Arrived in Phnom Penh around 6:30 pm on 5th October.It is a very busy city and a totally different pace to Siem Reap where we had just come from!We got into our hotel which really wasn't very good - dirty towels, dirty sheets and broken air conditioning which is essential if you want any sleep!Laura went down and changed the towels for "less dirty" ones while I played with the A/C and finally managed to get it to spew out a small amount of "cooler" air to make things a bit more comfortable.

Jack took us to dinner at a restaurant down by the river which donates a chunk of its profits to the local orphanage.The food was fantastic and after paying our bill of $14 (2 meals and 4 drinks and a tip) we took a quick tour of the riverside area before going back to our hotel room for the night.

We had arranged a guided trip the next morning to go to Tuol Sleng just outside the city centre.Tuol Sleng was a former high school which was converted into a prison in 1975 when the Khymer Rouge seized power in Cambodia.It was basically used as a detention and torture centre prior to its captives (ordinary members of the public, usually educated or upper class) being sent to the killing fields for execution.We met one of only 2 living survivors who made it out of the prison when the Vietnamese overthrew the Pol Pot regime in 1979, (there were only 7 survivors when the Vietnamese liberated the prison).Very surreal and spooky experience waking through the old rooms which housed the mugshots and belongings of many of the people who passed through!

After the prison we went to the killing fields which is where the executed the prisoners after transporting them from the prison.Laura, having been to the concentration camps in Europe, said it was a similar experience and atmosphere on a smaller scale!Scary to think that all this happened just a few years before we were both born!We headed back into the city after the trip and grabbed lunch near the river after sending home a couple of postcards to family. We then had an hour to kill before meeting the group for drinks so we went for massages.I got head and shoulders done and Laura got a full body massage - $7 each for an hour!!

That evening we headed off to another locals house which actually turned out to be our tour guide from the prison and killing fields.We had a gorgeous meal with him and his family……..up until dessert!!We were presented with Pineapple and Watermelon and fried Tarantula, apparently a rare delicacy in Cambodia.Neither of us were brave enough to try them but a few of the group did before Jack, our guide came in a polished of 2 full ones - finger licking good apparently!!

Off to Sihanoukville tomorrow which is Cambodia's beach resort so it will be nice to get out of the heat of the city and down to the beach and into the water.Will continue to get photos up as and when we can.

Craig and Laura =)