We caught our bus from Phnom Penh which was a glorious eight hour journey with a brat sitting behind us crying the whole way! And when I mean the whole way I mean the WHOLE eight hours! The border crossing was suprisingly easy and the office was quite fancy for such a poor country. Ben had to throw away his used bullets due to a metal detector :-( . Met a friendly polish journalist who was doing some visa fiddling to stay in Vietnam working. After finally reaching Cambodian soil the heat was immense! Easily 100°! Back on the bus we continued the next four hours until we arrived in Phnom Penh. Straight away you could see the poverty, children with no shoes, shanty homes, wasteland. We spoke about how much they had suffered from the Khmer Rouge and were unsure what the people would be like despite the praises they'd got. We arrived in Phnom Penh and didnt get too harassed by tuk tuks, then walked to our hotel in the intense heat. Found a nice place for once and offloaded the bags and walked the mile to S21 prison. During the Khmer Rouge reign they had evacuated Phnom Penh and converted the local school into a prison and place of horrific torture. "The sheer normality of this prison really hits home as it was just a school in the middle of the community surrounded by homes shops and trees". Inside we found cells (classrooms) that still had the beds and few belongings left from each prisoner, and the torture devices used on the captives. It really was upsetting, they had pictures of all the men, women and children that had been kept in S-21 and chances are sadly most of them died there. The people who where kept here had done nothing wrong, teachers, doctors, people who wore glasses, people with soft hands, the list goes on with eveything the Khmer Rouge government were against. After spending three hours here we decided it was enough and we left feeling a terrible sadness for the people who tragically died in S21 and for the people of Cambodia for thier suffering.
We went back to our room and had a shower and got changed and headed out to a local family run restaurant called Mammas! We had a lovely meal here which we waited on by the familys lovely children :-) after our tea we got talking to the owners husband Thon. He was interested in what we did at home and how we came to be in Cambodia. Turned out he was a lecturer for the Uni of Cambodia! He told us how he learnt english and how is trying to.make a better life for his family. He really was a lovely man. He invited us to go on an expedition with his university class all we would need to pay for was accommodation. It sounded great and we would have went along but it lasted untill April 1st and we need to be back in Thailand then, so we took his email he said if we needed any help or advice on anything in Cambodia we could contact him. He was a gentleman! We left and went and got an ice cream and started the long walk back to our hotel.
Today we made our way to the Grand Temple grounds. It was about 3km walk from our hotel and close to the Tonle Sap river. When we got there they wouldnt let Gem in with her vest top on so we bought her a really cool Khmer Dance tshirt. We seen the grand temple which was used for the Kings talks and you could see his throne from the window as you werent allowed in! There were many other buildings including the Silver Pagoda which despite the name we couldnt see silver anywhere! We had a look at our Cambodge Bible and found that the floor was made up of thousands of silver tiles and most were protected by bamboo mats but you could see a few in places. After spending a few hours there we went to the nearest irish pub for some home cooked scoff (burger, chips & beans). We booked our bus to Siem Reap and started walking back to our hotel in torrential rains after buying some terrible overcoats for a quid! As we got back we realised our neighbours specialty was bags of fanta! So we picked two up and called it a night!
We got up early today and decided to go with the hotels tuk.tuk driver Ruun and went to Cambodias Genocidal Museum also known as the "the killing fields" This was where they have recoverd over 9000 bodies that were killed by the Khmer Rouge. There is a monument in the middle of the field with thousands of skulls bones and.clothes that they still are unsure of who they belong to. We had a headset to listen to on the way round with the horrors and true storys of wh at happened here. When we started to walk around a thunder storm came from nowhere with terrential rain and thunder and lightning like we have never see before. With the weather and listening to the stories on the headset it felt so surreal and really added to the gloomy and depressing atmoshpere of this place. As we walked around because the rain washed away a top layer of soil it unearthed bones and rags that had yet to be uncovered. We were warned about this but it doesnt prepare you. We found a tooth and a shin bone and a few rags and it really brought home the scale of death in this place if 30 years on there is still bones and clothes being discovered on a weekly basis. They say because the people suffered so badly thier souls cannot rest and that is why thier bones are still being found. After around 3 hours here we left feeling extremely sad and amazed at how the people of Cambodia are so lovely after all the hardship they have endured.
We went home to pack our bags as we leave tomorow and then.went out for tea. We walked down the road for tea sat down in.a small restaurant, our bill came to $6.65 and we had ,$6.75!! Phew that was close! We payed up and walked home with no money left and decided a night watching a film on tv was on the cards haha!
We got up early today checked out of our hotel, and began the 3km walk to the bus station. Now you may be thinking 3km is not that far! But when its over 100° and youve got a heavy backpack on, let me tell u...its far haha!! We got to the bus station, it felt like we were a stone lighter haha! We bought some oranges for the 6 hour bus journey and boarded.
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