Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia, Located on the banks of the Mekong River. We arrive in the early hours of the morning. We get straight off the bus and on to a tuk-tuk to find a cheap guest house. We sleep until midday and head out to see what the city has to offer. The city is chaotic, distressing, hot, and not to mention the putrid stenches around every corner. But once you get past all of these you will notice the Cambodians undefeated spirits. There is so much litter and impoverished families on most streets and alley ways as we make our way to the market in the centre. The market is so cheap, having all kinds; from clothes, cobblers, to dried fish and food stalls. We stop in the market to get some noodle soup, to my disbelief it contains two large cubes of congealed pig's blood along with meat and herbs, the soup was delicious but I must admit I skipped the blood after trying a small amount!

From the market we had a look around the Sorya mall, which was huge! And it had access to the roof with a magnificent panoramic view of the city.

Phnom Penh really has been to hell and back over the recent years, after it was evacuated under the Khmer Rouge's evil Regime, which is quite scary to think about when it was only 36years ago (some of you oldies may remember this!).

We make our way down different streets avoiding the hectic traffic. We grind to a halt as the street is suddenly filled with spectators and passers-by, drawn in to watch the magnificent traditional Dragon dance of China, this being the tradition for the Chinese New Year. Their amazing colourful costumes and true skill being put on show by the acrobats in huge costumes, balancing and lifting one another atop 3 metre high poles. With the spectacle now finished we head back for some food and get an early night.

Our trip to Toul Sleng, the S21 museum, was never going to be easy. This was once a centre of learning. The high school was taken over by Pol Pot's (meaning political potential) security forces in 1975 who transformed the class rooms into torture chambers. At the height of activity over 100 prisoners were killed each day, this went on for the next 4 years until the Vietnamese army liberated the country.

The Museum is a stark reminder but also very educational to the Cambodian people, as well as being informative to us tourists about the genocide. The photos of every prisoner killed in the museum staring back at you made us feel quite uneasy. The museums mission- To not let the people of the world forget what this little country went through, and in such horrific circumstances, in order to prevent it from happening again.

Jade and I leave with our moods unusually low, and this not helped by walking past a few of the last surviving prisoners, who had managed to get through this torrid time by using their skills such as painting or photography to stay alive. But seeing the effect on their burnt faces and lost limbs really made it hit home.

Absolutely starving we now head to get some food and to lift our spirits up a bit after the museum trip. And plan our Vietnam adventure.

Leaving the city of Phnom Penh, we explored as much as possible in the last remaining hours. But despite the beautiful riverside promenade, scattered garden piazzas, the highly decorative grand palace and the smiling faces of the Cambodians, we are still not left with a positive feeling of this city, we spend our last day relaxing. The evening is spent having a few beers whilst I was letting Jade beat me at cards, waiting for the midnight bus to take us to Vietnam ….Next stop Ho Chi Minh City.