Once we arrived in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh we checked in and collapsed. We booked a tour for the next day and a bus to get us to Sihanouk Ville our next destination. We relaxed had some dinner and decided to have an early night before I Skyped home. We were so tired and knew we had an early start. We shared a dorm with a few different nationalities one of which was English from Springfield in Milton Keynes she had told us about her travels and advised us where and what to see in the north.

We awoke, checked out and headed for the tuc tuc to take us on our tour of the killing fields and the S21 museum. The traffic was pretty hectic and so dusty lucky we had face masks and glasses, we finally got to the fields after 40 minutes. It was draw dropping, we grabbed our cassettes and walked around at our own pace listening to the horrors that happened just 40 years ago. The place is quite and moving to say the least. You witness the mass graves that still have bones, teeth and skulls resurface due to the rain of the monsoon. A building stands in the middle that holds a significant amount of skulls, bones and teeth already found. Around the site are bracelets scattered to mark the amount of people that lost their life here. We were played the music that was played at full volume to mask the screams of those tortured and killed, it was disturbing!!! A tree stands at the back of the field known as the killing tree, where they would hold children by their legs and smash their heads against the tree. I was happy to leave the site and appalled that no one else knew what was going on due to the borders being shut. Pol pots wicked ways have scarred the nation with a quarter being lost during the regime and a generation wiped, you don't see many older Cambodians!! After the tour we made our way to the S21 museum where it was as equally horrifying. The old school that was turned into a prison is claimed to be haunted and sent goosebumps all over my body whilst walking round. The walls are covered in pictures of thousands and thousands of victims captured, tortured and killed. Only 7 survived to tell the tale.

After this sad morning/afternoon we came back to the hostel had a cold drink something to eat and boarded our bus to Sihanouk Ville. This bus took around 8 hours, we got talking to another English man travelling alone and once we got off the bus rode a tuc tuc together, he insisted on paying which was lovely of him and meant ed and I could have a good meal that night. We checked in at ocean walk inn and took a stroll to the beach less than 200 metres away to find somewhere to eat. We were told to eat fish here at the coast so I tucked into a squid curry which was gorgeous and ed a Thai curry we were stuffed and headed back for an early night.

We knew we only had the day in the town so awoke really early and went and boarded a boat to visit the multiple islands around the Cambodian Coast. Koh Preus, Koh Russey and Koh Kteah. It was glorious sunshine and we jumped off the boat, snorkelled, fished, swam and explored each island. Koh Russey otherwise known as Bamboo island was beautiful and for some reason abandoned we had a spectacular lunch of grilled barracuda, rice and salad, yum!! We then trekked to the other side of the island through the jungle where we were on paradise beach. The sand was white and the sea was so clear it was amazing. We swam out and took so many pictures the scenery was just like a holiday brochure it was truly paradise. After the boat trip we had dinner and got talking to an English guy he had had his phone stolen whilst he was asleep by his head under a mosquito net!! We hear it everywhere we go and it just reminds you how careful you have to be and to remember to not trust everyone.

We had booked a hotel bus to Siem Reap where we were guaranteed more rest, wifi, tv and a toilet. This 12 hour bus lied. We were comfy but we had none of the luxuries we had paid out for. We made friends with two Cambodians and they gave us food to eat like dried fruit etc which was lovely of them. The bus had no toilet and had no scheduled toilet break and I had to stop the bus twice to get out in the pitch black it was scary. Once we arrived we got a tuc tuc to the new hostel and had something to eat before hopping back in a tuc tuc to visit our next wonder of the world- Angkor Wat. It stood in what can only be described as a national park which we had to be photographed to enter. The surrounding area was covered in ruins, temples, pagodas and now due to tourism shacks for food and souvenirs.

It took us an hour and a half to cover Angkor Wat, we paid a guide to tell us the ins and outs. We had to purchase long sleeved tops to 'enter heaven' at the end. It was a tiring day with a lot of steps and walking. After we visited a smaller temple the Bayon which is more ruined and more or less a pile of stone. There was a Buddha we prayed to which a lady gave us incense sticks to give luck and good fortune to my family. The site is under heaven reconstruction to restore these buildings. Finally we walked past a pagoda had some lunch veggie noodles and corn and headed to where tomb raider was filmed. It was so freaky and amongst the trees so vines and trees had grown in and around the temple. After we headed back checked in and rested before venturing out for a wander. We looked around the night market and had our feet nibbled by fish which was so weird and then found a restaurant that served 'happy herb' pizza. We decided against the idea as it is the death penalty out here and headed to a street BBQ where we had squid and massive tiger prawns with veggie noodles, I ate a chilli by mistake and really hurt my mouth. I now needed drink and lots of it so we headed to the famous pub street where we went in a cool bar for drinks. We were given pens and signed the table whilst watching a breakout of rain that started to come down and flood the streets. It was for nominal and it wasn't stopping any time soon!! So we had to run home in the down pour it was so fun we were drenched. The run took nearly 10 minutes, so refreshing after a very humid day.

The next day we awoke and embarked on our day of travelling back to Bangkok. It was awful and the bus was filled with rude Germans haha. It was still raining very heavy and we had to walk in it quite far to cross the boarder as buses are not allowed through this particular boarder. We got talking to an oz that had sold his home to be a backpacker for the rest of his life. We thought we were arriving at 3pm later we found out it was going to be nearer 6pm!!

Once we arrived we checked into a hostel then freshened up and grabbed dinner on khoa San road Bangkok. After we got in a taxi to the famous Sky bar where the hangover was filmed to grab a drink ed a hangovertini and me a sunshine yummy which were free as they forgot to charge us which saved us £25 we were chuffed. The place was incredibly posh we really didn't fit in haha and the views were INCREDIBLE of the whole of Bangkok. We then made our way back to the hostel for an early night we are tired and are heading to the island of Koh Phangan tomorrow. Hopefully the weather is better down south.

Changes : We have a tan (yey), were covered in bites (boo), Ed's beard/hair continues to grow, Ed now drinks tea, I now drink and love coffee, Ed is reading a hard back book, I've gained weight, Ed has lost and I am still a vegetarian!! What is travelling doing to us?! Haha