Said to be one of the five original pagodas in Phnom Penh, in common with the other ones there are few original buildings in the compound. The nearby Wat Ounalom was supposedly inaugurated in 1443, but there appear to be few if any buildings that are more than a century old, and most are far more modern. Wat Sarawan is remarkable in that it contains what are arguably the most ancient Buddhist scrolls in the country. Written on parchment, these religious texts tend to decay in the tropical climate and a great many were destroyed or lost during the tumultuous years of the past few decades.
One striking structure that remains on the site is a red brick tower that appears to be particularly ancient. The Serge Corrieras photograph of children playing in front of it in 1991 shows it looking on the verge of collapse. What is even more surprising is that in 2012 this building which was obviously refurbished in the subsequent years looks even older now. The colonial-style slatted windows are falling apart. As far as I know it is only about one hundred years old but one would be easily fooled into thinking it is much more ancient.
The construction of the building that was to become the Cambodiana Hotel began in the late 1960s but was interrupted by the war that began in 1970. It became a military barracks during the Lon Nol era and was subsequently abandoned after 1975. In 1988 Singaporean investors re-launched the project and completed the construction. It was first opened as a hotel in June 1990. Many diplomats and journalists stayed there during the 1991-93 UNTAC period. It is now run by the Royal Group.
The picture shows a large body of water to the south of the hotel, which has long since been reclaimed land. You might also notice the rows of cottage like buildings in the triangular park between Sisowath and St 258, and further north the houses along the quay north of the palace where there is now a riverside park. The park at Wat Botum is much larger too, you can see a lot of trees around where the Bodyguard HQ is now.
I'd guess this picture was taken around 1989 as the hotel looks almost complete other than the front grounds. There was a water sport complex which briefly became a casino in the late 60's in the area to the south, but the water is now part of Hun Sen Park and the Dreamland amusement park.
One of these trains, from 1939, has been restored to working order and can be hired out for short trips. The wooden carriage behind has a large bar inside, it was Prince Sihanouk's carriage in the 1960s. The other engine which can be seen from Russian Boulevard when you pass the station is not in such good condition. The plate on the side dates it to 1912. There are quite a few other engines in the nearby sheds in various states of disrepair.
I first noticed this odd-shaped structure being built at the southern end of Monivong Boulevard about 6 months back. As it is being built in the Department of Water Resources Management and Conservation's compound, I imagined it might be a water tower. Some time later I was talking to a soldier in the neighborhood who told me it was going to be Hun Sen's Radar Tower. I took this to be some sort of mistranslation, but then found out it was true. At first I presumed that it was for national defense, but the truth is more ordinary. It's a weather radar tower, the giant glass ball which will go on top is typical of one, although the design of the building is a lot more elaborate than any others I've seen in pictures. It will be 60 meters high once the ball goes up and should stand out as one of the more unusual landmarks around the city.
This iconic structure was designed by the eminent Van Mollyvann and built in the late 1950s, and inaugurated in 1961. Although it was built to commemorate Cambodia's 1953 independence from France, it has also serves as monument to the war dead. A decade ago it seemed forlorn and abandoned, but in recent years it has had something of a make-over, with new trees and fountains with colored lights added. Unfortunately it was at the same time closed to the public, and is only open for officials at ceremonies. The pictures from its early years show it being a gray concrete color rather than the laterite red we are now more familiar with. The first picture showing construction is dated 1960, but may be earlier, the second 1961, the night shot is recent and the bottom one is a humorous Christmas card from a few years back. The first two pictures are from: http://mounyetpapyluc3.canalblog.com/
This huge building and complex on Sisowath Quay is not easily spotted because of the three meter high walls topped with fencing that now surround it. In the earlier picture, titled Hotel du Commisseriat de la Republique Francaise it had little but a few chained bollards and a hedge to protect it, I don’t know when the picture was taken, I’d guess in the late 1950s, but it may be more recent. Apparently it was Pol Pot’s main residence in Phnom Penh during his reign, and in the late days of the Democratic Kampuchea regime it was used as an attractive location for visiting foreign journalists and a film crew from Yugoslavia who all interviewed Pol Pot there. This was remarkable in that these were probably the only interviews with westerners that he did during his whole time in power. He didn’t do any before that, and in the following couple of decades prior to his death he did just a few, mainly in his last few years.
In the early 1990s the building served as the headquarters for UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia). Its Civil Administration, Civil Police and Military units were all run from here.
The exterior of the main building seems to have changed little in the intervening years. It almost appears as if a French-era crest still remains over the main doors, but it’s probably a newer one. It is now the Council for the Development of Cambodia headquarters. It’s difficult to get a good view of the place, but you can easily spot a few annexes and outbuildings in the compound that look like newish structures. Although the CDC is a powerful body, their headquarters seem in many ways a quiet and serene place considering the location near the center of the city.
