All Snooked up

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Arriving in Sihanoukville from Battenbang it was definitely a lot more westernized than either of us had expected. Already very popular with Eastern Europeans and backpackers it will not be long in the near future before Sihanoukville becomes a major tourist destination in South East Asia. We stayed in a really nice hotel with a really good vibe and with a swimming pool and a five minute walk to Serendipity Beach. We enjoyed it so much we didn't really take too many pics! The first day we got chatting with a local called Bun who said he would take us round most of the beaches by motorbike for free and we could spend as long as we wished on each one. The beaches really were gorgeous though once you've seen Thailand you become a bit spoilt! Bun then took us to the Crocodile Park which was also home to dozens of poisonous snakes, birds and fish. After pissing of a King Cobra we decided to get the hell out! Later we discovered next door to our hotel they had a cinema complex in a small building. The main cinema which held about a dozen people was decked with wicker chairs with big comfy pillows and a mini bar and you could choose from thousands of different films including ones which haven't even been released! We decided to go VIP baby where we had our own wee living room, a few beers, ordered pizza delivery and watched The Fighter, which might i had was UNREAL. It might sound a bit boring but trust me after being on the road for the last few months it felt like being at home for a while and was such a nice feeling.

Our next and final destination in Cambodia was Phnom Phen the capital city. Phnom Phen has quite a cosmopolitan vibe to it. We stayed in a hotel on the banks of the Mekong river with loads of nice bars and restaurants in walking distance. There was a really nice feel to the place, for example we where out having something to eat and watching dozens of Cambodians doing their daily aerobics routine on the river bank, while an elephant and its rider dander past us in the middle of rush hour traffic.

The main sites that we wanted to see while in Phnom Phen where the Killing Fields and also s-21. The Killing Fields of Cheung EK just outside of the capital are the largest mass graves uncovered after the Khmer Rouge genocide ended. Over 17,000 bodies have so far been uncovered with many more becoming unearthed after each rainy season. This is quite evident as you walk around the mass graves you can see clothing that people had been wearing when they had been executed protruding through out the entire area of the grave site. The site is very eerie and at times can be quite emotional and you can't begin to imagine how much the people suffered. The genocide memorial at the site is made in the style of a small Pagoda with twelve stories each holding bones of the bodies that have so far been uncovered. It is a sad site to see the bones of 17,000 people in front of you, murdered for no reason whatsoever apart from not "true believers" of a regime that starved and tortured it's own people.

S-21 used to be a school in downtown Phnom Phen before the Khmer Rouge evacuated the city in 1975. From then until the end of the regime in 1979 it was used as an interrogation prison for people suspected of crimes against the State, before they where sent to the Killing Fields for execution. On display are hundreds of photos of people that had went through the prison before being executed. It is hard to understand how only 30 odd years ago a government could behave in this way towards their own people.

Cambodia a great experience for both of us and really good fun. The people have been so good to us and so welcoming and helpful and made our time there even better.

The journey continues and this time we decided to go a wee bit more off the tourist track and leave Cambodia by boat and cruise down the Mekong River into Vietnam.

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