Top Attractions in Phnom Penh

The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek are a somber reminder of the terror of the Khmer Rouge whose brutal regime, intending to turn Cambodia into a socialist agrarian society, ruled the country between 1975 and early 1979. In under four years, it’s estimated that between one and three million Cambodians were killed under Pol Pot’s authoritarian command.

Many perished because of famine and disease, but also hundreds of thousands of Cambodians – intellectuals, educated people such as teachers and doctors, regime opponents, and simply anyone suspected of being an opponent – were murdered.

Here at Choeung Ek, it’s estimated that 17,000 people met their death. The victims here came from S-21, the Khmer Rouge’s high-security prison that is now Tuol Sleng Museum. There are 129 mass graves here, 86 that have been excavated, exhuming the remains of 8,985 people.

At the center of the area is a memorial stupa that contains more than 8,000 skulls. A visit here is an entirely sobering experience that will aid in your understanding of this tumultuous period in Cambodia’s modern history. Choeung Ek lies off Monireth Boulevard.

4. Tuol Sleng Museum

It was here, in the Khmer Rouge’s Security Prison S-21 that some of the regime’s worst torture atrocities were carried out. More than 17,000 people passed through these gates between 1975 and 1978, accused of betraying the revolution in some way. Nearly all prisoners brought here were once themselves members of the Khmer Rouge who were turned on during one of the regime’s many internal purges.

The visiting experience is made ever more visceral by the displayed photographic evidence hanging on the walls of the sparse cells next to empty beds. S-21 was exceedingly well-managed by Comrade Duch (the head of the prison) who made sure that extensive records were kept. As the prison was hastily abandoned when the Vietnamese took Phnom Penh in 1979, the detailed notes and photographs have survived.

5. River Boat Cruises

Phnom Penh is a riverine town, and one of the most relaxing ways to go sightseeing in the city is to take to the water. There are regular sunset cruise tourist boat departures from the riverfront between 5pm and 7.30pm, which head along the Tonlé Sap and Mekong Rivers, or you can also hire a private boat nearby to head out on the water at any time of the day (you’ll want to put your bargaining hat on though, if you’d like to hire a private boat).

This is a great way to get away from the bustling motorbike-clogged streets for an hour and soak up the gentler pace of local river life.

6. Wat Phnom

Phnom Penh is decidedly flat. The only rise in the landscape here is the 27-meter-high hillock that is home to the temple of Wat Phnom. The first religious building on this spot is thought to have been constructed in the 14th century and has been rebuilt several times, with the current main temple sanctuary dating from 1926.

This is one of the city’s most important Buddhist temples and is often bustling with locals leaving offerings here and praying at the various shrines that surround the main sanctuary.

7. Wat Ounalom

The most important temple complex in Cambodia, Wat Ounalom is the headquarters of Buddhism in the country. A stupa within the complex contains one of the Buddha’s eyebrow hairs. The wat was first situated here in 1443 and although it suffered considerable damage during the Khmer Rouge era, with many of its statues and religious iconography destroyed, it is thriving again today.

Of particular note for visitors is a beautiful Buddha statue in the main building’s third floor that has been reassembled after being smashed to pieces by the Khmer Rouge and a statue commemorating Huot Tat, the fourth patriarch, who was murdered by Pol Pot, on the 2nd Floor.

(planetware)