Hey guys and girls, Kerry and Darren here with another update from the beautiful country of Cambodia! We've seen some more incredible things since we last updated you and also some pretty harrowing and upsetting things involving Cambodia's all too recent period of brutal genocidal dictatorship.

Tuesday 18th September

Eron picked us up from the hotel at 8:30am and took us to Banteay Srei, which is considered by many to be the 'Jewel in the Crown of Ankorian Art', which is situated about 30kms away from Siem Reap. We were treated to a long tuk tuk ride through the stunning flat plain and rice fields of Cambodia's countryside. Along the way we saw many families selling their simple wares, such as petrol in coca cola bottles, outside their wooden bungalows-on-stilts. Watching the families communicating with each-other is always a delight here as everyone treats family as an important part of their social and working life. When we arrived at Bantaey Srei we were pretty much "Templed-Out" and weren't expecting to see anything that could rival the previous temples we had seen over the last two days, however when we arrived at our destination we were met by an impressive, small pinkish stone temple with the most intricate carving works either of us have ever seen. It is hard to imagine that this Temple was built in 967A.D as the carvings appear to have been mystically untouched by the brutal forces that Mother Nature can inflict upon these beautiful religious structures. Walking around we spent a long while taking in the various scenes as depicted on the Temple walls, of various Gods and Kings of the past. After leaving Bantaey Srei we stopped at the fairly impressive Preah Neak Pean and Banteay Samre' before taking one last visit to the Mother of all the Temples (in our humble opinion) Ta Prohm. The temple that seems to have been swallowed by the jungle looked just as amazing as it did on the first day of our Temple tour. We spent a lot longer this time walking around and through the huge tree trunks, which were forcing the Temple Walls apart slowly moulding it into a captivating scene of ancient tales long-told and harmonious lives. I think that it is safe to say that we have both been absolutely inspired in the past few days. After heading back to the hotel for a quick respite we grabbed some dinner on Bar Street at 'The Temple Bar', as it was aptly named, and finished the day off by indulging in an incredible Thai reflexology foot massage (Darren opted for the Thai full body massage). All that walking around is a reason in itself for a foot massage and I felt like I could skip out of the salon a mere 60 minutes later.

Wednesday 19th September

We were picked up from the Bequest Hotel at 6am and were taken to the river where we boarded our boat destined for Battambang, the second largest city in Cambodia. The boat trip was gorgeous and took us past the famous Floating Village of Chong Kneas, which is basically a whole community built upon the River Mekong. As the tides increase and decrease the families move their homes along the river so that they can still access the River by their boats and can still fish depending on the level of the water. Apparently they dislike the large passenger boats passing by their homes as they send waves towards their wooden huts, which don't look as though they are that stable. The journey took around 7 hours and gave us plenty of time to abuse Darren's camera and take some nice natural photos of Cambodia at its best. I really like the atmosphere here and feel excited every day to be here. As we were arriving in Battambamg the heavens opened and we got absolutely drenched pulling our bags off the boat. Darren realised that he'd accidentally left our bag with some souvenirs back at Siem Reap, whoops, so with the rain and thunder and lightening Darren's mood turned a subtle shade of grey. We had to get on a motorbike each to get to the hotel, which was an experience in itself as we had to hold on for dear life as the motorbike driver drove through the huge puddles, without any helmets, or shoes, and our backpacks still on our backs, round these little roads until finally we reached our destination. Wet to the bone and shaking from the scary journey we happily checked into the luxury of a fan double room with cable- for just $5 a night!! We spent the night walking around Battambang and catching some dinner at the White Rose Restaurant that sold Walls ice cream! Simple home luxuries are always the best!!!

Thursday 20th September

We walked around Battambang today, which is tiny really., We were expecting at least some big building but the only large buildings appear to be from the French era and line the River from in a slightly dilapidated state. There is a lot of begging here and we've been happy to share our food with the local children. You are advised not to give them money though as there is a huge glue sniffing epidemic here, which we witnessed unfortunately on a few occasions. We took in the sights of the river and market before the dark clouds threatened and we retreated back to the dry of our hotel before the downfall started. We booked tickets for a bus to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, for tomorrow. We spent most of the evening reading our books but finally ducked out for dinner at The Cooking Pot. We also had another ice-cream at a fast food parlour where the staff took a few photos of me as they consider white people with blue eyes to be pretty. Bless them. I felt like a movie star... well, almost!

