The Changiville Phnom Penh

... the killing fields. It definitely gave us food for thought and to think that all this only happened about 30 years ago. However, it has sparked an interest in the history of Cambodia and I am currently reading a book by an author who lived through the Pol Pot reign.

We leave the city tomorrow and head up to Siem Reap, yet another 4 hour bus ride....

As always love and miss you all and wish you were here

The Gibbons x x x

... and the royal palace. With all the modern features it was a bargain for $15 a night.... just a shame it didn't have a pool!
After a leisurely stroll around town we were drawn into a small bar opposite our hotel called 'Rick's Place'. Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald hummed in the background while the 50 cent draught beers were a small piece of heaven on such a hot afternoon. The owner David, a retired gentleman from Cambridgeshire served us beer, while one of his ...

... words with a southern English accent. She was very helpful, and I booked both my onward bus to Ho Chi Minh City, as well as a tour to the Killing Fields and S-21 the next day.

I wasn't too hungry as of yet so I bought a beer then headed upto the third floor of the hotel where there is a nice big balcony overlooking the street. There was no one else up there, and I sipped my beer while reading my RG. I was out there maybe half an hour. I was also covered in deet. However, somehow ...

... of the snake's head and you could see it being digested- disgusting!!!!

Then had lunch in the city centre where they train up local kids to run a restaurant- very Jamie Oliver!!!

Afternoon, we spent going around the royal palace and national museum before trying to make our way around the market without getting run over by mopeds!!

Photos to follow on facebook

... done in the 1980. There is also a museum and a small cinema that shows a short documentary, and beyond that are trails lead to the mass graves, now only ponds filled with water – and almost everywhere, if you look closely, you can spot fragments of human bones, teeth, and clothing poking from the ground, especially right after heavy rains, which the place just had barely a day ago.

On that day, I became face to face with the ugliest ...

... was stuck to him, proved to be a very effective sunscreen & he didn't get burnt where the mud landed. Unfortunately, the rest of him got burnt leaving this weird looking speckled red & white pattern on his shoulders, arms & legs.. I took a photo of it & that proved to give us even more laughs. You'll see when you look at it!!!

... erg kort voor mijn vertrek.

Om 8 uur ''s ochtends bracht Mike (de Duitse gastheer van het bungaloowtje waar ik sliep) me naar het vaste land vanwaar een bus naar Phnom Penh ging. Deze bus zou rond 9/10 uur die avond aankomen. Een hele rit dus. En ondertussen moesten we de grens met Cambodja over, waarover wat verwarring ontstond of we daar wel onze visa''s konden krijgen. Sommige mensen zeiden van niet, en ik had er nog geen. Maar gelukkig bleek dat mee te ...

... and books) and who won't take no for an answer. Today was a necessary but very discomforting experience. We had decided that we ought to respect the fact that Cambodia has gone through a lot of **** (to put it lightly) in the last 40 years, and so should go to the Killing fields and S-21 to be informed on it and not ignore the historical sides to the places we are visiting. If you don't know already, and I didn't, look up the Khmer Rouge on ...

Back to Alice. We overslept which meant a pretty jam-packed afternoon. First we went to the Vietnamese Embassy to get visas for the departure the next day (as last minute as ever!). The Embassy was actually closed, but for a little extra backshish the security guard managed to magic us some visas. We then went to S-21 where Pol Pot's regime held and tortured their detainees: peasants, interlectuals and anyone who ...

... a crowd of peaceful supporters of Sam Rainsey (opposition party leader) which was blamed on Hun Sen and the CPP. Pol Pot reappeared and ordered the execution of Son Sen, his former defence minister. The one-legged Khmer Rouge general Ta Mok seized Pol Pot and put him on show trial (still out of reach in the jungle) as the Khmer Rouge top brass sought to shift blame for the genocide to each others shoulders. But Pol Pot wasn't brought to justice.

Since then the ...