we got to phnom penh after a five hour journey by boat up the mekong river and more time than expected at the border. when we got there we decided to go and stay at a place reccommended to us at phu quoc. we have to say we were dissapointed with the place. it wasnt very nice, the aircon didnt work in most room (we were moved 4 times on arrival) and it had a strangely sticky fridge...and it was a bit overpriced. also that night after eating and a couple of drinks we found that it was really dark and nasty down the street to get to it. the next day we moved. we ended up in the upstairs of a bar run by a nice english guy and it was very cheap. also they had the vital bacon and egg butty with hp sauce for sale so we couldnt really miss out.

The next day we went to the killing fields in the morning (a great way to start the day i know). this was where pol pot and his gang used to bring people to be killed from the s-21 prison. it wasn't very nice really as there was a huge tower filled with the skulls of the people killed here which really showed the numbers killed. also around were loads of mass graves and trees where children were beaten with clubs. in the afternoon we went to the S-21 prison. here is where the khmer rouge interrogated people who they thought were trying to oppose their rule. they would do this through torture such as pulling out finger nails while pouring alcohol on them...it made for some nasty pictures.

the following day we decided to do something a bit more cheery so we went shopping. first we went to the russian market that sold just about everything. there were new films and albums for a dollar and also clothes and jewlery. after this we went to the big shopping mall in the town centre.....it sold the best ice cream in the world!! no joke and it was only 90 cents per scoop!! heaven in the hot sticky weather of cambodia. we spent the rest of the day exploring the eight levels. at the top it was open with a skating rink and a good view over phnom penh.

the next day we went to the royal palace (the thing in the picture) after being told it was 2 dollars to get in we arrived to find that it was now $6.15!! however we had nothing better to do and we had walked all the way there so we paid it. inside i dont think it was worth what we spent to get in but it was alright. there was a big pagoda with a floor made of silver and lots of buddas with all sorts of jewels on them.the throne hall was hug and had all sorts of paintilgs accross the ceiling and walls and overall looked really cool.

:D:D