We spent a couple days in Cambodia’s capital city Phnom Penh. It’s a big busy complicated place, with a population of over 2.1 million people.
First, here are a few key dates and periods to help make sense of the diversity of what we saw:
To give you a sense of the middle of the city, here are two views from our hotel:
There are lots of possible reasons for so many exposed utility cables: limited infrastructure development, lack of underground infrastructure, rapid urbanization, and theft.
Cambodia (like Vietnam) is a country of motorbikes and tuktuks (or auto-rickshaw).
While there are cars about, they are relatively rare. We experienced motorbikes and tuktuks zipping along the roads of Phnom Penh first hand — to and from our hotel. The street traffic swallowed us up. (If we’d only realized how peaceful the streets of Phnom Penh are compared to those of cities in Vietnam. More to come on that!)
We saw motorbikes and tuktuks as sensible and economical transportation, although rather air-polluting. But our tour leader shared some insights that highlight some challenges for the people of this relatively undeveloped country who cannot avoid smashing into the forces of the modern global world.
The education system is so undeveloped that ordinary folks don’t always understand indebtedness and unscrupulous lenders.
For example: A local person needs a motorbike. They could buy a used one for a few hundred USD. But a salesperson says, “You can have a new motorbike for 80 USD per month for 6 or 7 years.” That’s for a motorbike that retails for about 3000 USD. But the borrower doesn’t necessarily realize that they’ll ultimately pay something like 1000 USD more in interest. Nor do they understand the precarious position they put themselves in if they can’t make a month’s payment– in which case, they may seek out a short-term predatory loan to make the bike payment. And so the endless debt cycle rolls on.
Around town after dinner:
Despite the fact that King Norodom Sihanouk’s legacy is complicated, illuminated billboards still honor King Sihanouk and Queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk.
The Royal Palace of Cambodia is one of the most-visited places in the city. It was constructed between 1866 and 1870, after King Norodom relocated the royal capital to Phnom Penh, with involvement by French administrators, Khmer designers and architects.
The Throne Hall, or Preah Tineang Tevea Vinichhay, is where the king’s confidants, generals and royal officials once carried out their duties. It is still in use today as a place for religious and royal ceremonies (such as coronations and royal weddings) as well as a meeting place for guests of the King.
The Silver Pagoda is also known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Silver tiles entirely cover its floor.
The Silver Pagoda complex is home to a spectacular mural depicting the classic Indian epic of the Ramayana (known as the Reamker in Cambodia). The story begins just south of the east gate and includes vivid images of the Battle of Lanka. ※ This mural was painted in 1903-1904 by 40 classically-trained Cambodian artists under the direction of temple architect Oknha Tep Nimit. Starting from the eastern gallery on the south side and surrounding the entirety of the temple grounds, it extends 642 meters / 2,100 feet long and 3 meters / 10 feet high. ※
The Moonlight Pavilion is an open-air pavilion that serves as stage for Khmer classical dance in the past and present. It is one of the most notable buildings of the palace as it easily seen from the outside as it was built alongside a section of the palace walls.
We visited the National Museum of Cambodia.
The museum houses one of the world’s largest collections of Khmer art, including sculptural, Khmer ceramics, bronzes, and ethnographic objects. Its collection includes over 14,000 items, from prehistoric times to periods before, during and after the Khmer Empire, which at its height stretched from Thailand, across present-day Cambodia, to southern Vietnam. (source)
Before our trip to Cambodia, we watched a report on 60 Minutes about statues stolen from Cambodian temples, and sold to individual and museum buyers in the West. A British man, Douglas Latchford, based in Thailand, sponsored many raids of archeological sites; he then sold the ripped-out and ripped-off statues. Often the temple robbers would break off the figure statues at the ankles. Since the statues were integrated with the stone bases, it was easier to leave the feet and bases.
It’s a report that is well worth watching. Here’s the link.
The reporters noted that some of the statues that have been recovered and returned to Cambodia currently reside in the National Museum — while many others still need to be repatriated.
The design of the museum itself evokes temples of the region — as far as we can tell. A French man was responsible for the establishment of the museum as an institution, as well as for the architectural design of the buildings themselves.
