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Phnom Penh is the capital city of Cambodia. It's hard to believe that not too long ago the same streets we rode around on Cyclo's today were the same streets that were completely deserted, leaving the city to be a ghost town. We spent the morning at the Tuol Sleng Genocide museum the former security office 21 which was used for the interrogation, torture and killings of over 100 000 cambodians. In total around 3 million people were killed by the Khmer rouge over a span of 3 years 4 months and 20 days. Then we spent the afternoon at the killing fields where thousands and thousands of people were brought to be killed, there were 186 mass graves at this site. 86 have been excavated but still to this day Bones, teeth and clothing are brought to the surface from rain and erosion and are commonly found while walking around(all of which we saw today while exploring). It was quite the depressing morning, but our guide was really good and if anyone is more interested in the genocide you can find more info online...or ask us when we get back.
To lighten up the mood we stopped at the Russian market on the way back to the hotel to test out our bartering skills, we had dresses, shirts and purses on our to buy list. When we drove into the city we passed through the area of town where the factories are... This area is mostly women and girls who have moved to the city to work in the clothing factories, they live and work here because they don't make enough money to live in the city and most of the money they make is being sent back to their families. I think if more people made that drive and saw how these people were living they would think twice before buying that shirt with the made in Cambodia label on it..... But then again the locals would say the industry is good for the economy here..... I see both sides I guess it's just hard when you see the conditions and hear how much they make and how long they work.... Anyway back to the Russian market all the stuff sold here are products that were not up to code to sell to the western world so the locals buy it discounted and sell it to traveling westerners and locals. Karli is quite the bargainer she got a silk wallet for1$ the original price was 6$ then she got us a Tuk Tuk back to the hotel for half price! In the evening we took a cyclo tour around the city and had dinner at a cool roof top restaurant with some good music and some good pizza!
Tomorrow we head south to Sihanoukville to spend some time relaxing on the beach :) Hope everyone is staying warm back home!
Miss you all xoxo
C & K
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