Saigon - Cambodia (Pnohm Penh) 27.10.11-29.10.11

A 7 hour journey from Ho Chi Minh City to Pnohm Penh. Luckily we got seats as people were sat in the isles of the coach on plastic garden chairs. It Was highly amusing watching everyone handle the bumps.

Like normal, we were greeted by Lots of Tuk Tuk's when we arrived. We are a bit cautious of who we choose when we get off the bus after being conned in Vietnam. but there was something about Tuk Tuk driver Chumm that we fell in love with. We hopped on his Motorbike Tuk Tuk and off we went. Mid journey a see-through spider decided to crawl up Sarah's chest and I have never seen her move so fast. Infact if their wasn't Traffic coming from every direction she definitely would have jumped out. Chumm was giggling away and pulled over to get rid of it.
We stayed at the Kha Vi Guest House. A lovely little guesthouse with the friendliest staff. It was so refreshing to see smiles from the locals rather than hate towards us.
We went straight out to get something to eat and then bar hopped our way along the river. Sarah got on stage with the band and sang (alicia Keys - No One & Natalie Imbruglia - Torn. Amazing. Will someone please fill In an XFactor application form for Sarah? The girl has TALENT! We came back and sat on the balcony for a few hours with Boner (yes thats his real name) who works in the Guesthouse. It Was fascinating to find out his stories. And my heart broke a little when he told us he gets paid 60 USD a MONTH after working 7 days a week, 6am-5.30pm. It is cheap here but that is a completely unliveable amount.

After a few hours sleep we got up and had breakfast. We forgot we had said to chumm that we MIGHT use his Tuk Tuk for the day so was a little surprised to see him sat waiting for us. Even if we wanted to we couldn't have turned him down after he sat waiting all morning. Glad we found him though.

Killing fields. The saddest place we have probably ever witnessed. They provide you with headphones with a description of what happened when Pol Pot was in power. We were all feeling very emotional. It didn't help that all our bodies are in sync (ladies you'll understand) After this, Chum took us to the prison (ex-school) where innocent victims were tortured and killed which was just as upsetting as the killing Fields. I found myself breaking down in the Tuk Tuk whilst Chum was telling us his life story. It Makes me so sad to think someone who works soooo hard still struggles to survive financially. We are sooo LUCKY! On the way out of the prison their were two limb-less homeless people begging for money and actually chasing us down the street after given them money.
Cambodia so far for us has been emotionally draining but strangely one of our favourite parts of travelling so far. Even though the poverty is very upsetting the locals have been so friendly and it is such a beautiful country.

We are off to Siem Reap today where we are meeting up with Becky, Jo and Ricky again. We are really looking forward to meeting up with them again. Firstly though, THE KING IS IN TOWN. So going to check out the parade.