Sunway Phnom Penh

... reinforcement to that kind of behavior. Cambodia so far has had the biggest problem with street kids that I have seen so far. A lot of pedophilia also goes down here, as you can imagine. So an organization called Childsafe has been setup and they train businesses and people to recognize and respond to situations involving pedophilia. They promote and award businesses that help them out by not allowing adults to bring children into their rooms if they look out of place. I met the head guy ...

... on top of a truck tire while stopping to drink beer in the many bars along the way (known as 'tubing') are the main activities. But there is much more to Vang Vieng than craziness. The town in located in between a superb karst scenery, so we rented some bikes and strolled the countryside for a couple of days, visiting caves, little villages, and experiencing the monsoon in all its splendor.

Leaving Vang Vieng we started or route towards Vietnam ...

... had been suggested to us that we see the museum first before going to the fields but I wasn't sure I would be able to handle the museum so we saw the fields first. It still blows my mind that so many atrocities were going on in this country and no one else in the world seemed to know about it.

When you first arrive you see a very tall memorial building with thousands of skulls that are just a fraction of what was excavated from the mass grave sites nearby. I'm not ...

... it into a prison and holding ground, the one stop before the killing fields. Today it is a museum, commemorating those affected. Barbed wire lines the balcony, a simple sign states that it was necessary to prevent desperate prisoners from committing suicide. Blood stains are everywhere, on the walls, floors, even the ceilings. Bullet holes pocket the walls, although most people were killed and tortured using more primitive weapons to save ammunitions. Ramshackle wooden and brick cells ...

... I used these to pull myself back up the muddy path.

We then rode back to the hotel to pack up and make the long ride back to Phnom Penh. Before leaving, I walked thru the village to hand out crayons and pencils I had brought with me. The children were very gracious and excited to receive them. They had huge smiles and thanked me by pressing their hands together in front of them as if praying and bowing, the cusotmary way of greeting and thanking someone in Cambodia. I ...

... the ground floor is being
used to display the mug shots of all Cambodians who passed through its gates. It was a shock to see the number of women and children who were actually detained. Thousands of faces starring back at you as you pass through the rooms is an un-nerving experience. In the
adjoining rooms, implements of torture could be found and paintings from one of the only 7 survivors hangs on its walls, illustrating their use.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia emmaandpaul

... and I can literally see the affect its having on my body (note to Mother and Father, eating normally now, all is well), my diet has been: no food, instant noodles, small amount of bread, water, one meal at a KFC in PP, steamed rice with some veg that had been cooked to death, some cookies and very strong coffee and some perfume tea. That was probably over a week in length, I felt very weak and tired, but the most obvious effect has been my body breaking out in sores from lack of ...