Ride: Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Day 2)

Phnom Penh, Cambodia (15/2/2010), Day 2

Heyya..

On the next day (2nd day in Phnom Penh), we had an arrangement to meet a Deputy Minister of Social Affairs of Cambodia.. the deputy minister is a friend of Dato' Rahman.. He was so kind to bring us to his Ministry office and lent us his driver and SUV to chauffeur us around Phnom Penh..

After paying a visit at his Ministry office, we visited Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.. Formerly, it was known as Chao Ponhea Yat High-School and was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979..

The Khmer Rouge renamed the high-school as S-21 and construction began to adapt the prison to the inmates.. the buildings were enclosed in electrified barbed wire...

Also, the classrooms were converted into tiny prison cells and torture chambers... All windows were covered with iron bars and barbed wire to prevent escapes.. 20,000 victims were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng..

Then, we visited Russian Market, aka Tuol Tom Pong... Apparently, the market was closed due to Chinese New Year festival... but only couple of shops opened.. Russian Market is a place where most tourists can buy souvenirs at bargain prices..


I met a pretty Cambodian sales girl who was very friendly to me.. Tin Tin is her name.. had a chat with her for almost 1 hour... she was willing to have dinner with me on the night, willing to be my "personal tour guide" and gave me her full contact details in case if i decided to visit Phnom Penh again... i wanted to snap a photo of her, but she refused.. hehehe

Then we had lunch with the minster at a local Muslim restaurant... there are quite a number of muslims in Phnom Penh... and i've noticed, Cambodians can eat a lot of rice... the 2 gentlemen sitting beside me had 2 bowls of rice each and they were slim and skinny... 

Few photos taken by Zaini Zaid..

In the evening, i skipped dinner the rest as i lost my appetite for eating local food... i needed a fast-food, cheese burger or KFC... i googled and found there is one and only fast-food burger restaurant... it is called Lucky Burger, which is quite similar with Burger King...

I took a motorcycle tuk-tuk and directly asked him to bring me to Lucky Burger... i had 2 whopper burgers and had another chicken burger for take away... It was so Gooooooood!!

Then the tuk-tuk brought me around Phnom Penh but unfortunately, i did not bring my camera with me... Phnom Penh is absolutely beautiful at night... 

There are lots of statues, historical buildings and mansions in Phnom Penh.. I would reckon to walk around the city after 9.00 pm as there would be less cars... there were lots of people chilling out and having picnics at Independence Monument, along Sihanouk Boulevard and Preah Suraman Boulevard.. I will definitely be visiting Phnom Penh again someday...

HooRahh!!

Next Ride: Phnom Penh - Pattaya, Thailand