Our next stop in Cambodia was Battambang, on our first morning there the tuk tuk driver who took us to the hotel from the bus station the night before turned up whilst we were having breakfast. He wanted to know if we needed a driver for the day, we'd decided to hire a moped so we told him no but he looked so disappointed that we both felt really guilty so in the end phoned him to come back (after months of travelling we're both still soft touches at times!)

It turned out to be a good decision as the tour was great and along the way he shared a lot of stories that were personal to him and his family during the Khmer Rouge reign.

The first stop was the bamboo train, it was literally some bamboo poles stuck together (big enough to just about seat 4 but there was only us on it) with an engine attached to the back, you just sat on cushions and there was a driver at the back. We sat on it expecting a leisurely ride and then all of a sudden we were flying down a tiny little track at about 40km an hour, I'd taken my flip flops off and they went flying off the train so we had to stop to find them, I was convinced we were going to crash or fall off as it was so fast and bumpy!

We survived and at the end of the track is a village where you stop for 10 minutes. As soon as we pulled up we were ambushed by about 10 children selling bracelets who would not leave us alone, a couple of them asked us to pinky promise that if we did buy it would be from them. Of course we bought one each, it was hard not to so you think that they would then leave us alone wouldn't you? Oh no, apparently Casson had been spotted by a girl first and he pinky promised the wrong person. For the whole time we were there this girl who was about 10 (much older than the others) followed us round sulking saying "I saw you first, you didn't buy from me" Casson said sorry and that he hadn't seen her to which she replied "sorry isn't buying is it?"

Whilst the bamboo train is now used for tourists it was originally introduced as a means of travel when the roads and railways were destroyed.

We went to a temple with LOADS of steps to get to it and it was boiling but the views were lovely at the top and then we headed to another temple with even nicer views stopping off along the way to see giant fruit bats hanging in the trees.

At the end of the day we went to see the bat cave, as the sun goes down you can see bats begin to swirl round at the entrance and then all of a sudden they all fly out and head over to the river to feed. When I say they all fly out, it takes about an hour and there are over a million of them, it looks amazing and happens every night

Our tuk tuk driver was an open book, he told us all about entering Thailand illegally to work and how he had survived off rice and an egg for most meals so he could save money and send money home to his family and that when he was caught the 2nd time he was there and put in prison. When we asked him what it was like we were not expecting his response which was "the food was good and I got to eat 3 times a day".

He explained how he had learnt English, he was working in a hotel cleaning the rooms. He would learn a phrase like how to ask " have you had a good day" but he wouldn't understand the reply he got so he would remember what they had said and would run downstairs to ask his friend on reception. It puts our lack of language skills to shame!

Finally he explained how his mum and dad and grandparents had all been separated and that once the Khmer rouge had been overthrown his dad walked for 10 days to find his parents only eating food he could find along the way and sometimes that was only grass. Unfortunately when he reached the village where they were supposed to be he was told that they had died 2 years earlier.

Stories like this really hit home how much the people of Cambodia have suffered, it's truly unbelievable and yet they are resilient and carry on with their lives albeit in a country which is riddled with corruption and people are very poor whilst the rich keep getting richer!

On our third day we went for a bike ride into town. Sounds harmless enough but neither of our bikes had breaks that worked properly and there are zero traffic rules! To say it was an experience would be an understatement! I also think that riding back in the dark with only a head torch for light was probably not our wisest move.

Next stop Siem Reap ......