For the first hour we drove on roads which were completely deserted. In fact in the first hour we only met about a dozen cars and vans. Again we drove through an area where wild elephants live, and signs warned drivers to be on the alert.
The road has recently been upgraded and new bridges have been built, where ferries were previously used. We stopped, with several others, at one of these bridges to take photos of a small Cambodian fishing village on the banks of the river.
For the first time on this tour we came across domestic animals wandering across the road and in the fields water buffalo were being used. The change from the countries we have just driven through could not be more marked.
A typical scene. A small girl walking along the road on her own, with houses on stilts in the background.
Once again we saw unbelievably overloaded buses and trucks, just like India and China. There were twice as many people inside this bus as there were on top!
Overloaded with goods and people!
The drive took us through small villages, crowded with people shopping at the market stalls on either side of the road. Raza walking back to the car having taken photos of the market.
Felicity Devonshire stopping at the market.
At about 11am we stopped, with several others for a drink at a restaurant in the small town of Kampot, which used to be the regional centre when Cambodia was a French colony. We drove on to the coast and went along a beautiful coastline, virtually deserted and with fishermen fishing close to the shore.
There are many fine colonial houses here which are now deserted as their owners all fled from Pol Pot’s murderous regime. This was one such house.
We now headed more or less due north for the final 200 kms to Phnom Penh, stopping first at two ruined Khmer temples.
At the second we were pestered by young girls ‘selling’ us flowers as offerings to Buddha. We gave them a couple of dollars (the dollar is universally accepted in Cambodia) and took these photos of them.
As we were walking around the ruins this man was playing ‘The Marseillaise’ on his xylophone!
Our final stop was at the Killing Fields Genocide Memorial, which is about 15kms outside Phnom Penh. This is one of the most depressing places I have ever visited. Millions of Cambodians were murdered by Pol Pot’s regime in one of the 20th century’s worst cases of genocide. The central memorial is a tower with rack upon rack of skulls, enclosed in a giant glass case. The skulls are from the more than 17,000 victims at this site. This was just one of many killing sites all over Cambodia. I am posting a few of the photos that I took.
Finally the explanation of all that happened under Pol Pot. The broken English somehow made it even more poignant to me. I suggest you double click on the photo to enlarge it in another window so you can read it.
We then drove into Phnom Penh, and arrived at our hotel at just after 4pm. Another wonderful day’s drive, though visiting the Killing Fields Memorial certainly affected everyone. We have a rest day here in Phnom Penh tomorrow which will give us a chance to see this capital city. I’ll post all about it tomorrow.
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