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So the bus journey was once again torturous, it's not possible to sleep unless your a walking zombie as they play that ridiculous music so loud!! when that ends you always have the constant blasting of the horn as I think it is law here to do so when you overtake! the bus drivers don't waste anytime getting to the next stop though, the problem is when they stop it's always for food and takes a while. But at least I haven't been forced fed yet unlike in Thailand. The best bit of the journey was picking us a hitch hiker with his garden chair, the bus was fully booked so he had not other choice but to sit in the isle with his patio chair 😊
Once we arrived in Phenom Penh I jumped out of my skin when I stepped on a bag and it had live chickens in it!! I really did not expect that. After beating our way across the rugby scrum of Remok drivers we made our way (me and my German friends) to Kar IV a fantastic little guesthouse close to the royal palace (bargain hard for rooms 4$).
After organizing a Remok
(11$) to take us to the killing fields the next day we set out in search of some good food a central market and then to the Russian market were apparently you can buy authentic products such as Banana Republic, Converse, Hollister and many more at a percentile of the price. The store owners buy them from the factory where they produced for the world markets!!! The Fake Factory may I add.
At the moment the humidity is making me sweat like nobodies business and as a consequence I'm very hungry very quickly but one our way to the Friends restaurant we stopped by a seeing hands massage house (you can be massaged the the blind, I think it is charitable and your money supports there careers). I was demolished by a fantastic lady, who put me through a pressure point massage aimed at relieving pain from troublesome muscles in this case my back. however, after she sorted that out the lady set out on relieving my apparently tight calves which was very painful but they feel great now.
Feeling sore we went for dinner a Friends an NGO who runs a restaurant training homeless children in hospitality
and finally finding them jobs in hotels around Cambodia. The restaurant is the final part of there training and all the kids are pared up with a teacher who guides them through the service. The food was great and if you want to pay small money for fantastic dining and service this is the place.
After a few drinks at an expat bar we retired for the early start to the Killing Fields.
The day at the killing fields was interesting to see, you can observe the mass graves and many human remains at the site and learn a bit about the Kmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot. Again a world heritage site and a key part in the nations history but it was very dirty and unmaintained. The experience was made better when we arrived at S-21 an old school converted into a holding chamber for people who were inevitably going to there deaths at the killing fields. This museum is much better informed and you can leave feeling like you had learned something that you can take away. Although both sites are very somber and sad I'm happy I went and learned about this important part
Cambodian history.
The rest of the day we did a bit of sight seeing around the very french looking capital, including the Royal Palace were we became part of a school trip, we talked the the children who were far more interested in us than the palace. I don't think the teachers minded as it made there lives easier as well. I must have high-fived about 200 kids and taught them a bit of English along the way!! They were very greatful and one child who I don't think had seen a white person before was set next to me for about 10 minutes pinching my skin with such an baffled look on her face as if she thought I was alien.
Next was the evening bus to Sihanoukville, I said my final goodbyes to the Germans who had been great company over the past few days but onward to backpackers paradise and the fresh air of the beach.
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