Phnom Penh

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Phnom penh was a city of contrasts, and full of stark reminders of the atrocities carried out there so recently, and how far it has come in such a short time.
We found a lovely little, very basic guesthouse to stay in, paying $6 a night! Here we discovered the joys of iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk - so good, yet so very bad for you!

We spent our first day there at the Royal palace, which was full of beautful buildings, including the silver Pagoda, which has a solid silver floor and amazing gold and diamond Buddha statues. We also went to Wat Phnom, and the central market where we decided to pass on the fried tarantulas but did try some rather interesting fruit. We met up with Kate, who arrived on the same tour we had done a day earlier, and found her somewhere slightly nicer to stay.
The next day we arranged a tuk tuk driver (not too hard when there are about 10 guys on every street corner saying 'you want tuk tuk lady?') and set off to the Russian market, where we practised our bargaining skills.

We then went to Tuol sleng aka S-21, the main Khmer Rouge prison. It was in a rather surreal setting as it had been a school prior to being taken over by the regime. The prison was used to interrogate supposed threats to the regime, and meticulous records were kept of all prisoners, including a photo of each as they entered, which are now displayed. 20,000 people entered the prison, including many women and children as well as former Khmer Rouge soldiers, and only 7 walked out alive. It was a chilling experience and very hard to put into words the feeling of being there, knowing what went on within those walls.

From here we carried on to the killing fields, where the prisoners were taken to be executed. 8900 bodies have been exhumed so far, with many mass graves still unotuched. A monument has recently been erected, featuring the skulls of many of the dead.

ese killing fields were one of over 100 throughout Cambodia, which gives an idea of the scale of the atrocities carried out by the Khmer Rouge.
It is amazing how far Cambodia has come in such a short space of time, and how the people always have a smile on their face, despite the fact that nearly all the population was affected in some way or another.

From here we are on a bus to Siem Reap to visit the ancient Angkorian ruins, which we are all very excited about!

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