Royal Palace Hotel Phnom Penh

... we've yet to see an accident. Why? Because in the city, no one travels over 30km/h (which may be generous) and therefore can still easily stop if there turns out to actually be bisecting traffic after driving right past the "octagonal go sign" or "red go light". But why stop when you can just mash the gas and make THEM stop?<br><br>Our tuk tuk today broke new ground with a four lane swerve. I know, I know, "I've survived the concrete jungle that is the urban US ...

... world didn&#8217;t just let it happen, several nations actually had given aids to the Khmer Rouge government &#8211; the Chinese, the Thai and (indirectly) the US government armed and gave it financial supports just because it was fighting against the Vietnamese and the Vietnamese-backed Cambodian government. Because of this political consideration, they also let the Khmer Rouge government, defeated and on the run since 1979, occupy the country&#8217;s ...

... remove a plastic bag which had tangled its way into my chain!<br><br>On our return we were off on another bus trip - to Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor. Although it's been a fascinating and thought provoking time learning about the Kymer Rouge, the Killing fields and the Vietnamese War I feel I've had enough horrors for a while and enough war-like thoughts so we're both really looking forward to the Angkor Wat experience - one of the highlights of our Southeast Asia trip...

... government officials, doctors, teachers, academics, monks, and later on even officials of the Khmer Rouge under espionage charges.  Prisoners were never killed outright, as the Khmer Rouge needed their confessions. So they would be tortured for months using various methods; electrocution, starvation, water torture etc.. The whole place was very eerie. One block of the school was purely black and white "mugshots" of the prisoners, thousands of them, covering every wall and in ...

... phone calls later we were still there....<br><br>Finally we got picked up and managed to catch the last bus of the day to Ban Lung... a quiet locals bus... 2 and a half hours (instead of the anticipated 4 hours) down a bumpy dirt track and we were in Ban Lung. We met Canadian Stephanie on the bus... she was supposed to get off in Kratie, about 6 hours ago, but had missed the stop so ended up joining us! A load of guest house touts came to meet us from the bus.... we chose the local with ...

... not very good. It was unclear and confusing. <br><br>Our learning about the Genocide continued the next morning when we headed out to the Choeung Ek Killing Fields. There were many Killing Fields in Cambodia during the Genocide. We visited the one that &#8220;serviced&#8221; the Toul Sleng Prison. Here, soldiers (teenage boys) would bludgeon prisoners to death. The murders were done with hammers and pick-axes because the regime couldn ...

... are black and white pictures of previous prisoners who had been tortured to death, this is a harrowing sight to see. I just walked through the museum in stunned silence.<br>Generally the museum is well worth the visit, words can not accurately describe this place. I found my driver and went back to the hotel.<br><br>When I came back I paid the driver the agreed $12 USD. I was quite shocked to see the driver walk into the hotel and pay the hotel receptionist ...