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Published: April 16th 2012
Hello all,
Hope this finds you well.
We're writing this blog from memory (slightly blurred) as we left Cambodia a few weeks ago.
We crossed the border into Cambodia from Vietnam and headed to Sinoukville. Sinoukville is a beach party town, very busy with tourists. We struggled to find accomodation as it was so busy and everywhere seemed really expensive due to it being peak season. All of the guesthouses were full so we were forced to stay in a hotel complete with swimming pool.. We bumped into Cat, a girl we met in Vietnam 3 weeks previous and spent the following few days chilling out, eating, drinking and more realxing. Generally not doing a great deal :0)
After all that down time we caught a bus to Phnom Penn where we stayed with a friend of ours from England who lives and works in PP. It was a booze fuelled weekend which found us in a swing dance bar the first night (not to be confused with a swingers bar), and on the second night, taking a boat run by his friend to a remote bungalow on the Mekong River where we all drank and watched
Phnom Penn
Boat ride to bungalowsa hazy sunset.
We took two days out to see S-21 and the killing fields in PP. Much the same as the Vietnamise war museum we visited in HCMC, it's difficult to say it was 'good' as it was so moving but a must if you were to visit Cambodia to witness what the Cambodians endured during this period.
It was time to say goodbye to Dan and PP and so we caught a bus to Siem Reap where we ended up staying for 5 days. To get our bearings of Siem Reap we hired bikes on our first day and whilst visting a Pagoda we were approached by a man who was running an English class and asked whether we would mind joining him as we were from England. We spent the following evenings reading to his class, answering questions and having a laugh with the pupils. For some reason, although we are both English and speak English (well sort of), he still chose to sit Sarah at the front of the class with the pupils...
One day we took part in a pottery class making plates and bowls on a potters wheel, we had a
right laugh. We had an early start to catch sunrise at Angkor Wat the following morning but it was well worth it, we spent 9 hours getting lost amongst the complex of temples which were amazing and rewarded ourselves by having a massage at the end of the day, not before trying out a fish massge which was far from enjoyable!
Wanting to tell explore a less toursity place, we moved onto Battambang. We spent our days on the back of a Tuk Tuk visiting the sights, including Battambangs very own winery. There was
one wine to sample, a lethal brandy and two fruit juices, not the wine tasting day we had imagined... We had a ride on the rickety but very enjoyable bamboo train which took us along a very bumby and noisy track to a local village. The village wasn't really the highlight of the day but moreso the sights we took in along the way and the BBQ rat we were offered for lunch on the return journey. On another day we visited more Pagodas, Temples, and also the Killing caves which was a place the Khmer Rouge took men, women and children to after beating
Phnom Penn- S21
Once a rope climb used by children then converted into one of the many methods of torture used at S21 to hang and drown victims. them to near death and then threw them 50 feet down into a cave. The skulls of victims are on show much the same as at the killing fields in PP.
Two weeks in Cambodia and it was time to move on to Chaing Mai, in Northern Thailand. Hope you enjoy.
Take care.
xxx
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susan chapman
non-member comment
Lookin good!!!
Hi guys, All sounds fab, the two of you looking really well, by you scrub up well jules after a haircut and a shave!! Nice to see your 'keeping it real' Sarah with the 'teaching'!! getting yourself ready for coming back to the real world!! ha Smallwood girls are missing you lots!! Can you send our nic your new number as i cant ring you but she can and the number we have been trying isnt working Speak soon, lots of love Sue xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx