Himawari Phnom Penh

Goodbye to Siem Reap. What a cool place! Loads of traffic on the roads and we were stopped at the first accident we had seen between a Camry and a moto bike. The guy on the bike picked up the bike and a few bits and pieces on the road and limped off and the car driver just drove off. No one helped just looked. Next time we slowed was for the remainders of a fire that had occurred in the markets overnight and decimated many stalls. Heaps of onlookers. We got to the bus and our bags were whippe...

Today was going to be a bit depressing as on our to visit list was Tuol Sleng Museum (known also as S21) and then out to the Killing Fields. Sappore picked us up and we walked around Tuol Sleng. Once a high school, in 1976 it became a place for interrogation and extermination of any anti-angkor elements by the Lon Nol regime. Prisoners were chained in 8 x 2m cells, women were more often raped and there was barbed wire on the top floors to stop people committing suicide. There were 10 regulati...

After a leisurely breakfast & discovery channel we went for a stroll down Sisowath street & along the river bank. Loads of dodgy looking boats. I wanted to take a cruise on the river but Pete not so keen. It may have had something to do with the stench of sewer water running into the river and the murky brown look of it. We passed people bathing, washing clothes and collecting food from this river. I guess that's survival. In the afternoon we visited the Silver Pagoda and the Royal Pa...

'It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me (us), and I'm (we're) feeling good'*. The sunset looks different with a glowing Asian sun, the sounds of honking motos and tuk tuks, and the street scapes are unmistakeable: we're back in Cambodia. Phnom Penh is a part of the quickly disappearing, genuine Asia where prices are still exceptionally low, a more laid back rural atmosphere can be found and Buddhist monks in their flowing orange robes walk the streets to collect alms. Singapo...