As I stepped out of the Phnom Penh airport, I saw the Tuk Tuk vehicles which said 7-10$ for a ride to city centre. I had read somewhere, like most of the airports you should step outside and opt for a transport. Which I did and got a tuk tuk for just 4$ to my hotel called Hometown Suite on Street 172. It took me half n hour to reach my hotel and God it was hot! What would you expect in June month. I reached the hotel and got a room immediately, the room was average as per the price paid ($30). Noticed there was no safe deposit box which was claimed while doing the booking. So these hotels have a system like hostels where there is a common safe deposit box. Didn’t make sense but I decided to keep my passport in the room only and leave. I asked the staff for an English Tuk Tuk Driver who could take me around the city.

In Phnom Penh, two days are good enough to explore the main sights of the city. The days can be split to visiting Royal Palace, Wat Phnom, Independence Monument, Riverside Promenade and National Museum of Cambodia. The second day can be visiting the S21 Prison and Killing Fields.The museum also hosts an art and culture show for one hour at a decent price of 15$. So visiting the museum towards end of the day makes sense, tickets are available to purchase there itself or can be bought from any local travel office. The Royal Palace shuts at 5 p.m., so it should be planned accordingly. Since my day started late, I decided to do Royal Palace on the second day. I got a English speaking Tuk Tuk driver who charged me $6 for covering the above mentioned places and waiting till I finish.

I started second day sharp at 9 a.m. with visiting the Royal Palace. As the name suggests it's the royal residence of the king. Whenever the king resides here, the Cambodian flag is raised in the building he is staying. A wonder place to click pictures in the morning. The entry is $10 and an official guide charges another 10. It’s worth it, since a lot of information is interesting to listen to.

Main Entrance of Royal Palace

The palace has several buildings including the famous Silver Pagoda which has silver flooring till date. Also the Royal throne is a must visit which has Brahma's (Hindu God) vision overlooking all directions. There is a wall inside which covers the entire story of Indian Ramayana although the twists and turns are Cambodian. One can capture a good picture of the palace from outside as well from the river end. The gardens outside are open to public without any cost.

Brahma's vision at the top

From here, I headed to S21 (Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum) which is bit far from city centre. This place has ticket inclusive of audio guide which comes for $6 and the audio guide is pretty well recorded. You get a map, so you go step by step sequence wise. There are three buildings inside. It’s a prison where people were tortured during the civil war in 1970’s. The stories of this place are horrible and not for light hearted people, however it’s sad but true history.

There are stories that say the prisoners were banned from killing themselves and there were precautions taken. The prisoners wanted early death rather than the torture where their legs were tied to shackles. There are pictures of all the events taken place and they definitely will remain with you for a long time. I hesitated to take pictures of the cells, as even as of today there are blood marks.

From here I headed to Killing Fields (Choeung Ek) which is quite far away from the city and is on the outskirts. The killing fields are where the tortured prisoners from S21 were bought for death sentence. Most of this place is destroyed as the people who found it in late 80’s were so angry that they destroyed the buildings and posts. Again there’s an audio guide which takes you sequence wise included in $6 entry fee. Very fair and again well recorded.

The most gruesome place is the burial ground where children below the age of two were killed and buried. There is a killing tree here against which children were beaten to death. At the end of the tour there is a memorial stupa where all the skulls recovered from the bodies of the victims are stored in display. The cause of death is mentioned. Again not a place for light hearted people. Stepped out and had a traditional Khmer lunch. By the time this got done it was already 4. For the entire day the Tuk Tuk driver charged me $20.

If one does not wish to visit the killing fields and prison on second day, the alternative is to take a tour of silk villages which are located on small islands. There are boats that leave from riverside promenade (mekong) on hourly basis.

In the night, after going at the end of the promenade, there is also a lively night market which I found good for shopping souvenirs and local stuff. Silk is the speciality of Cambodia and the usual Buddha artefacts. Also paintings on rice paper are quite common to be found.