Trench Rouge

Phnom Penh

Once called the Paris of Asia, Phnom Penh is to begin again to live up to that reputation.

The Cambodian capital set at the crossroads between the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers odors and is plagued by poverty. Expect to be harassed by drivers of tuk-tuks, touts and beggars.

Expect to be haunted by the past, too. Phnom Penh is the site of Tuol Sleng ("Strychnine Hill 'Genocide) Museum: a former high school which functioned as the notorious Khmer Rouge Security Prison S-21.

Twenty miles south of the city Choeung Ek fields are located worldwide and fly-infested infamous Killing Pits and which served as mass graves for victims of ultraMaoists. In the middle of the field stands a monument to the outbreak killed thousands in the region. Shelves groan carved into the monument under the weight of dozens of skulls of victims. They were bludgeoned to death rather than firing, to save bullets and accelerate the process of brutalization of murderers.

These terrorists stingy in their attempt to go back five thousand years, has decreed that anyone who could use a pen to die. They turned Phnom Penh in a ghost town, but not kill his spirit: the city now has a growing population 2 million - as many souls as died nationwide during the reign of terror 1975-1979.

As the Laotian capital Vientiane, Phnom Penh is compact enough to cover on foot. Its tree-lined boulevards lined with cream colored French colonial villas radiate charm. This is the crudely named but intriguing National Museum. Happy with the aura of a temple or a monastery, high-ceilinged building dusty red house galleries stunning grounds prehistoric pots and statues of Angkor-era kings and Hindu gods.

The museum is full of sanctuary courtyard with shrubs, hedges, statues, trees and dotted with ponds of lotus. Buddhist monks stage a complete archetypically East and highlight the religious roots of the city.

Phnom Penh began life in 1372 as a monastery, founded by a wealthy widow named Penh Khmer, having discovered four Buddha statues in a tree trunk on the banks of the Mekong.

Now, the so-called "Pearl of Asia" is flooded with a new wave of tourists. Some are attracted by this magnet for Cambodians upward-mobile, shopping Sorya green dome. Others are attracted by slightly spicy dishes Sisowath Quay Khmer-French fusion, such as seafood salad of green mango. Lined with palm trees, the wharf, which is right on the road to the museum, has a "vibe coming from Prague and dozens of bars and restaurants with air conditioning and seating roadside.

Just down the Tonle Sap river, which supports a floating village and a crocodile farm, stands the Royal Palace Silver Pagoda, the most striking temple in Phnom Penh. Mysteriously escaped the Khmer Rouge, the pagoda is a temple official King of Cambodia and in no way suffers from understatement. Partially renovated Italian marble on the outside, the interior is encrusted with over 5,000 silver tiles. The glitz reflects the brilliance of the sculpture: a figure of 17th century stained glass of green known as the Emerald Buddha in Cambodia, and the Maitreya virtual size (the Messiah) Buddha encrusted with 10,000 diamonds. Good karma and a touch of divine guidance could be useful because, as in many Southeast Asia, trafficking is anarchy. Discard assumptions about the rules of the road. Prepare to see the pigs or charter mopeds with no fewer than six people on board. Phnom Penh is wild, but also kind of the same way as an unruly child: the chaos is part of its charm.

Avoid getting drunk and wandering the dark streets alone in pursuit of the nightlife. Stick to areas with large populations like Sisowath Quay, for after sunset, Th.