Phnom Penh!

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Heylo!!

We had a great time in Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia)..... we were really lucky with our hostel and had a really lovely room with a view of Phnom Penh, did lots of sightseeing, although it was really hard work in the heat, and we really liked the city! We spent lots of time wandering around the crazy crazy markets, trying out lots of different foods (not always very successfully!) and marvelling (not in a good way!) over the "meat" stands which often included pig heads etc.!

We wandered along the riverfront trying to identify all the different flags and watched the sun set over the royal palaces, which we then visited first thing the next morning! We were pretty much the first ones let into the palace grounds as we hoped if we got there really early it wouldn't be too hot especially as we were wearing jeans as we weren't sure how much you had to cover up! We were mistaken on both accounts.... it was still absolutely boiling, we were almost the only ones silly enough to wear jeans and suffered a lot and I almost wasn't allowed in because my T-shirt only just covered my shoulders! The palaces and all the related buildings/temples were really beautiful though.... so colourful, beautifully decorated and the gold really shone in the sun, although unfortunately some of the buildings were closed that day!

Afterwards, we went to the S21 camp, which used to be a school but was turned into a torture/interrogation center and prison during the Pol Pot regime in the 1970's! We watched a long video and wandered around the buildings - some of which contained information and photos, while others had been left exactly as they were with the beds, equipment used for torturing the prisoners and chains still in the rooms! It was really horrible and there was a very sombre feeling about the place but I am glad we went as we learnt a lot and I think it's important to not just look at the "fun" tourist attractions while travelling, but to really get a feel for the country including its history, good or bad! However, we did decide that that was enough and decided not to go to the Killing Fields later that day, as we had seen them in the film that was shown and apparently there wasn't much to see there!

That afternoon we went to pick our passports/visas up from the embassy and then wandered around all the little alleyways around the lake, which is the main backpacker area! We ended up buying lots of books from young children who spend all afternoon and evening (after they finish school at 11am) selling books or other things - really sad but they were very sweet and persistent and in the end we gave in! :o)

The next morning we got a 10 hour bus to Stung Treng where we had to stay a night before getting a 3/4 hour minibus to Banlung, in the East, the following day!

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