And so the journey continued into Cambodia. I arrived just after sunset, the roads were dark and the streets were smelly and I set out to look for accommodation. I checked out the backpackers area but was not impressed, electricity was out, the place smelled of dodgy substances and the matresses were damp. So I moved onto the main waterfront to find a basic hotel for 1 night. I soon realised how poor the country is and its hard to eat a meal while there are children around you begging for money or to polish your shoes, even flip flops. I was told however that they all work for the Mafia and any money you give them goes straight to them. The next day I was up early and headed to the Killing Fields where the tortured people were brought under the Khmer Rouge regime. Really sad and disturbing to see the way they were treated. While visiting the fields and seeing masses of skulls in a glass cupboard you can hear children playing at a nearby playground and a little girl sitting outside the toilet giving people toilet roll. I then moved on to the Tuol Sleng Museum which was previously a school but turned into a prison to toture people before the were sent to the killing fields. Again, it was really hard to see such graphic images of methods used for torturing and unbelievable too that this happenned only 30 years ago.
The next stop was Siem Reap for the famous temples of Angkor Wat. I arrived before sunset and found a good, basic guesthouse with aircon for $8. The next day was another early start as I headed to the temples in my tuk tuk to see sun rise over Angkor Wat. Sunrise was good and I then headed to a really nice hotel that had been recommended to me. Although the guesthouses are comfortable, from time to time I've found it really nice to splash out on a nice hotel! This next place was great, a pool to have a dip in between visiting temples and really nice gardens. After a quick dip, I was visiting temples back to back from noon to sunset with temperatures around mid 30s. The temples were amazing, all very different from each other, with distinctive images of Buddha staring at you. At a temple on a hill at sunset I met another 2 travellers from the UK. We hit it off straightaway and within 5 mins we were laughing away. The next day, I decided to chill by the pool and do a few laps before I moved back to my basic accommodation. I bumped into the same 2 travellers there who had been next door to get a blind massage. We then went to the night market to get our feet sucked by fish. Apparently these fish like dead skin so you put your feet in the small pool and they all come to suck your feet. A strange sensation, I tell you!
