It was in 1994 when my husband, myself and 2 other friends decided that we will go on a budget, back-packing tour of Indo-China, covering parts of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos over a period of 21 days. Our first stop was Phnom Pehn and during that time, 
the Khmer Rouge was still active and the country was still backward, much unlike now. Hardly anybody speaks English then and tourists were not allowed to take public transport like buses and trains (because of occasional daylight robbery by Khmer Rouge) so we either had to travel by private taxis or motorbikes or by air.
the Khmer Rouge was still active and the country was still backward, much unlike now. Hardly anybody speaks English then and tourists were not allowed to take public transport like buses and trains (because of occasional daylight robbery by Khmer Rouge) so we either had to travel by private taxis or motorbikes or by air. (Picture at right showing us scooting around town on a rented scooter - a cheap and safe way for tourists to travel within the town at that time.)
Upon arrival, we checked into a budget hotel. That night, we decided to venture out to look for dinner instead of eating in the motel cafe. It was around 7pm. When we stepped out, we found that the whole city was in darkness. Oh-oh, power failure! However, some small stalls selling local food were opened for business, lit by candlelight. We noticed that all the customers were local. We hoped there may be some proper restaurants opened elsewhere as we were told to be careful with local hawker food, so we decided to take our torches and walked down the long mainstreet, guided by our torchlights. However, all the shops were closed but there were some locals on bicycles going about their business. So we went back to one of the stalls, packed some hot food and went back to our room. That night, we assumed our room lights and fans were run by generator.
The next night, we thought we will try to go out to look for food again since we were not successful the first night. However, when we stepped out, again the whole city was in darkness! This time, we went looking for the motel manager, who speaks a little bit of English, and asked him whether it is normal for Pnomh Pehn to be facing frequent power failure at night although during the day it was fine. His answer caught us by surprise – Pnomh Pehn was not having power failure – it’s having curfew every night! Oh my gosh, we were so surprised and were so glad that the first night when we ventured out with our torches, nothing happened as the manager informed us that
sometimes at night the Khmer Rouge will come into the city and rob (which is why the whole city is on curfew) and tourists like us, with our pouches on our waist, were easy targets!
(Picture at right showing main part of Phnom Pehn town in 1994 during the day - crissed-crossed wires but no electricity at night - view from budget hotel room.)
VL
May 1994
Upon arrival, we checked into a budget hotel. That night, we decided to venture out to look for dinner instead of eating in the motel cafe. It was around 7pm. When we stepped out, we found that the whole city was in darkness. Oh-oh, power failure! However, some small stalls selling local food were opened for business, lit by candlelight. We noticed that all the customers were local. We hoped there may be some proper restaurants opened elsewhere as we were told to be careful with local hawker food, so we decided to take our torches and walked down the long mainstreet, guided by our torchlights. However, all the shops were closed but there were some locals on bicycles going about their business. So we went back to one of the stalls, packed some hot food and went back to our room. That night, we assumed our room lights and fans were run by generator.
The next night, we thought we will try to go out to look for food again since we were not successful the first night. However, when we stepped out, again the whole city was in darkness! This time, we went looking for the motel manager, who speaks a little bit of English, and asked him whether it is normal for Pnomh Pehn to be facing frequent power failure at night although during the day it was fine. His answer caught us by surprise – Pnomh Pehn was not having power failure – it’s having curfew every night! Oh my gosh, we were so surprised and were so glad that the first night when we ventured out with our torches, nothing happened as the manager informed us that
sometimes at night the Khmer Rouge will come into the city and rob (which is why the whole city is on curfew) and tourists like us, with our pouches on our waist, were easy targets!(Picture at right showing main part of Phnom Pehn town in 1994 during the day - crissed-crossed wires but no electricity at night - view from budget hotel room.)
VL
May 1994
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