The previous article had a bit of a space in it because other than Roland Neveu’s black and white picture of a village militia training outside the “white” building in the early 1990s, there was nothing from that era, just 60s and modern pictures. Serge Corrieras is a photographer who spent much of the 1990s working in Cambodia, and many of his excellent pictures can be viewed on Flikr. It is quite amazing to see the difference between the city now and how it was then. The first couple of pictures show the “Gray” building, which was rebuilt soon after into the Phnom Penh Center, an office complex which was probably the only of its kind till relatively recently. The other pictures show the “white” building, or Boudeng as it is more commonly known. The spaces between the two building had plenty of grass growing and you can see cows and pigs grazing around. At the time the pictures were taken, in 1991, Sothearous Boulevard nearby was called Lenin Boulevard. Later these spaces were filled in with various shacks, houses and other structures which have all pretty much gone by now.
The Old Stadium, also known as the RCAF (Royal Cambodian Armed Forces) Stadium, or Stad Cha to the locals, is located just north of the Chruoy Chanva Bridge roundabout in Russei Keo district. The French embassy and former Funcinpec headquarters are just a couple of the notable structures/former structures in the area.
Its distinctive brick lighting towers can still be spotted from far away. The area around the stadium was sold off some years back, and has since been developed. The older picture isn’t quite as old as it looks. The green oil tanker gives it a 1950s look, along with the tint. However the 4WD behind it looks distinctly like a 1998 Land-cruiser, and the billboards look even more modern, so I’d guess it was taken around 2003 or so.
It was in some ways a very pretty picture, compared to the more built up look it has now, with a big development ringing the whole stadium, and all the surrounding streets built up to some extent too. Overall though, it’s still a dog-rough neighborhood, I’ve worked in it plenty of times. The whole now built-up street on the east of the stadium is taken up by auto-parts businesses. Greasy - pavements with grease-monkeys chucking oily chunks of metal about in a whole stinking carnage of sump-smoke, busted valves and burnt-out radiators. It’s a great place when you need some spares, but no place to go looking for coffee or pretty much anything else. The road used to continue north from here, and was the actual national route, but there’s no way through now north of the stadium. What used to be a thoroughfare is now a T-junction with a row of bog-standard Chinese-style shop-houses blocking the way. There isn’t really any way around it either, I’ve been through the back-lanes beyond with local and foreign friends but none of the tracks go anywhere anymore except deep into small neighborhoods, with their shop-houses striking up in the middle of all sorts of traditional houses, shacks and lean-tos. The main road now follows the river a few hundred meters to the east.
Anyway, the pictures are both taken from around the same spot, perhaps ten years apart, the differences are remarkable. You have the same bushes, light patches on the paving, and the lighting towers are still standing proud. Besides that, everything has changed, and the big mature trees in the foreground along with the parkland are now just more shop-houses.
This was one of the first large modern hotels built in Phnom Penh. It stands on Monivong Boulevard, not far from Central Market and the railway station. At the time it went up there was little development along what was to become one of the city’s most metropolitan and built up streets.
The photo of the “Khmer Rouge” troops passing by the hotel on April 17th 1975 poses some questions. The ”Artful Dodger” character out front is wearing some strange-looking bandoliers and has a certain jolly expression which seems very exaggerated. He certainly doesn’t have the usual stoic and mean expression that you usually see in pictures of KR soldiers, and the people in the truck look to me to be civilians. The flag flying from the truck is one which has often been identified as a Democratic Kampuchea flag, but I have rarely seen pictures of it actually being used.
The crowd to the left of the truck are mainly dressed in camouflage military fatigues, of the type worn by Lon Nol’s Republican forces. I understand that there was a certain amount of jubilance at first on the streets of Phnom Penh, but I ‘m surprised to see Republican soldiers celebrating. I thought they would have been too busy getting rid of their uniforms first, as they were the number one target for execution in days to come. .
When the capital was finally taken, it wasn’t by one unified army, but by several allied groups from almost autonomous zones of the country. Some confusion, and even a certain amount of fighting erupted between the various groups at first. In the first few hours of confusion, one particularly strange event occurred. Some people, perhaps students or military decided to join in. They dressed up as Khmer Rouge combatants, and paraded through the streets on trucks proclaiming victory. It’s not clear what their motives were, perhaps they thought they would just blend in and get on with things, but I doubt any of them got very far.
The first picture shows the Monorom in the early 1960s, the B&W is from April 17th 1975. The bottom two are more recent, as you can see it hasn't changed a lot other than the awning along the front.
