We crossed the Vietnam border by land on a bus, and the border crossing was pretty chaotic. We all handed over our passports to the official, and waited in a big mob. From across the room another official started handing the visa processed passports back, calling out the names. Anita and I were in the back of the mob, so we didn't hear the faint voiced and heavily accented callings very well; Did he just say "swan boar"? Hmmm... thats not my name. Anita claimed to hear my name called once, but I heard "Crom Fred". At the end the mob thinned a bit and we got our passports back. Phnom Penh is an okay city, but nothing to write home about.
We saw Tuol Sleng genocide museum there even more disturbing than the Vietnam one. Formerly a highschool, it was turned into S-21, a prison for torture and execution for the infamous Khmer Rouge, and finally a museum left mostly unchanged since its prison days. The rusty bed frames they had the prisoners to remained, as did the shells of car batteries, sharp farming tools, twisted ropes, clubs, and other torture devices. They elicited confessions from the prisoners about their misdeeds using these and other methods (water boarding being very common). One thing I was surprised by was how many of the ruling parties own members were sent there. Near the end of the regime it seemed like most of the prisoners were people that helped bring the party into power in the first place.
The most impressive feature was the multitude of cafe/bars that line the riverbank with very comfy chairs. Comfy chairs are a highly desired sight when you are traveling for 6 months, since there are many days you spend entirely seated in one of those chairs reading a book. Vietnam had them in short supply, making for some very long search missions, but Phnom Penh had dozens. For a couple of days we read books and enjoyed 50 cent draft beer in those seats. Then, we were off to see Angkor Wat in Siem Reap.
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