Cambodia

---

So we reluctantly left Vietnam and made our way to Cambodia. We arrived in the capital Phnom Penh and although we say it about each place we visit, it really was exceptionally warm. We stayed in a hostel called Lovely Jubbly Place but once we started getting into the recent history of Cambodia it was difficult to feel upbeat in this city. We started off visiting a local art house cinema that for $3.50 each you could watch the 3 films they were showing that day. We finally got to watch 12 Years A Slave which was fantastic but the main reason we went was to watch the film The Killing Fields. This gave us our first true glimpse of the horrors the country had recently suffered. The next day we visited the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields. These were just heartbreaking. In the killing fields there were bones and clothes all over the site and they had made a memorial and filled it with the skulls and bones of the victims. It's hard to explain just how awful it truly was seeing what man can do to each other.

We spent our evening in Phnom Penh playing pool, drinking beer and enjoying the country's very tasty curries! We also had to get use to paying for everything in dollars! Cambodia have their own currency but only use the American Dollar, the only time you get local currency is when the give you small amounts of change. You can only withdraw American Dollars from the ATM' s as well!

From Phnom Penh we headed west to Siem Reap where the feeling in town isn't about the past its all about the wonder of the world they have right on their doorstep. The Angkor Temple complex isn't just about the Angkor Wat temple, it took us two days to go round the main sections and we probably only saw about half the temples! The heat was intense both days and the only relief we got was on the second day when we got up for sunrise at Angkor Wat, however we did have to get up at 5am 😞 Despite the heat and the early start, it was all worth it.

Onwards to Bangkok!

---

Photos

Genocide Museum
The museum is placed at Teol Sleng which was a school but transformed into a prison and place of torture when the Khmer Rouge came to power. The picture shows one of the buildings left exactly like it was during its time as a prison. The barbed wire was placed all the way across the front of the building not to prevent escapes but to prevent prisoners from ending their suffering by jumping off the building.

Presidential Pigeons
Outside the Palace

Sunrise at Angkor Wat
Behind us were about 1000 Chinese and Japanese tourists!