Cara Hotel Phnom Penh

... history seeing S-21 (Khmer Rouge converted a high school in to a torture centre for "traitors") and “The Killing Fields” (you may of heard of the movie) where mass genocide happened and where over 9,000 bodies have been discovered…so far. It brings up serious questions about humanity. How can someone do this to another human being! It’s a city and a country with a tragic history but a place you can’t help but admire and the people ...

... something quite unimaginable. I had been on the back of a motorbike before in China so kinda knew the ropes because Owen of Yangshuo English College fame had run me down to the bus station when I left for Nanning.<br> <br>You'll be pleased to know my stress management techniques kicked in and I reminded myself 'that it hadn't happened yet - I mean a prang - so there was no point in worrying' and if the sensory overload was too much, I ...

... service to my country (sounds pretty cheesy and trust me, it looked even cheesier). Afterward, all of our new school directors rushed on stage to have their pictures taken with us but more importantly the US ambassador and Minister of Education. I looked for Darlene among the crowd of people below the stage. Expats, current PCVs, and returned PCVs had shown up for the event and a small group had formed a line opposite of the ambassador to have their picture ...

... I used them to quickly phone Mandarin before my Camshin network coverage was pulled from under me, and then to pass the Cambodian border police my passport to be stamped out as well as a $100 note. By accident. ****. But I was even more shocked to actually receive that note back! I would have not been surprised if he had taken it as I didn&#8217;t realise it was gone until it was returned to me. That could have been very stupid of me.<br><br>Press on &#8211; Press on to Bangkok.

... I've ever seen a skull up close and personal before and shelves upon shelves were hard for me to take. <br><br>There are several excavated sites where the remains have been dug up then incinerated and placed in a pagoda to memorialize them. It's really eerie walking around the grave sites and imagining the atrocities that were committed against the prisoners before they were murdered. There is a tree where children were beat against that has some remains as well. The ...

... have far to travel and had our ticket and were in the grounds by 9. Some of the temples were interesting enough but we were glad we opted for 1 day, although if we&#8217;d paid for a 3 day ticket I would&#8217;ve spent the whole time feeding the elephants. I don&#8217;t think I could ever get tired of them, they&#8217;re just so funny. After feeding them all twice we&#8217;d seen and done everything we wanted and were on our way back by 4 o ...

... mainly in Cambodia and a bunch of Americans who knew some i knew from uni and was one of there work colleges,really small world! There was also this girl called Jessy, so pretty like properly stunning could easily be a model. anyway she was traveling on her own from Canada and it was her first time ever leaving her country, she had spent months traveling around on her own so pretty ballsy to do that considering she was 19. she was cool and very pretty but miles out of my league ...

... to see. Neither was a barrel of laughs, so I&#8217;m afraid this blog entry won&#8217;t be either. If you can&#8217;t get enough genocide in your life, though, read on (and the jokes stop here).<br><br>First off, Tuol Sleng Museum (S21), a former High School that the Khmer Rouge turned into a prison, or 'security centre&#8217;, as they termed it. The prison is eerily abandoned. It&#8217;s a cold, harsh and gruesome sight, with former classrooms turned into ...

... Sure, Hun Sen is a strong-man, a one-man party intent on holding power, but democracy takes time, and Cambodia is not ready; neither is Laos. Stability is more important. Even Thailand has severe growing pains, wallowing in the aftermath of a populist usurper and the ghost of army coups past, true democracy dependent on an educated populace slow to develop. But Cambodia is looking up, and it shows in the faces of the people. During my visit there this past week, I saw supermarkets ...

... in classrooms turned torture chambers and the gory photographs of victims can be seen on the walls of some of the rooms.<br><br>The buildings are comprised of drab utilitarian grey rows of cells/classrooms situated around what used to be the playground but is now a grassy mass grave. But probably the worst aspect of S21 are the rows and rows of pictures of the victims, each in mugshot format, who passed through. Thousands of these black and white pictures adorn ...