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Published: August 13th 2007
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Day 118
We had our final White Rose fruit smoothie before catching the bus to Phnom Penh. Arriving at the bus station we picked up a tuktuk (who tried to grossly overcharge us until he realised we had his number!) over to lakeside and the backpacker area of Phnom Penh. We managed to get a $3 room, had wash to make ourselves feel human again and relaxed on the balcony bar overlooking the lake.
Later that evening we had planned to meet Kate and Danny at a restaurant in town dedicated to training and supporting street kids. The food was amazing and we left not only full but with the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with helping a good cause (or it might have been the wine?)
We all headed back to the area we were staying for a couple of drinks before bed.
Day 119
After a lazy morning we went out for a street brunch and stopped off at a street barber for Mark to have another (slightly overdue) hair cut which turned out a bit more successful than the one in he'd had China.
Planning a short walk to the market we
set off turning down the barrage of offers from tuktuk drivers. We left the shade lakeside and entered into the blistering heat and nearly changed our minds! Not ones to be defeated we continued with the promise of shade once we reached the central market which although hot was a respite from the sun.
We had a good look around the market buying some bags and a new tripod for the camera (the previous one Mark had left somewhere in Siem Reap). Then we had a couple of errands to do including getting some new passport photos taken. Unlike in the UK this is a much more indepth affair where you get taken into a studio in the back of the shop complete with a mirror to do your hair where a professionalish photographer takes a portrait pic of you. It was all quite surreal. You then have to wait a day while they work some sort of magic on photoshop (making you look a little bit plastic) and they choose a background colour for you and print them out.
With our photo shoot done we fancied an ice coffee before making the journey back. Stopping at the
cafe we had visited before in Phnom Penh we got caught up again in the Cambodian institution - afternoon watching (and betting) on the thai kick boxing that was being aired live that day. It was great to see all of the betting and heated shouting about the fight as we both made sure we didn't inadvertantly put a flutter on.
Back at the hostel and we met Kate and Danny for an afternoon of Poker, dinner and a film in the balcony bar, all helped along with a $1 (50p) bottle of vodka - bargain!
Day 120
Once again having a great lie in - we got up and had brunch at the hostel before putting on the 'Killing Fields' film to set the scene for our tour of Cambodian history.
We met up with two Irish girls who were planning to do the same sights as us so negotiated a tuktuk for us all and set off bound for the S-21 prison as our first stop.
S-21 used to be a school in Phnom Penh before the Khmer Rouge converted it from a place of learning to a prison specifically designed for the
interrogation and extermination of anti Ángka elements and the educated population of Cambodia whom they considered to pose a threat to the regime.
We got a guide between us and set off around the site. It was horrifying seeing and hearing the tale of the S-21 prison where out of the 20,000 inmates that came through - only a handful lived, with the rest being taken and killed in the mass graves of the killing fields.
Back on the tuktuk our next stop was to visit the Killing Fields. It is estimated that 20,000 people (who came through the S-21 prison) were killed here and dumped in mass graves during the KR reign of terror - to date they have found over 9,000 bodies over a number of mass graves but have run out of money to actively retreive any more at this stage. Saying this, after every rainfal the water washes more bones and pieces of clothing from the ground which daily get collected up and placed to one side.
When we first arrived we sat down with our guide who took us though details of this horrific time in Cambodia as well as how the
S21 and killing fields fitted into this history. We then then went to see the memorial built as a reminder of this past and in memory of all of the people killed here. Standing 20(ish)m high, the memorial's central glass column is filled with all of the skulls and bones exhumed from the site making a chilling and impactful sight.
We then were taken to see the mass graves where the Khmer Rouge buried their victims with our guide explaining what had been found in each and what that meant had happened there. It was a really sobering experience which was punctuated when we walked back along the path narrowly avoiding a dense cluster of human bones that had been recently revealed by the rain.
Back on our tuctuc we went back to the hostel where we spent the evening at the hostel.
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Catherine
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Just to keep you up to date ...
... on our ever so exciting life here in Buxton! Monday here. Just been for a swim in my lunch hour (feeling rather pleased with myself). Jocelyn was here for the weekend. The sun shone which was nice and we walked, talked, drank and ate. Yesterdya went to see Man U play Reading, not the best game but great to be at Old Trafford (for free on the comfy company seats as well!). Back to work. Tara for now. CX