The beginning of our time in Cambodia was a disaster. We arrived at our hotel as arranged by the tour company, described as the 'Sinh Cafe Hotel' by all who worked there.
After checking in we took a tuk-tuk into town (of course our 'free' night's accommodation was far from central). The driver tried to secure a return fare from us but we declined, sure that we'd have no problem getting back to the hotel later on in another tuk-tuk. So, after our meal we started asking around and no-one had ever heard of the hotel. We were pretty sure we knew what number the road was (they are numbered and not named) and so got taken there, only to discover that we didn't recognise the hotel on the street anywhere.
We walked up and down the long road and down neighbouring streets and the first stirrings of panic began to set in. After having no luck looking on the internet for an address, we started to ask people at other hotels, people in shops - anyone - but no-one had a clue, despite really wanting to help.
Whilst standing outside one hotel, asking another group of people, a guy on a motorbike pulled up and joined in, then announced that he knew where to go. Relieved, we both squeezed on to his motorbike, where it quickly becomes evident that he was as clueless as everyone else. We pulled up numerous times and asked yet more people (it was about Midnight by now) and drove around for hours after several red herrings.
Eventually we gave up and, with only a pocket full of cash on us (passports and everything else where at the lost hotel) we found accommodation that was still open at that time and got a horrible, low ceilinged tomb to sleep in. After a burst of hysteria from me, we lay down for a very restless night and rose at 6am to go and look again in the daylight.
We made our way back to to the area we were sure was right and pounded the pavement for hours. I was sporadically bursting into tears at this stage and Ben was swearing a lot. Even phoning the tour company was a complete loss and we were beginning to face the possibility that we were never going to get our stuff back.
Then, we decided to walk back along a street that we had been halfway down the previous night. We passed the point we had already been and suddenly I heard a voice saying 'Sinh Cafe Hotel?' - we were right outside! I could have kissed all the staff there and then.
Turns out, they have only recently started calling it by that name which would explain why no-one knew it.
After this debarcle, we moved to more central accommodation at the 'Top Banana' guesthouse where we had a room with two double beds and a flight of stairs that led to a brick wall, but at least we knew where it was...
During our time in the city we visited the incredibly tragic but morbidly fascinating Genocide museum. A local school had been turned into a prison during the Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia and thousands of people were tortured and murdered there. You need a strong stomach for the museum, and the sadness stays with you for a long time, but it is a well put together and informative museum. By chance, we were visiting on the same day as an elderly gentleman who was one of only 17 people who had actually survived the prison. It was hard to believe that you were looking at someone who had endured such atrocities, and in relatively recent history as well.
