to be French protectorate, and it shows. Chapeau to the French – they did fantastic job building PP. Champs-Élysées after Champs-Élysées. Very impressive. Even though the boulevards are no longer in their prime glory, they are still very glamorous. Just like all the colonial houses and buildings. One by one, the houses are being restored. Give it a few years and maybe Phnom Penh will shine once again.
NOTE 3: The official currency in Cambodia is USD. How convenient. It is also USD you get from ATMs. And if you make your withdrawals from (e.g.) Maybank you won’t even need to pay any transaction fees.
What without a doubt shines in PP is the Royal Palace. Right in the city center, by the river, the palace is the official residence of the king of Cambodia. Open to the public (not private chambers though) the palace complex and the adjacent Silver Pagoda compound attract many tourists and locals alike. Very impressive and a must see site. Magical world and a refuge from the reality outside its walls.
For once you leave the palace complex and shut the gates behind, you the brutal reality of the king’s subjects will confront you – the poverty. The poverty you meet, right at the gates, overshadows all palaces in the world and all fancy boulevards. You meet young mothers and their newborn babies sleeping naked right at the palace gates. You meet naked toddlers playing in the middle of the streets. You meet five-year-old girls that have already mastered the psychology of tourists and the art of survival. You meet misery and poverty you didn’t even know existed. I was in total shock.
But what shocked me the most was the number of pirayas and hyenas in town. The predators looking for prey and predators taking advantage of their prey. The disgusting, repulsive, sleazy, overweight, old Western pig-of-a-man low-lives ‘playing house’ with underage girls and boys in hotel rooms. For hundred dollars a week.
I had breakfast with them every morning. Every single morning the predators paraded their prey proudly in front of other predators as some kind of trophy as it was a showoff competition who is more successful in finding prettier and younger prey. Stupidly I changed hotels after seeing that picture –> in a magazine. I wanted to be on that rooftop and shoot, so I moved two streets up. My new hotel allowed customers to bring in a ‘guest’ for the night or for a week. The previous one didn’t. So there I was, not only having their company every morning but also every evening as the predators brought them and their friends (or family) and the friends’ children up to the pool proudly announcing ‘this is my family‘, ‘oh, how I love my family’. They actually believed they were helping the families to fight poverty by raping their young daughters (and sons).
Wherever you looked – they were there. In restaurants, in bars – just sitting, sipping on one dollar beer watching and waiting. In silence. Some of them had company but didn’t speak with each other as the company knew none English. So they just sat there in total silence. The picture of a disgusting, obese, in shorts and vest, 70+ old grandfather having a meal in total silence with a bored out of her wits teenager staring into nothingness with her empty eyes, scared of what’s awaiting her after dinner will stay with me forever.
Children of Phnom Penh
The City
