Hi guys, we are in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.
Our first stop is the Wat Phnom temple.
The name of this city was based on the name of this temple.
This temple is the most important one here.
So we'll show you some images and give you a bit of information.
As Mónica already said, the name of this city was based on the name of this temple.
Because Phnom Penh means Penh's Hill.
This is the hill on top of which this temple is located.
But who is Penh?
A legend says that Penh was an old nun that in 1372
went to the Tonle Sap river that streams through this city, to find water.
But instead, she found a floating cashew nut tree.
And inside this tree she found 5 Buddha statues.
She decided to built a hill, Penh's hill.
And this temple, Wat Phnom
to place these 5 Buddha statues in its interior.
I like this legend but something doesn't make sense.
It also says that Penh built the temple using the wood of this tree.
But this temple is made out of stone.
So how did she do this?
We just finished our visit to the temple
and we have to eat something, because it's almost noon.
No, it is already noon and we haven't eaten anything yet.
So our stomachs are completely empty.
So we'll go to the central market to see what we can find.
We arrived at the market.
And in case you didn't know already.
Cambodia is a former French colony so there are still a lot of colonial buildings in this city.
Like this market in Art Deco style.
It looks pretty nice.
So as Kevin already said, we are at the market.
And I have to tell you something.
It's really weird that in this country they only,
well they don't only accept dollars, but almost everyone uses them.
But watch out, because for some strange reason
2 dollar bills will not be accepted anywhere.
So pay attention when you get your change in dollars and make sure you don't get any 2 dollar bills
because they will be useless.
Useless!
Ok, not that useless.
They are apparently used as decoration.
We are finally at a place where they weren't pressuring us into sitting down.
We are yet to find out how good the food is.
We're going to order some soups.
Noodles, obviously.
Sooo, you have lots of options here.
At least when it comes to places, because everyone sells the same food.
So we hope we have chosen the most delicious one.
Yes yes, only 2 dollars.
Look, this is where the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers join together.
The brown water is the Tonle Sap.
And the blue water is the Mekong.
And if you want to know more about the Mekong river, the link to our 4000 Islands video is in the description, so check it out.
And, look...
Guys, we'll have to disappoint you concerning the next place we wanted to visit.
The royal palace of Cambodia here in Phnom Penh.
You can see a bit of it behind me.
It looks pretty nice.
But we aren't going to enter because
firstly, we have to think about our budget
which will not be enough because the entrance fee is 10 dollar per person.
And secondly, we have to think about our wellbeing because
we are literally melting.
It is extremely hot.
So we are going back to the hostel, to the air-conditioning.
And later, when it's less hot, we'll go out again.
Good morning guys.
Last night our we got glued to our mattresses
when we went to rest.
So we didn't do anything anymore, soooo
today is our second day here in Phnom Penh
and we are going to visit two highly important place for this country.
These two place have something to do with Cambodia's history.
In the year 1975, a guerrilla group called Khmer Rouge
took over control in this country.
They were initially received as heroes for defeating the government that was being supported by the USA.
But only three hours after taking over Phnom Penh
they started to evacuate the entire city.
The main objective of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot
was to move everyone from the cities
to forced labor camps.
Because he wanted to establish an agrarian communist state.
During the 4 years that the Khmer Rouge were in control in Cambodia
25% of this country's population died.
Almost 3 million people lost their lives because of forced labor,
malnutrition,
torture and execution.
This horrible period is known as the Cambodian Genocide.
The first place we visit is the maximum security prison Tuol Sleng - S21.
As another 196 places in Cambodia,
this was a former high school where,
converted into a prison, 20000 so called traitors and opponents of the Khmer Rouge were brought
for questioning, torturing and finally, execution.
The reality however was that most of them where merely intellectuals,
academics and there families
that could possibly form a threat to the Pol Pot regime.
Only 7 people managed to survive S21.
The rest was executed, after giving a false confession.
Visiting the S21 prison has been the most terrifying experience that we have had up until now, in regards to historical facts.
This is definitely a place you shouldn't skip on you trip to Cambodia
if you're coming to Phnom Penh.
Another recommendation for when you visit this place
is that you arrive at 8am, when they open.
This way you'll have the place to yourself, there won't be a lot of people and it won't be too hot.
And you definitely must take the audioguide.
You will get all the information.
And you will be able to learn about all the horrific things that took place during this period.
We can't tell you everything here, because it's just too much.
But I'm sure this will be a unique experience for you
to learn about all the things that happened it this world
and where we, in some way, didn't even knew about.
The second place we have come to is called Choeung Ek.
It is however better known as Killing Fields.
It was an extermination camp,
like 300 others in Cambodia during the Pol Pot regime.
People were brought here for execution.
20000 people died in this specific place.
The majority of them were prisoners from the S21 prison.
It's pretty hard to walk around this place and to listen to the audioguide.
As I already said,
20000 people were brought here for execution.
In the beginning it were just a few people a day.
But over time
this number rose to 300 people a day.
So there wasn't even time to execute everyone at the same time,
so they just put the prisoners in a double-walled cabin
so that their voices couldn't be heard.
And the next day they were executed.
This is really horrible.
And apart from that, the executions were only done at night
to maintain some kind of secrecy about what was going on here.
And do you know what's the worst?
The way these executions took place.
Bullets were really expensive so they didn't want to shoot the prisoners.
They just put them on the edge of a pit
and killed them with a blow to the head,
using a stick, a pickaxe, a hammer
anything they could get their hands on at the moment.
I'll have to change my mind because the way of executing wasn't the worst.
The most horrible thing is without a doubt this grave where they found remains of babies.
The audioguide tells me that they would grab these babies by the feet
and that they just smashed their heads against this tree.
Because in this tree, remain of bones,
blood and brains were found.
I cannot understand this.
I have never heard anything more horrific.
And I can personally not understand
how they could think that these babies would be a threat to the Pol Pot regime.
But Pol Pot however
thought that these children could later return to avenge their parents
that died because of the Khmer Rouge.
In this tree, speakers were hung to play Khmer Rouge propaganda music.
For the outside world it sounded like a celebration.
But the real objective was to prevent that the moaning of dying people would be heard outside.
Our visit to Choeung Ek has ended.
It is definitely a place that you have to visit when you come to Phnom Penh.
But there is no doubt that this is a place that we would rather not have to visit,
that shouldn't even exist.
Because without the atrocities that Pol Pot committed,
this place wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be visiting it.
But we visit, we learn and we get to know things about the past
so that these things never happen again.
We end this emotional day by saying goodbye to Phnom Penh.
But first we want to give you the answer to the question:
How much does a trip to Cambodia cost?
You'll pay around 3 dollars per dish for food in Cambodia.
Enjoy!
To move from one city to another, you can choose between bus, minivan and boat.
We traveled by bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh and we paid 15 dollars.
And to get around the cities you'll have various options.
Bicycle, motorbike, taxi
and the famous tuk tuk's
that will never stop harassing you.
Don't forget to negotiate because they will always try to charge you too much.
And for one of these beds, we paid 8 dollars
but it's also possible to find cheaper hostels.
Since they use dollars, Cambodia is a bit pricier than other countries in Southeast Asia.
However, it is still possible to visit this country with a backpacker's budget.
We spent 250 dollar per person for one week.
Now we'll travel to our next destination.
If you want to know which one that is, don't miss the next video of VagaJuntos.
Thank you!
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