So....its been quite a busy few days!

After 4 days in Siem Reap it was time to move on to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. We were picked up by a minibus from our hostel that promised a "fast and comfortable" journey to the capital. As we squeezed into our impossibly small seats and set off we realised they had lied about the comfortable bit but would remain committed to thier pledge of a fast journey. We all wondered if there were any Cambodian traffic laws and we dodged and weaved past motorbikes, trucks, oncoming traffic, cattle and small children. With traffic lanes a unnecessary distraction from the pothole filled roads, our driver would use his horn to warn motorcylists of our rapid approach, and given there are approximately 8 million bikes on the road, we eventually arrived in Phonom Penh with our heads ringing with the dulcet tones of a Ford Transit horn.

On arrival we were greeted by the owner, Martin, who despite his smile that resembled a row of bombed houses, was incredibly helpful in advising us the best things to do around Phnom Penh. Perhaps summing up the city quite well, the two top tourist attractions were both related to genocide. We went on a day trip that visited the S21 prison, where during the time of Pol Pot became a site of detention, torture and murder. The prison, that was converted from a school, provided a somewhat eerie and eyeopening experience. Following the prision we went to the Killing fields about 15km oustide Phnom Phen. A large pagoda sat in the middle of hundreds of mass graves and contained the bones of some of the thousands of victims of the Pol Pot regime. Whilst not the most joyful of days, it was nonetheless a fascinating insight into a period of history that none of us were familiar with. Despite exploring some of the rest of the city by foot we were glad to leave the following day as we found Phnom Penh to be a bustling but dreary place.

Unfortunately, after a night out in Phnom Phen on our last night, James lost his iPhone. Having previously booked to leave that morning, James decided to stay in Phnom Penh for an extra day to try and locate his phone. Having already delayed our scheduled early morning departure, Dave and Ant decided to take the the speedboat and bus route to Ho Chi Minh City. Despite taking twice as long as a direct bus, it was a thoughouly enjoyable journey through the rice and paddy fields of the Mekong Delta where we were able to see some of the 'real' rural Cambodia and Vietnam. Having docked temporarily to cross the border, all of 30 people clambered ashore and we were greeted by the smallest and most pleasant international border control centre we have been to. We completed our river travel in Chau Doc where we were shepherded into a bus set to take us to Ho Chi Minh. After just 5 minutes on the bus it became clear that there were actually some rules of the road in Vietnam and that safety was higher on the agenda than anywhere else in Asia so far. To counteract this however, our driver took the liberty of performing some Schumacher-esque manoeuvres in order to help us aclimatise to these calmer driving conditions. Our driver decided that stopping the bus in a smooth and efficient manner was cowardly, instead deciding that stamping on the brake pedal was a much better idea. To his credit, we remained healthy for the most part and he did deliver us to Ho Chi Minh without serious bodily harm.

Ant and Dave spent the night in Saigon Mini Hotel 5, a uninspiring name for a classy establishment. The following morning we went to the Cu Chi tunnels 2 hours northwest of Ho Chi Minh. Cu Chi consisted of a network of underground tunnels stretching 250 km, used by 16,000 communist guerilla fighters at the height of the Vietnam War in an attempt to defend themselves against the Allied forces and to launch ambush attacks. En route, we had to use all our willpower to avoid purchasing a very tasteful lifesize china tiger, complete with dashing whiskers, after stopping at a handicraft shop run by some handicapped people, veterans of the Vietnam war. Whilst we sympathise with their physical disabilities, there is no excuse for producing such hideous and ungainly products. Once we arrived, we were shown some of the traps set by the Vietnamese, used to injure, dismember and brutally kill US soldiers. We were also allowed to crawl through a 100 metre stretch of tunnel that had been doubled in size in order for us to even fit through. Despite this we were bent over double and were struggling to get through, so in hindsight it was probably better that James wasn't there to get stuck. During a short break in the tour, we were encouraged to buy some bullets that we could use to fire a gun of our choice. In a weak moment, we parted with our cash and chose to fire the 'local favourite' gun, the AK47. We both felt slightly disappointed with the experience as it wasn't as adrenaline filled as we had hoped.

Later that afternoon, we met up with James at the hostel and explored the city and sampled the nightlife. Dave was shocked that Ant and James had not heard the classic Paul Hardcastle track of the 1980s, 19, brought back to memory by the former name of Ho Chi Minh. Ant and James we equally appalled that during an intense battle of the celebrity name game, Dave decided that the most famous person beginning with the letter A was not Andy Murray, Alan Shearer or Anthony Hopkins but the little known (but underrated) Colchester midfielder Anthony Wordsworth. James and Ant had unsurprisingly never heard of this 'footballer', so Dave lost.

The next day we took an overnight bus to Nha Trang, the most popular beach resort in Vietnam. After the 11 hour bus ride with little sleep we spent the day relaxing at the hostel and beach, and in traditional British fashion, we decided to try and toast our skin as much as possible, in order to ensure we were in pain for the next few days. The patchy redness may look hilarious but we can assure any onlookers that the pain is intense. We have no doubt that this redness will turn to golden brown silky skin...hopefully.

Wow. Hope that quenches your thirst for blogging for a few days. We are off to lie down in a pool of aftersun but will keep you posted as we move north along the coast to Hoi An tomorrow.

Ant, Dave and James