The first thing that greeted me when I stepped out of the immigration office at the border of Cambodia was a little girl of about 4 years of age, scruffy and covered in dust, holding out her hand to me for some small change. This was something I encountered in almost every place I visited in Cambodia. The country has had a somewhat troubled past; from 1975 to 1979 the country was ruled by an organisation known as the Khmer Rouge. This was led by a man called Pol Pot, a deranged idiot who brought his country almost to the point of collapse. He believed that all educated individuals were the enemy and as such had them and their families tortured and killed. Cambodia is littered with the remains of prisons and killing fields used by the Khmer Rouge. Both were quite haunting experiences, especially when you think that this happened only around 30 years ago. The majority of the army was made up of boys around the ages of 13-15, easily brainwashed as persuaded. When they got too old and knowledgeable, they were turned on by their own kind and tortured and killed along with all the other prisoners. The landmine was a popular method of defense used by all armies at war during the time. As such, people are still suffering today as those left undiscovered are claiming more lives. At the landmine museum we saw kids with missing limbs, all getting on with life as best they could. A former Kumer Rouge solider himself, Aki Ra, has spent a lot of time clearing mines with basic equipment such as wooden sticks. Cambodia is on the long path of recovery and this was evident all around. The rules of the road are something as follows, if your vehicle is biggest and has the loudest horn, you have right of way. I started biting my nails again on these trips...a sign of stress! We had one nasty experience in the form of a motor bike driver swerving and being knocked from his bike. He hit his head and smashed his nose in quite badly and as such there was a lot of blood. Had it not been for a bunch of westerners with a first aid kit and a willingness to shove two fingers down his throat to keep him breathing, he most likely would have died as the locals didn't seem too bothered and there's no ambulance service. Let's just hope he made it. Cambodia isn't exactly the greatest place for a vegetarian either. I lived on fried veg with rice or noodles, a dish I won't be able to face for some time! As there are no fridges, meat must be as fresh as possible. As such a common sight was 40 or so live chickens hanging from a bike, or a pig roped to the back of a bike, trotters in the air, squealing all the way to market. Oh, and my bag was stolen. Yes Sinead, it happened to me! Walking back from a restaurant one night two guys came up behind me on a motor bike, grabbed my bag (which was strapped over me) broke the strap and were off. It contained my digital camera, which I'm missing..alot. Anyway, I have the police report (which took 4 hours to get!), just hope the insurance company are in a good mood. It wasn't all doom and gloom, far from it! The temples at Angkor were spectacular. There was just so many of them, it would take a week to visit them all! You would just catch yourself asking, how on earth did they build it! We saw some culture in the form of some local dances, really cool. One of our nights was spent with a local family in their home. They cooked us dinner and we slept under mosquito nets in their house. That really gave us a chance to experience Cambodian life, and they were all so welcoming. The kids enjoyed watching us play the strange game of cards and had an opportunity to practice their English. I'm glad I had the opportunity to visit Cambodia. I'm pretty ashamed that I'd never really heard of the Khumer Rouge and everything that had happened before I got there. I just hope Cambodia manages to get back onto it's feet, the right way, minus corrupt government. It seems the first word the kids learn there is 'Hello!'. You can hear it being chanted at you everywhere you go! If you want to feel welcomed, go to Cambodia!