After we arrived in Phnom Penh and checked into the Hyatt Regency (full review to follow in a later part of this report), we took a walk to the old market which was a few blocks north of the hotel. It was obviously more chaotic and busy in Phnom Penh than Siem Reap, given that there are millions of people that live in the capital city.

That night, we went on a great food tour (which I will review in the next part of this report) and got back to the hotel around 9:30pm. The following morning, after breakfast, we took a Grab tuk-tuk to the S21 Museum. We arrived at the museum around 8:30am before the crowds on bus tours.

The S21 is a former school that was converted into a prison in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot came to power. It was one of the places that political prisoners were detained, tortured and in many cases killed. The prison was converted into a museum, now known as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, and there is an excellent audio guide to accompany you as you self-tour the buildings and courtyard. It costs $5 for non-Cambodians plus another $5 for the audio guide which is definitely necessary to understand what you are viewing.

One of the most interesting stories, at least for a Westerner, was that of a New Zealand sailor who was attempting to sail around the world in 1975. He happened to sail into port in Cambodia at the exact wrong time. Of course, he didn’t have access to online news like we have today. He ended up being tortured and killed by the Khmer Rouge as they accused him of being a CIA spy. His brother ended up testifying at the trials held many years later and some of the testimony was played over the audio guide.

We spent about 90 minutes wandering through the museum buildings and courtyards. It was very interesting and shed some light on a part of recent history we don’t hear a lot about in the US.

From the S21 Museum we took a Grab car to the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center which is about 30 minutes outside the city in a suburb. The driver said he would just wait for us and we could get his car for a ride back into the city from the Grab app when we were done.

Choeung Ek is better known as The Killing Fields. This was where many of the prisoners from the various prisons around Phnom Penh, including S21, were taken and killed during the Khmer Rouge era.

The entry fee was $6 per person and included an audio guide. I did notice some people had tour guides as well. The site used to be an orchard and has been preserved pretty much as it was in 1979. There is a large Buddhist stupa (like a pagoda) that has been built in the center that has preserved some of the skulls of the victims.

They are still finding bones and skulls on the site 45 years later as they emerge after rains or floods. The site was very eerie and like S21, shed some light for us on the brutal history. It took about 30 minutes to walk around the raised boardwalk and listen to the audio guide.

We were able to use our same Grab driver to get us back to the city. We had him drop us at an area with some art galleries and craft shops not far from the Hyatt Regency. We walked around a bit and decided to head back to the hotel as it got toward the hottest part of the day.

That evening we went to a BBQ street food stall where we had eaten the night before as part of our food tour. We had some ribs, pork belly and duck. It was delicious.

After dinner, we stopped for a soft-serve ice cream at Mixue, a SE Asian chain. That night, I went to SCORE, a sports bar, for the Liverpool vs. Manchester United match, which kicked off at 9:30pm local time. I enjoyed a Cambodia beer (or three) and had a good time talking to other fans while we watched the match, which ended 2-2.

As we weren’t flying to Vietnam until the evening, we had a few hours to spend in Phnom Penh on our last morning. We walked up to Wat Phnom temple, where I could climb the hill and see the temple and my wife could browse the stalls at the Made in Cambodia market. She bought some nice souvenirs and I got to see the temple so it was a win-win.

We walked back to the Hyatt Regency in the heat and decided to rest for a few hours before it was time to head to the airport. We ended up getting a Grab around 2:30pm for our 5:30pm flight which was a bit early, but you never know how the traffic will be in a city this large. Grabs were cheap and plentiful throughout the city. We mostly used tuk-tuks for local rides and cars for longer rides to the airport and to/from Choeung Ek. I don’t think we spent more than $1-2 for any local tuk-tuk rides, including a tip. Of course, it’s easier to use the app and pay by credit card since you’re not negotiating with the driver.

It was definitely worth a stop in Phnom Penh to see the Khmer Rouge sites and get a flavor for the city. Siem Reap is more geared towards tourists, but we got to see a bit more of authentic Cambodian life in the capital.

Up Next: Phnom Penh Food Tour

If you have questions about this post, let me know in the comments or send me an email at emptynestermiles@gmail.com. If you are thinking about opening a new credit card, please use one of my links.