Friday 21st September

It was an early start today and we checked out of The Chhaya Hotel in time for our lift to the bus station. Our bus to Phnom Penh was 30 minutes late, which gave us time to grab some water for the 4 hour journey. When the bus arrived we all climbed aboard and I had to laugh when I realised that my seat wouldn't stay up, so every time I rested my back upon my seat I would practically end up in the poor girl behind me's lap! Needless to say this quickly became something less quirky and more irritating and I was thankfully saved by her partner who manage to somehow strap my seat up to the seat next to me with his bag. This was a much needed improvement as the journey actually turned out to be more than 6 hours long. The journey itself was nice and the scenery was spectacular and it was a real experience as there were only 4 'Westerners' aboard, so we were 'treated' to a very loud DVD of Cambodian singing and stand up comedy! It was, erm, different! When we arrived at Phnom Penh, which is huge in comparison to Battambang, we paired up with Julian and Michelle, the couple who were sitting behind us on the bus and we shared a tuk-tuk to the Spring Guest Hotel. Julian and Michelle are a lovely couple from Canada and we all spent the night having dinner together and taking over a beer.

Saturday 22nd September

We met up with Michelle and Julian today and we all heading to the S-21 Museum, also known as Tuol Sleng, a converted school, which in the 1970's stood as an imprisonment and torture centre for the Khmer Rouge regime. Until I reached Cambodia I had not really heard of the Khmer Rouge, and although I knew that Cambodia had had a corrupt and sad past I never knew the extent of violence and unneccesary killing until I reached the museum. The Khmer Rouge, funded primarily by China, was a Communist group who believed that all people with a qualification or trade should be killed. Their goal was to turn the society of the country into a Maoist, agrarian cooperative. Within days of coming to power the entire population of Phnom Penh including the old and infirm were forced out into the fields to undertake slave labour and any sort of disobedience brought immediate execution. It is believed that during the three years, eight months and 21 days of their rule nearly 3 million Cambodians died. Between the years of 1975 and 1978 there were over 10,499 adults and a reported 2,000 children were detained at S-21. The prisoners were kept in their respective tiny cells and were shackled with chains fixed to the walls or the concrete floors. Prisoners held in the large mass cells had one or both of their legs shackled to short or long pieces of iron bar. The prisoners were stripped and photographed and were made to keep to strict rules, including no noise was to be made, whatsoever, and the prisoners were unable to move unless they had permission first. This included changing their position whilst sleeping. The inmates were subjected to a horrific amount of rape, electrocution, beatings, hangings and other unmentionable abuse. Their families were tracked down and were all destroyed also. In fact out of all of those held at this prison only 14 survived. We watched an extremely sad documentary at the prison and saw the photos of girls, boys, women and men, from one to 100 years in age, all just another figure in the injustice that was the killing of the Cambodians. Over 2 Million people died within the years of the Khmer Rouge Movement and some suggest that actually 3 Million could have been slain. Tuol Sleng, the S-21 Museum of genocide was established in 1980, after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. It is not a place for the weak at heart but is important to see if you want to try to understand why Cambodians are still today trying to raise themselves out of corruption and poverty. It is also understandable why they class their families as so integral and so loved. After a disturbing morning at the museum we all headed to the riverfront and cheered ourselves up by enjoying the scenery over dinner and a beer.

Sunday 23rd September

Again we met with our new friends Michelle and Julian and we enjoyed a breakfast at Mama's Restaurant. The owner spoke to us about the S-21 Museum and told us that he had lost his father and grandparents during the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror. It effected every family here, even the Kings! The most infuriating part is that Pol Pot died under house arrest in 1998 and all the other top officials of the regime seem to be escaping from being held accountable for their crimes. We decided to lighten the mood today and wisely spent it shopping. Firstly we headed to the Russian Market (Psar Tuol Tom Pong), where Darren and I bought season 1-5 of Smallville and I treated myself to every season of "Sex in the City", much to Darren's disgust! The DVD's here are extremely cheap and it would be easy to spend a fortune, if we weren't so close to the $0 sign in our bank accounts. Julian and Michelle bought a load of goodies too and I am sure that we would have purchased more if the alleyways throughout the market were more spaced out. As it was the clothes, cloth, jewellery and art work were so closely stuck together that it was hard to manoeuvre properly around the market without wanting to find a way out! After a few hours we had seen enough of the bargains and wanted to head to a more relaxed market, so we chose the locals market 'Psar O Russel', which caters for the local community. We bought a small hand luggage case for $16 and now have somewhere to store all of the heavy books that we seem to be collecting throughout our travels. In the evening we went to a scruffy alfresco diner and had dinner whilst watching the crowds line the streets in the crazy, dusty and fantastic city of Phnom Penh. It seems to be a city that is rebuilding itself from the horrors of the past.

