Cambodia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 77

South to Independence Monument
Back on Sothearos Boulevard, just south
of the Royal Palace, you'll come to the
National Assembly . You'll know if the
Assembly is in session by the excessive
police presence and a row of black
limousines. Just beyond, on the other side
of the road, there's a park, in the middle
of which stands the Liberation Monument ,
sometimes called the Cambodia-Vietnam
Friendship Monument, commemorating
the defeat of the Khmer Rouge in 1979.
he southern tip of the park is crossed
by Sihanouk Boulevard, lined with
colonial-era buildings. Following
Sihanouk Boulevard west brings you to
Independence Monument , on the
roundabout at the junction with
Norodom Boulevard, built in 1958 to
celebrate Cambodia's independence
from France.

sight, and it's not until you see the
pictures of the victims, blood stains on
the walls and instruments of torture that
you get any idea of the scale of suffering
endured by the Cambodian people.

Wat Phnom
he most popular of Phnom Penh's
temples, Wat Phnom (dawn-dusk; $1),
atop the city's only hill, was originally
founded in 1373 by a local widow,
Lady Penh. he current construction,
dating from 1926, sees hundreds of
Cambodians converge daily for photos
and a prayer or two.
Inside the temple, a resplendent
Maitreya Buddha (“Buddha of the
Future”) looks down from the central dais,
and murals illustrate tales of the Buddha's
life and the Ramayana. Behind the main
sanctuary, the stupa of fifteenth-century
Khmer King Ponhea Yat remains the
highest point in Phnom Penh, a fact not
lost on the French, who commandeered
the shrine as a watchtower.

2

Toul Sleng Genocide Museum (S21)
As the Khmer Rouge were starting their
reign of terror, Toul Svay Prey Secondary
School, in a quiet Phnom Penh
neighbourhood about 2km southwest
from Sisowath Quay, was transformed
into a primitive prison and interrogation
centre. Corrugated iron and barbed wire
were installed around the perimeter, and
classrooms were divided into individual
cells, or housed rows of prisoners secured
by shackles. From 1975 to 1979, an
estimated twenty thousand victims were
imprisoned in Security Prison 21 , or S21
as it became known. Teachers, students,
doctors, monks and peasants suspected of
anti-revolutionary behaviour were
brought here, often with their spouses
and children. hey were subjected to
horrific tortures, and then killed or
removed to extermination camps outside
the city.
he prison is now a museum (daily
7.30am-5.30pm; $2) and a monument
to the thousands of Cambodians who
suffered at the hands of the Khmer
Rouge. It's been left almost exactly as it
was found by the liberating Vietnamese
forces - the fourteen victims found
hideously disfigured in the individual
cells have been buried in the school
playground. It's a thoroughly depressing

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
By plane Pochentong Airport lies 9km west of the city,
about a 30-60min journey away. Taxis charge $9, tuk-tuks
$7 and motos $2-4 for the journey. Licensed taxis operate
from a counter directly outside the terminal building.
Destinations Bangkok (7 daily; 1hr 10min); Hanoi via

Vientiane (5 weekly; 3hr 10min); Ho Chi Minh City (4-5
daily; 45min); Hong Kong (1-2 daily; 2hr 25min); Kuala
Lumpur (4 daily; 1hr 50min); Siem Reap (1-4 daily;
45min); Singapore (4 daily; 2hr).
By bus Buses out of Phnom Penh operate scheduled
departures from their own o ces or depots located in and
around the central market or near the night market. Bus
companies will usually send a tuk-tuk to collect you from
your guesthouse. Arriving into town, most buses draw up
near the southwest corner of the central market, from
where moto and tuk-tuk drivers are eager to drive you
into the centre of town.
Destinations Bangkok (3 daily; 12-13hr); Battambang
(10-12 daily; 6hr); Ho Chi Minh City (14 daily; 6hr); Kampot
(10 daily; 4-5hr); Kompong Cham (10 daily; 2hr); Kompong
Thom (5 daily; 4hr); Koh Kong (3 daily; 6-7hr); Kratie (3
daily; 7hr); Poipet (8 daily; 8hr); Sen Monorom (daily; 8hr);
Siem Reap (hourly; 6-7hr); Sihanoukville (hourly; 4hr);
Stung Treng (3 daily; 8hr); Vientiane (daily; 24hr).
By share taxi or minibus Share taxis and minibuses
head out throughout the morning from Psar Thmei for
destinations north of Phnom Penh: Kompong Thom,