Phnom Penh turned out to be a capital full of contrasts - walking one way from our hotel the houses were shacks surrounded by rubbish and open sewage, but with a few nice colonial buildings in between! In the other direction, as you got closer to the river, the city is much gleaner with grassy areas and some impressive monuments, which are surrounded by colourful fountains at night.

On our first morning we had a well deserved lie in (!), before planning lots of sightseeing for the rest of the day. In the end we only made it to the Genocide museum, which is on the site of the old S 21 offices and Tuol Sleng prison. It was a harrowing experience to see mug shots of every victim that had been thrown into the prison. Some of the old torture equipment was still there and all the cells had been left as they were found. There were also photos of the scene at the killing fields when they were first discovered, and paintings recreated from the memories of the 14 surviving prisoners out of over 8000, of the atrocities they had witnessed.

The following day we went to the local killing fields site, 15km from Phnom Penh. We saw the mass grave sites which had been discovered, although it was difficult to imagine what had actually occurred here, as it is now a peaceful and scenic area. The Bone Monument as we entered however was a chilling reminder of how this country had suffered, and so recently.

In the afternoon we headed to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. The buildings were all very impressive v- look aty the photos!

Now on the internet and just jumped out of my chair due to loud bangs... I thought we were being bombed but apparently its the King's birthday so off to investigate the celebrations!