Our arrival into Cambodia started pretty dramatically… Our flight from Danang to Ho Chi Minh went smoothly, as did our border crossing into Cambodia (no scams!) However just after our border crossing, we were waiting to board a car ferry to cross a river (Cambodian infrastructure isn't too hot!) Suddenly tens of kids were banging on our bus, pointing at their mouths desperate for food. Suddenly we lost our appetite and passed all of our snacks to them through the window. It was a harsh awakening to Cambodian poverty. Just after the river crossing, our bus had a major oil leak… The thought of hanging around this desperately impoverished village filled us with dread, but we had no choice. Luckily I had some colouring pens in my bag which I quickly dispensed off to the children and we made some unlikely Cambodian friends. Dave even found some beers to help us pass the time… An hours wait turned into two and then the bus that had left Ho Chi Minh 2 hours after ours turned up and we managed to just squeeze in, using seats in the aisle.

Phnom Penh was an assault on the senses. Firstly the stench was terrible - rubbish, fish, urine and if the wind picked up, a mixture of all three! Rubbish lined the streets and we regularly saw rats running around. After just 10 mins walking around the city, our feet would be black from dirt and whatever else… And the sights were just one shock after another - people with no arms / legs or terrible burns begging for money, a man on his death bed being wheeled into a temple. And then there was everybody from our hotel to people selling drinks in the street telling me 'you watch your bag miss', which was nice of them but made me feel totally unsafe! It was quite overwhelming and reminded me of India.

The topic of many of the attractions in Phomn Penh just contributed to the feel of the place - the genocide by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in the 1970's. But you can see that the Cambodians desperately want to tell this story to anyone who will listen - and not to make money or for people to feel sorry for them, but so that the world is educated on what happened to ensure it never happens ever again in Cambodia or anywhere else…

Our first stop was the Tuol Sleng Museum, a former school which was turned into a prison and torture camp - it was only one of up to 150 execution camps in the country at the time of the Khmer Rouge rule and it is thought up to 20,000 were imprisoned here. Many were sent to the killing fields to die, if they didn't die from the tortures here. We got a local guide to talk us through the museum which is pretty much as it was at the time (blood stains and all) Our guide was a fascinating lady who lost 6 of her 7 brothers and sisters during the Khmer Rouge rule, as well as her mum and dad. She told us about the prison and the atrocities that used to happen there but also of her life and how she had no idea which of her family were alive or dead. It was really strange walking around the classrooms, which had been turned into cells. Photos of the dead are displayed staring at you and there are even skulls, bones and clothes displayed. We really hope the skulls and bones are buried and put to rest soon.

We also went to the Choeung Ek Killing Fields where at least 20,000 people are believed to have died and via an audio guide learnt about what happened when prisoners were sent there. We saw mass graves and heard individuals' stories related to the fields. Again, some skulls were displayed in a memorial building to drill into you the atrocities that occurred there.

After this pretty hard-hitting stuff, we did some shopping as a bit of light relief and picked up some souvenirs. We didn't get to explore the night scene as much as we would have liked as we arrived late one night, had one night enjoying local food (including $2 glasses of wine - my first in 11 weeks!) and then Dave got food poisoning so we were confined to our hotel room… After 3 days, we were ready to leave Phnom Penh.

Our minibus to Siem Reap took 6 hours - the drive through villages was really interesting and the roads were so diverse, anything from dirt tracks to newly paved roads! We immediately liked Siem Reap - it's a more spiritual, peaceful place which was a welcome change from Phnom Penh. Siem Reap is the gateway to Angkor Wat, the eight wonder of the world.

We had a day planned to explore Siem Reap and do some more volunteering at a local school but unfortunately I got food poisoning so our first full day was pretty much a write off. I felt slightly better on the second day and we really wanted to see Angkor Wat so we hired a tuk-tuk for the day and followed a whistle-stop tour, including:

- - Banteay Srey temple - very ornate carvings on pink sandstone, good to see but not one of our favourites…

- - Landmine museum - this was fascinating to understand why landmines were put down and what is being done to deactivate them!

- - Ta Prohm - famous for being the setting of the Tomb Raider film, this temple had a real jungle-like atmosphere with trees growing out of the temple itself - fascinating! Probably our favourite due to all the alleys and secret gateways to explore.

- - Bayon - the giant stone faces add a spooky feel to this temple, and it was set on a beautiful lake.

- - Angkor Wat -the world's largest religious monument, surrounded by a moat and exterior wall. Climbing to the top of the tower gave amazing views of the surrounding area.

Our evenings in Siem Reap were spent down Pub Street (a mini 'Khao-San' Road), avoiding any food that may make us more sick, not having as many beers as we would have liked, having $1 foot massages and shopping the many markets picking up souvenirs.

We've only visited two places in Cambodia but despite this, I feel like we have seen so many sides to it - the desperation, poverty, spiritual side, anger at the past but most importantly hope for the future J