George Groslier (1887-1945), historian, curator and author was the motivating force behind much of the revival of interest in traditional Cambodian arts and crafts, and it was he who designed this quintessential building that is today synonymous with ‘traditional Khmer’ architecture. It is perhaps better described as a building enlarged from Cambodian temple prototypes seen on ancient bas-reliefs and reinterpreted through colonial eyes to meet museum-size requirements. (source)
We’re not sure if the sculptural figures that we saw had been recovered from foreign sources or not. But we would take mental snapshots to use later when we would tour the temples of Angkor.
Skanda on a Peacock, 10th century
This sandstone statue is one of the sculptures returned from an American owner to Cambodia in 2021.
Venerated in India as the god of war, Skanda is typically accompanied by a peacock, a bird associated with youthful fertility and swift aggression in battle. Here he sits astride his divine vehicle, the peacock’s tail feathers forming a decorative nimbus behind him.
Bust of Asura, between late 12th or early 13th century
The churning of the ocean and the fight between the Devas (Gods) and Asuras (Demons) is a very important incident in Hindu mythology. This theme is found across the temples of Cambodia including Angkor Wat and other temples of Siem Reap. ※
The Garuda is an example of a bird-like deity that has the body of a human along with the wings and beak of a bird. Many traditional Hindu and Buddhist stories depict the Garuda as the archenemy of the Naga, a snake-like deity that has the body of a snake and the face of a human.
Buddha protected by a Naga
In a Cambodian legend, the Naga were a reptilian race of beings who possessed a large empire or kingdom in the Pacific Ocean region. The Naga King’s daughter married the king of Ancient Cambodia, and thus gave rise to the Cambodian people. This is why, still, today, Cambodians say that they are “Born from the Naga.”
The Seven-Headed Naga serpents depicted as statues on Cambodian temples, such as Angkor Wat, apparently represent the seven races within Naga society, which has a mythological, or symbolic, association with “the seven colours of the rainbow”. Furthermore, Cambodian Naga possess numerological symbolism in the number of their heads. Odd-headed Naga symbolise the Male Energy, Infinity, Timelessness, and Immortality. This is because, numerological, all odd numbers come from One. Even-headed Naga are said to be “Female, representing Physicality, Mortality, Temporality, and the Earth.” ※
There are two obligatory and very difficult visits in Phnom Penh: Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and one of the Killing Fields. The catastrophic and genocidal time of the Khmer Rouge rule finished about 45 years ago. Nonetheless, its tragic legacy continues to affect all of Cambodia and her people through family loss, PSD, economic regression, and so much more psychological damage.
We weren’t sure that we wanted to visit these places. The bits that we knew prior to our visit to Cambodia about the genocidal Khmer Rouge years were hard enough to handle. While experiencing these places, and learning what happened from our Cambodian tour leader, was very difficult. How can we talk about our little experience as being “difficult?” All we could do was absorb and be present as much as possible.
We’ll share just a few images from these significant places; they are difficult images. We don’t have the depth or real perspective to make any direct comment about what happened in these places. However, what slivers we can understand frighten us when we hold them up to what’s happening in today’s world — or any time, really. Such an incomprehensible thing that some humans — leaders and followers — can fall into murderous psychopathy so easily.
Here are two sources about the Khmer Rouge and Cambodia if you want more depth: Britannica, and Cambodia Tribunal Monitor.
One of our gentler activities was a sunset “cruise” on the Mekong River.
It was truly pleasant to spend this time on the river where the air was a bit cooler than in the city. And a way to witness lots of evidence of the complicated mixture of modernity, money, tradition and spare living in this capital city.
This place along the Mekong River is interesting for a geographical reason. Phnom Penh sits at the joining of the Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers. The Mekong is the mother of all rivers in the region, running about 4,900 km / 3,050 mi from the Tibetan Plateau to its delta in Vietnam. Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in southeast Asia, and is located about 180 km / 110 mi from Phnom Penh, not far from Angkor Wat. The Tonle Sap River connects the lake with the Mekong River. Here’s the interesting part: During the rainy season, the water in Tonle Sap River flows to the Mekong. During the dry season, the river flows in the other direction.
King’s soup: The story is that, one day, the King visited the countryside incognito. His disguise wasn’t quite good enough; some villagers recognized him. As simple villagers, they worried how to offer him food fit for a king. The leader of the village’s solution was to ask each the villager to bring whatever they were growing. With over 30 different vegetables from all the fields and gardens, and lemon grass, coconut, palm sugar, and fish sauce they prepared a luscious rich soup. Really quite a delicious soup.
A couple more lovely local dishes:
January 2024