"It's a Holiday in Cambodia"

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We arrived in Phnom Penh via bus from Saigon, and aside from the heat everything went smoothly. When we got there in the late afternoon the temperature seemed to be still going up! Our trip to Cambodia was defined by 2 things, the Khmer Rouge and Ancient Angkor.

Phnom Penh was the central sight for one of the most violent and horrific social experiments in human history. It was a group of radicals (Khmer Rouge) attempt to make a "perfect society." This involved eradicating anyone that lived in cities, had an education, or had differing political or economic views from them. In the end it is estimated that over 3 million Cambodian's were killed, and it devastated the country. Prisoners were held at the Tuol Sleng museum (formerly Security Prison 21 or S-21, the biggest in the country), and then most ended up at Choeung Elk, what is now known as the Killing Fields. The pictures mostly speak for themselves.

After hearing about the sad modern history of Phnom Penh, we headed to Siem Reap to discover the brilliant Ancient History of the Angkor people. We were left speechless once again at the temples of Angkor Wat, Angkor Tom, and countless other ruins and remnants of one of the most prosperous civilizations of Ancient time. It was a great experience to walk among the ruins and think about life in those days, and how much time, effort and resources went into these places. Most are around 800 to 1000 years old, and the detail is still amazing to this day. Again the photo's mainly speak for themselves, that and we took so many I can't remember where they are all from anymore!

After 3 days on the back of a tuk tuk, winding our way through Ancient Angkor, we took to the sky's for our flight to Laos (we needed a break from the bus for once). We are looking forward to a more laid back environment and some great trekking, just some of what Laos has to offer.

Yours truly,

Joe and Hawley

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