AMERICA BOMBED US ! (Phnom Penh)

Member Name: Aang

Product:	Phnom Penh
Date:	13/09/00 (104 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Exotic

Disadvantages: Dangerous

"The Americans killed thousands!" said Pang, as we supped beer beside the pool of the Cambodiana Hotel. "We were hit from the sky."

"Kissinger?" I asked, as the sweat poured down my face.

"Kisssinger and Nixon's bombing of Cambodia was illegal," said Pang. "We were a neutral country. But the American B-52's came over and killed about three-quarters of a million Cambodian children, women and men."

"A lot of bombs!"

"More bombs than were dropped on Japan in World war II."

"What about Pol Pot?"

"He was given lots of help by the CIA," said Pang.

Most tour operators avoid Cambodia for good reasons! On 24 November 2000 the BBC reported that 7 people had been killed after rebels attacked the Defence Ministry and a barracks. The fighting in the capital was the worst since 1997.

However, for the brave tourist, Cambodia offers the majestic temples of Angkor, the French colonial architecture of Phnom Penh, and the friendly people of the small villages.

HOW TO GET THERE - www.magic-of-the-orient.com can take you there. ( e-mail info@magicorient.co.uk ) and give you a 3 night stay (Tour of Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Angkor)

or you can fly with Thai Airways from Bangkok to Phnom Penh.

A visa is best acquired before departure. It may still be possible to get a 1 month visa at Phnom Penh airport (USD 20).

According to the Cambodian government, a blacklist of foreign sex-crime SUSPECTS is being drawn up so that such people can be named, shamed and excluded. Those arrested are likely to have large sums of money extracted from them, or to end up in jail. Potential sex criminals should consider that the young girls concerned have been reported as suffering from acute depression, severe anxiety, and AIDS.

As in Pattaya, in Thailand, sex tourists often end up dead.

>In November 2000, a Briton was sentenced by a Cambodian court to 3 years in jail for taking porn photos. He claimed to have paid the judge a large bribe and was angry at the length of the sentence.

WHERE TO STAY - It is best to go on an organised tour, for reasons of safety. If you travel independently - take a taxi (USD 7) to Hawaii Hotel near the central market USD 42 per night. (or try the Cambodiana Hotel)

WHAT TO SEE - In Phnom Penh :

1. the Silver Pagoda
2. the Killing Fields Museum
Tuoi Sieng Genocide Museum, a former school, and former Khmer Rouge torture chamber, may give you nightmares.
3. markets
4. colonial architecture.
5. The Royal palace has multicoloured roofs, fancy carvings and a golden Buddha studded with thousands of diamonds.
6. National Museum : lots of fascinating Cambodian art.
7. Orphanages.

Phnom pen is a dusty run-down market town with a timeless atmosphere.

Entertainment:
1. Hotel discos
2. Cambodian classical dancing (see tour guide)
3. At the riverside (Boeng Kok)there is music, singing, dancing, a Ferris wheel, a floating restaurant.

Food: The International Hotel has some fine food. Food tends to be French in many restaurants.

In Angkor - the ancient Khmer city of Angkor (7 miles from the Siem Reap airport) is one of the world's great sights. Angkor was a huge representation in stone of Hindu cosmology. Angkor Wat is the most incredible of Angkor's temples.

Villages -with friendly people.

TRANSPORT IN THE CITY - a motorcycle taxi costs USD 1.

DANGERS- Malaria is a serious problem, as are other tropical diseases such as typhoid, dengue fever and tropical parasites.

Mines! Don't get your legs blown off. Take advice about safety.

In Phnom Penh robbers have dragged tourists from motorbikes.

After dark, you may be robbed at gunpoint.

In some parts of the c
ountryside there are armed bandits. They may attack buses, cars, boats and tourists. It is safer to fly and stick with an organised tour.

Floods.

Summary: