We are blogging from Ko Samet in the South of Thailand today! We are really sorry for the lack of blogs, we have been so busy travelling from here to there and trying to make the most of our last week here!
We left you in Ho Chi Minh City...A whole two weeks ago nearly!
We arrived in Phnom Penh earlier than expected- yippee!!! It was lunchtime and we needed to find a guesthouse. Unfortunately, they were all miles away from the bus station, along the river front. Luckily, we were able to share a tuk tuk with two German people going in the same direction as us. As we had absolutely NO money between us (it had been taken off us at border crossing in order to buy a Cambodian visa), we had to ask them to pay and said we would pay them back later. We chose 'Happy Guesthouse 11' and this turned out to be a fine choice. Our room, although a little basic, was sufficient for our needs and the bar area was possibly the best we have seen yet- beers in Cambodia were only 50 cents in all the bars/restaurants! There were loads of little tables, sofas and hammocks on a deck on the lake which provided the perfect setting for sunset watching. After checking in we decided to make the most of the rest of the day and went to see Tuel Sleng Prison (S-21). This was used by the Communist Khmer Rouge to torture prisoners. The fact that the prison was formally a school, made it all the more haunting. If like us, you start of fairly unfamiliar with Cambodian history type Khmer Rouge into google, it's so interesting, especially as it's so recent. The prison was fairly brutal and had pictures in every cell of someone dying on the bed in that room- not very nice. We spent about one and a half hours walking around and then took a tuk tuk (haha) to Wat Phnom which looked extremely beutiful in the evening sun. We sat down and watched the monkeys playing in the surrounding grass and trees before walking back to our hostel in the still blazing sun. We were chuffed to find a cheap place to eat- it also had a pool table (Elodie is getting very good, even Zack admits it although she has not quite reached game-winning level). We finished our meal of noodles (of course) and walked down the street only to find the same meal for half the price- damn! We headed back to our hotel for an early night after watcing the sun set over the lake with a chocolate milkshake each. We woke up bright and early to get our tuk tuk to the Killing Fields at 7am. After a COLD shower and another milkshake and pancake, we set off. We were not prepared for what we saw. The mass graves had only been partly excavated and were shockingly untouched in places- due to the recent rainfall, teeth, bones and clothes of the victims were scattered everywhere. Thanks to our early start we had a peaceful walk around and left as the tourist buses began to arrive. Our tuk tuk dropped us off at the Grand Palace where the King of Cambodia lives. Emotionally and physically tired, we mustered all our strength for, dare we say it, more shopping at the Central Market. We got fed up of bartering as the people were a lot more stubborn, especially as we seemed to be the only foreigners there so we got inflated prices. We met a Canadian girl (who was very hippie-like and slightly peculiar but also very nice). When we heard that she had been in Cambodia helping for a long time at a school in the middle of the biggest slum in Phnom Penh, we asked her if she wouldn't mind taking us (she had said that we should visit it as much of the population is very poor because of the corrupt government). We were a bit scared to go on our own so she came with us. To see the children playing in the school yard (a sewer in the middle) was lovely but also came as a great contrast to the huge rubbish dump that was next to it. It was also sad to hear that most of the little children there had HIV and their little feet were very sore and cut from all the broken glass on the ground. We went back to where our hostel was (riverside- yes we did sing the song each time we said it) and had the cheaper noodles we had seen. We made friends with a little Cambodian boy who was fascinated by our camera and even sat on Zack's chair with him while we ate. He loved the travel sweets you gave us Adeline and as we only had a few left, we gave him the tin. The girls working there were very happy and smiley and symbolised the Cambodia people as a whole- they are always very polite and helpful and very friendly indeed.
Tell you about Siem Reap tomorrow!
Off for some cocktails on the beachside bar! Love to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