Monday 24th September

Today saw us getting up considerably early so that we could catch a tuk tuk 15kms to 'The Killing Fields' of Choeng Ek. It was at this sight that the people detained in the S-21 Museum were transported to for their execution. 20,000 people were killed at this sight alone and they have so far only recovered 9,000 of the bodies. As you enter the sight you are shown to a huge monument which encases the skulls of the victims, all sorted into age groups. It is hard to picture that each skull belonged to and represents somebodies loved one. The skulls seemed endless and looked more like a piece of art than the horrific reminder that Cambodia suffered so badly at the hands of Poi-Pet, the Khmer Rouge regime. As we walked around a path we went past many ditches, all of which had been used for mass graves. On the muddy paths on which you walked you could see teeth jutting from the ground, along with limb bones and clothes, taken from the bodies usually before the execution was carried out. This was another horrific reminder that evil still exists and how we should thank our lucky stars that we were born into a country where you can be free to learn, free to love and free to speak out against the people we put in charge of caring for the welfare of ourselves and our country. Our tuk-Tuck driver took us to the riverfront afterwards so that we could take some pictures before meeting Michelle and Julian at the National Museum.We paid the $5 for a personal guide. as well as the $3 each for the admission into the museum, which was a bargain. The Museum itself is a stunning building with statues around its perimeter. The roof is full of the usual elaborate embellishments that you see on Cambodia's religious buildings. Inside the museum we saw a huge collection of Cambodian statues, ranging in age from the 6th Century B.C to the 19th Century. The guide showed us the different art styles shown for each century and the relevance that each style held for the present King. For instance if the reigning King was a nice gentleman, the Buddhas would all be shown with soft shoulders and a slight smile and if the King was a stern man the statues would be more dominating and strong looking. We also saw a huge array of weapons, silks and jewellery. We were suppose to also see the Silver Pagoda, in the grounds of the Grand Palace, but at $6 each, plus $2 for a camera to be used we felt that it was too much money, so didn't go in. The monetary equivalent would be two nights accommodation and to be honest we've seen a lot of Temples and Palaces now and will be seeing the one in Bangkok in November. In the early evening we all watched the world go by at the River and made friends with the cutest girl in the world called Geo Mey, who is a 12 year old Cambodian girl who sells books along the seafront every night until 10pm. We saw her a few days ago and she remembered Darren instantly, so we spent over two hours talking and playing with her and watching her friends splash about in the river, where all Cambodians seem to bathe and wash their clothes (and dump their litter in). Over dinner we saw Geo Mey again and bought a book from her: a story about the S-21 Prison, as told by one of the only survivors. I shall read it when I'm feeling strong enough . Michelle, Julian, Darren and I spent our last night together chilling over ice-cream and beer and like our other travelling friends I hope that Julian and Michelle shall now be friends for life and will visit us in England if ever they get a chance. Well, that's all for this week guys. I hope that I haven't prattled on too much. My overview on Cambodia is that this is a Nation who's people are loving and kind and I pray that one day this great nation shall be able to refrain from Communism, and shall be able to sustain itself successfully with the pride and belief of the warm hearted. We love it here. I would recommend a visit here to anyone. It is testing, heart rendering and invigorating. Cambodia captures your heart and makes you see all the things that are truly important in the world: family, love and hope. Today we travel off to the town of Kampot where there an abandoned hill station with views over the coast and is situated in a National Park that has Tigers in although apparently it's pretty rare to see them. We look forward to updating you all again soon! We hope that all of you are well. thank you for your continuous support and for your wonderful emails. We send you our love and look forward to seeing hearing from you in the near future.