I’ve been to Phnom Penh before, and the city definitely didn’t conquer me. I even wrote an article stating that it was the most boring city I had visited in Southeast Asia, haha. I didn’t change my mind… but I went back to the city again and saw more things that made it more interesting.
Phnom Penh Killing Fields
One of the things I skipped visiting in Phnom Penh the first time, and I regretted it later, was the Killing Fields. Everyone goes there, and it seems like a mandatory tourist spot. I made sure to visit it this time.
How to get there?
I went to the Killing Fields by myself in a tuk-tuk. I found a tuk-tuk right in front of the hotel, and I negotiated with the driver a price to take me to the Killing Fields and then back to the hotel. The driver stayed in the Killing Fields area and waited for me. Once I was done, we drove back. I’m not sure how much I paid for it, but it wasn’t more than 15€. Just try to negotiate the best price with your driver.
The Killing Fields are not in Phnom Penh’s city center, and it took quite a while to get there. The traffic was chaotic within the city. Once on the city’s outskirts, there was no more traffic jam. Going by tuk-tuk was fun because I could still enjoy everything that was going on Cambodian streets. I was just a passive observer passing by.
At the Killing Fields you pay for your ticket and get an audio guide to listen to the story of the place. Going here without the audio guide makes absolutely zero sense. The place has a heavy aura. Everyone is with their earphones listening to the narration of what has happened in this land, not those many years ago if you put it in perspective. It was actually pretty recent. The story of the place is heavy, and listening to it is heartbreaking. I couldn’t escape shedding a few tears while listening to some of those audio. People narrate firsthand what they suffered under the Khmer Rouge regime and the atrocities committed. Absolutely terrifying! The way people were killed mercilessly is absolutely horrendous and visiting such places is important so we won’t forget and won’t repeat history over and over again, even though it seems like we are condemned to it.
I spent quite a lot of time at the Killing Fields. I went very slowly through all the very well-guided stops. Each stop has an audio guide talking about what happened there, and imagining it is overwhelming. No voices are heard here. Everyone is in silence as if moaning about the atrocities that once happened in this same ground we can now freely step into. There were bones, teeth, and clothes of people that have been found buried in those fields. There is evidence of the different ways of killing the people, we can see it in their skulls. Heavy! But important! I think a visit to the Killing Fields is very interesting and recommended. You have to go and see it, feel it, and listen to it to be immersed in the same feeling I had in that place.
Phnom Penh Silk Island
Another place that I decided to visit in Phnom Penh and had no idea about was the Silk Island. It isn’t that far from the city center and I decided to dedicate my day to it. I went there by myself on a rented bicycle.
How to get there?
The Silk Island is a little more than 10km away from the city center and it is connected by a pretty frequent ferry, so it was easy for me to get there on my own and the cycling trip isn’t hard either. There were only a few uphills and those were to cross bridges. The rest of the way is pretty flat, the traffic isn’t that scary for a biker and it is easily done. 1H30 by bicycle is enough for 1 way trip, so 3 hours of my day were spent just to get to where I wanted. That’s why this was a day trip. There isn’t that much on the island itself, so you won’t need a full day to visit it in case you go by car or other faster means of transport.
I rented my bicycle at Victory Motorcycle Rental for 6 USD a day. They didn’t have a cheaper option. I had to return it before 6 pm. The ferry to cross to the Silk Island cost 1000 riel plus 200 riel for the bicycle. The prices are fixed and the ferry ride is quite short.
But what is there to do on this island? Well, as the name indicated, this island is known for its silkworms. Farms of silkworms operate here and this is where the silk is supposed to be produced. They say it is handmade bla bla but I don’t believe it. Especially after riding around the island by bicycle and seeing several machines working with fabrics, very rustic machines though, but still machines.
Once I stepped off the ferry to explore the Silk Island, a smart lady leaving the ferry too approached me. She knows I’m a tourist and asks me where I am going. She invited me to her house cause her family has a silk production place and as I was there for it, I said I would follow her, and I did. I followed her on my bicycle while she was riding a motorbike in front of me. She took me to a place that is obviously dedicated to showing off to tourists. I pretended I believed that was her family– it was obviously not- as she guided me through some ladies operating machines by hand and showed me what is the process behind the creation of silk skirts, and other clothes, scarves, etc. She said it was free, she wouldn’t charge me anything I just buy something if I want to.
After a very quick tour of some old tools, we ended up at a table full of scarves and other clothes supposedly made by hand and silk. Not even sure if it is really silk haha, I think it is but overpriced. I ended up buying a silk scarf that I’m sure would have cost me 3 times less at the market… anyway, she was nice and I would feel bad if after all that I didn’t have anything to give. Whatever, I fell into the scheme because I let it happen and I knew what was going on.
After that, I decided to sit on a stool at the place to stop a bit after a tiring journey to get there from Phnom Penh city center. There were 2 other foreigners at the spot when I arrived, and once they left I finally saw what the place was all about haha. Once the other foreigners left, all the ladies doing stuff stopped and got back to their doings, but not much later they went back to their “working spot”, and why, because another van full of tourists was about to arrive haha. I watched it all sitting there. How they act in front of the tourists and then stop again when they leave haha, funny though. It is interesting to stop with the locals where I am not supposed to stop to watch the real thing happening. When u are just passing by, there are many things that go unnoticed. The house was beautiful though, all wood, very photogenic I thought. It’s the way they found to make a living and I don’t blame them for it. Once I had enough of the show I left to cycle around and rest for hours.
Wat Chong Koh
Still within the Silk Island, I went to Wat Chong Koh which was actually very beautiful. I came across some temples but this area was very beautiful. There were several imponent tombs not far from the waterfront and the place was so chilled. I liked it, then I cycled all around admiring the silent and empty place. I ended up stopping at some garden at the North of the island, sitting and enjoying the bird’s sounds for quite a while. I also decided to pay a visit to Koh Dack, the island just by, because I had already cycled all around the Silk Island and could cycle somewhere else. This was where I saw lots of machinery operating fabrics. Not sure if they were producing silk or not, but it was clothing-related for sure.
I also had the luck to come across some sort of celebration where people were walking along the streets dressed up as giants and puppets and collecting money from the citizens. Was an interesting sight as I had never seen it before. They had a very big drum and were dancing around it. Cool to witness. Once I had enough of cycling I headed back as I still had to cycle at least 1h30 to get back to Phnom Penh city center. I really liked to visit the Silk Island by bicycle and if you have “time to kill” in Phnom Penh I think it might be an interesting activity.
These two discoveries made me appreciate Phnom Penh a bit more, but I still think the city isn’t worth a lot of time.
I will also mention the existence of a sunset river tour for 5 USD that I didn’t join but might be interesting.
