You Buy Or I Cry Mister

---

Flying in to Phnom Phen we realised that during the monsoon season Cambodia resembles a giant puddle. The land is flat and the rain leaves so much of it flooded. The upside is an abundance of rice and freshwater fish, two of the very few reasons the people here have to be contented.
Cambodia is a country with a bleak history of conflict, chaos and extreme cruelty to the ordinary peasants most notably at the hands of the despicable nerk Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge. Corruption and political unrest remain common place.
So many victims of landmines, some missing limbs others with horrific burns cast a grim reminder of their troubled past and the legacy of such a cruel and paranoid regime. Begging is prolific especially amongst the children who will often threaten to cry if you don't buy but inspite of everything the people of Cambodia still manage to smile.
We came to Phnom Phen to visit the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. The site is dominated by a fifteen meter high glass tower completely full with the broken skulls and other bones of the nine thousand victims that were discovered in the mass graves that surround the area. Another forty three graves are still to be unearthed. As we walked around the site it was still possible to see teeth, bones and clothing sticking out of the ground.
Back in the town we headed for the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Formerly a high school it was taken over by Pol Pot's security forces in 1975. Nicknamed S-21 it became the largest centre of incarceration and torture in the country. In the four years it was in use over 17000 men, woman and children were held here. Of these, all but seven were tortured and put to death.
Back at the hostel we were asked by one of the staff if we would mind taking a trip to a nearby orphanage and donating a sack of rice. At the orphanage we were told that the children and the handfull of volunteer staff relied totally on donations from tourists and western buisnesses to survive. It costs 50 US$dollars a day to feed, cloth and give some basic education to the kids and the government does'nt fund them at all.
We were the only visitors at that time and the children put on a show of local song and dance on our behalf. Although this made us feel very special it also acted as an added pressure to pledge a monthly donation which we did on behalf of my employers, I hope they don't mind.
We headed to Siem Reap by bus and from here we spent three days exploring the temples of Angkor Wat. Its not surprising that Angkor is regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world. Built between the 10th and 13th centuries the temples are quite stunning.
We really enjoyed our time in Cambodia, its one of the more interesting countries we have been too. I even tried out some of their more unusual delicacies. One afternoon we were walking back to our hostel when we passed a hawker selling a variety of deep fried bugs, so I ate a beetle, a cockroach and a huge spider. The beetle and the spider were'nt as bad as you might think but I would'nt fancy eating a cockroach again. Caroline declined the experience and refused to kiss me for two days.
It was quite common to see whole families riding around on a single moped but the most bizarre sighting for us was a man going to the market with three live pigs tied upside down and across the seat of his scooter.
From Siem Reap we travelled back to Bangkok spending ten hours in a knackered bus on what must be one of the worst roads in the world, however, it was still a good experience.

This will be the last entry in our journal and we would like to thank all of you that have read our ramblings and sent us the many messages, we have really enjoyed reading them.
We have spent the last month back in Lombok ( Indonesia ) but on thursday 5th october we will arrive back in the England. We will have been away for ten months and ten days of what we hoped would be a year. Unfortunately we blew our budget nearly everywhere we went but we don't care because we have had such a good time. We have met so many great people and made loads of new friends from all over the world.
We are really looking forward to seeing our families and all of our old friends again and watching your eyes glaze over as we recount our travel tales over and over. We don't relish a return to work or the blues that will undoubtedly come with a good old fashioned british winter but I suppose all good things must come to an end.
Ah well, maybe we'll just book another holiday.

Take care all.

---