 The kingdom of Cambodia located is south of Indochina peninsula and in the heart of Southeast Asia, making it a natural gateway to Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam. Its shape and geography divide into four natural regions : the mountains and forests in the North; the vast rice fields of the Central Plains; the semi-arid farm lands of the Northeast plateau; and the tropical islands and long coastline of the peninsula South.
Cambodia's two dominant topographical features are the Mekong River, which is almost 5km wide in places, and the Tonle Sap Lake. Tonlé Sap Lake is linked to the Mekong at Phnom Penh by a 100km-long channel knon as the Tonlé Sap River. From mi-May to early October (the Rainy Season).
Our holiday begun with a flight from Hanoi to Saigon, the hustle and bustle city of Vietnam. We had one day here going around the city, shopping…actually, totally a relax day, a preparation for the long drive from Saigon to Phnom Penh on the next day. We booked our tickets with Mekong Express Bus, a good, modern and clean bus running daily from Saigon to Phnom Penh, Saigon to Siem Reap and vice versa. The tickets have seat number so if you book in advance, you can order the seat you want, ex, near the window, front seat or back seat. We had water, cake during the run and also, a Cambodian guide speaks good English will introduce their country along the way, you’re welcome to ask him any questions. In general, the bus quality was very good. However, the long drive from Saigon to Phnom Penh (around 6 hours) made us a bit tired, also, the loud of the TV turned on during the trip can be annoyed too.
Arrived in Phnom Penh at around 2 pm, we had our private car and an excellent tour guide took us around the capital of Cambodia. We visited the National Museum, the Royal Palace and its nearby Silver Pagoda.
National Museum in Phnom Penh is regarded as one of the best tourist destinations in the city. National Museum in Phnom Penh is hailed as one of the landmark destinations in the city and is one of the must-see sites for visitors. National Museum of Phnom Penh is famous for the most amazing artifacts and traditional collections collected from all over the world. The National Museum at Phnom Penh Cambodia houses the world's best and probably the largest collections of Khmer art. Thus the museum stands as a tribute to the Khmer era and the Angkor era.
We then visited the Royal Palace and its nearby Silver Pagoda. The Royal Palace in Phnom Penh was constructed over a century ago to serve as the residence of the King of Cambodia, his family and foreign dignitaries, as a venue for the performance of court ceremony and ritual and as a symbol of the Kingdom.
The 'Silver Pagoda' sits next to the Royal Palace, separated by a walled walkway, but within the same larger walled compound. The Silver Pagoda's proper name is Wat Preah Keo Morokat, which means 'The Temple of the Emerald Buddha,' but has received the common moniker 'Silver Pagoda' after the solid silver floor tiles that adorn the temple building.
After that, we drove to the Killing Fields (Cheung Ek) which is situated 15 kilometres south-west of Phnom Penh and made famous by the film of the same name "Killing Field". It was a place where more than 17,000 civilians were killed and buried in mass graves; many of them transported here after detention and torture in Toul Sleng. This place is a chilling reminder of the brutalities of the genocide Khmer Rouge regime. In the center of the area is 17-story glass sputa which houses 8000 skulls exhumed from mass graves.
It was in the late afternoon when we visited the Killing Fields. At that time, all other groups left the site and just only our group at the fields. It was really moving when our guide showed us mass grave, bones, teeth, clothes of the victims and also the Chankiri Tree used to kill children. Our guide told us that every 3 families have at least 1 people died during the Khmer Rouge regime and many of alive Cambodian were obsessed by this cruel period.
We spent the night at the Juliana Hotel, a valuable 3-star hotel located in the city centre with combination of traditional hospitality with trendy features. At that time, the hotel is a 3* plus hotel but now it has been upgraded to 4* hotel. The Juliana Hotel has a good swimming pool where you can relax in the heat of Phnom Penh in June.
The next morning was spent for a short shopping ( ) at the Russian market where you can buy fake Nike, Polo and unbranded T-shirt with 2$. Many replica statues of Angkor Wat (the symbol of Cambodia), Apsara-dance girls…from small to big size are on sell with cheap price and we bought some small Aspara girls home for decoration. To be continued on Part 2.
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