Our mission to our next country was a long and tiresome journey that entailed a 9am boat ride, a bus ride to the border which ran out of petrol en-route, haggling at the border with the officers who were taking money from us for every conceivable thing - for getting our temperature read, for our visas and for exit and entry tax, then onto another fully loaded bus (to the extent that some of the passengers had to stand in the aisle) in a direction completely opposite to Siem Reap, our destination city, another bus change at 8pm and at last a midnight arrival at our guesthouse. All in all, nearly 16 hours travelling so needless to say we fell into bed the moment we were shown to our room.

We took our first day in the city to walk around and get our bearings. The city itself is quite cosmopolitan - well in comparison to any of the cities we had been in in Laos. The city centre was packed with all sorts of restaurants and bars as well as markets and tour agencies. We found ourselves a great company who offered us a fantastic deal on a guided tour of Angkor Wat which had planned for the next day. We landed at a great little place for lunch on 'Pub Street' where we were totally shocked at the amazing value - we paid $3 each for a pile of curry, steamed rice, a cold drink and orange juice... a bargain!!

Neither Jeff or I had any knowledge of the Cambodian history - we had obviously heard of the infamous Pol Pot - but to see the huge number of amputees on the streets of the city puts a new perspective on things. The country is haunted by its recent barbaric history...right after the Vietnam war, during which the country was so heavily bombed by the Americans, the Khmer Rouge, lead by Pol Pot overran the Long Nol government and began a mass genocide of its people. The aim was to create a country rid of any outside influence and whose population would return to grass roots and become farmers. Anyone who was seen to be educated (which included people who simply wore glasses), anyone who was involved in any way with the previous government, anyone of non Cambodian roots or anyone seen to have a 'westernised' mentality were tortured and killed on mass. They estimate that nearly 1.5million people were massacred in the 4 years of the Khmer Rouge reign of terror. The remnants of this debarcle are clear to see today. Land mines still scatter the countryside, amputees beg or sell trinkets to get by and it is rare to see anyone older than 50 - the median age in Cambodia is 22!!!! The reason I go into detail about this brutal history is that is totally part of this country. To not know it, is to not have visited it. And despite this violent past, the people we met, even on our first day, show such openness, friendliness and optimism.

On the other hand, the country also has a very proud and beautiful ancient history which we witnessed at Angkor Archaeological Park. We were picked up from our guesthouse at 8:30 for our full day tour of the ancient temple complex. Our first stop was the incredible Angkor Wat Temple. Built in the 12th century, it is a marvel how the ancient Khmers were able to construct such an enormous and ornate temple without the aid of our current day cranes and bulldozers. Angkor Wat is visually, architecturally and artistically breathtaking. It is a massive 3-tiered pyramid crowned by 5 lotus-like towers rising 65meters from the ground level. The walls of the temple are covered inside and out with bas-reliefs and carvings depicting stories and characters from Hindu mythology. Our guide was most knowledgeable and it was a great bonus to have someone to explain the otherwise cryptic images. We spent the morning circling the three levels of the temple, taking in the intricate details and grand scale of the temple.

Our next stop was Ta Prohm, another 12th century temple whose beauty has been enhanced by the jungle overgrowth surrounding the temple buildings. Massive fig and silk-cotton trees grow from the towers and the corridors offering a jungle atmosphere and some of the best photo opportunities of the trip. Bayon, within the Angkor Thom complex was out last temple visit of the day. The giant stone faces engraved into the 27 towers of the temple have become some of the most recognizable images connected to classic Khmer art and architecture. Understandably so...the first glimpse of the temple was stunning and as we climbed up the levels of the complex and got up close to the carvings, it only got better.

Our tour for the day ended on a walk up to one of the highest points in the park on which the temple, Phnom Bakheng stood. After the three highlighted temples we had seen during the day, this one could not compare but the reason for the trek up there was really to watch the sunset. What we thought we would always remember as a the orange sun setting over the temple-scattered park, instead turned into a memory of watching the thousand other tourists on the hill taking pictures of the orange sun setting over the temple-scattered park. It looked like a camera lens competition - each person's was bigger than the next and they were EVERYWHERE! A bit on an anti-climax to an otherwise amazing day...but not to worry... sunrise at Angkor Wat the next morning will surely make up for it.

Or so we thought...the quintessential photo of the sun rising behind the grand Angkor Wat cost us a VERY early morning, a bicycle ride in the dark to get there and certainly no special moment If it was possible there were at least 3 times the number of people watching the sunrise than the afternoon before watching the sunset We got our picture and hopped back onto our hired bikes to try cover the many kilometres we wanted to get through to see all of the other smaller temples in the park. By then end of the day we had explored 5 lesser known temples in the complex - Pre Rup, East Mebon, Ta Som, Preah Khan and Baphuon, had a picnic lunch of fresh fruit, crackers and cheese in a secluded spot near one of the temples and ridden over 25km on our bikes. Another awesome day, topped off with a great meal on pub street and a mediocre ice cream at a bakery close by.

A 4 hour bus jounrey the next day took us to Battambang. We spent 2 days in the city, one of which we were taken on a tour of the surrounding area by a fantastic tuk tuk driver, sopheoup. We were taken to the bamboo train, a unique form of local transportation consisting of a small motorcycle engine-powered bamboo cart that rides the railroad and which can be disassembled and taken off the rails in a minute to allow any on-coming cart to pass. We took a hairy ride up the tracks and were greeted on the other end by the youngest tour guides of our trip - 3 young girls, the oldest of which was probably 7. They took us on a quick tour around the near-by brick factory - let's just say their enthusiasm made up for the dullness of the location. We also visited 2 temples on the outskirts of the city one of which was Phnom Sampeou, which is a mountain topped by Wat Sampeou and a group of caves used as 'killing caves' by the Khmer Rouge.We wondered around the complex for a few hours and headed down in time to witness the 'coming of the bats' - a cave opening close to the mountain through which millions of bats exit every day at sunset. Thousands of bats fly out every second for nearly 2 hours and form a moving cloud that looks like a dragon flying through the sky. Quite an amazing thing to behold - and for a change, the sight was all to ourselves - not another tourist in sight! The day was however truly made by our guide and his stories - He was born in Thai refugee camp after his parents fled to escape the Khmer Rouge. He lived in the camp for his first 11 years and when he eventually returned to Cambodia he got his first glimpse of palm trees and cars - mundane things he had never laid his eyes upon within the walls of the camp; He went on to become a monk for 15years where he learnt English and only recently left the monastry to get married and now has a 4 month old baby! Quite a life!

From Batambang we headed to Sihounikville - a coastal city where we had organised to do some volunteering for about 10 days. We spent our first night in the centre of the city after another seriously long-winded bus journey to get there but we had decided to spend the rest of our time in the city closer to the beaches and so rented out bicycles for the first day and spent it driving all around the city looking for cheap, suitable accommodation close to the sea. After many hours of riding in the beating heat, we found our home for the next 2 weeks - Hooha Guest housee - run by a friendly English guy named Dani and his 2 month old Rotweiler named Hero. The guesthouse was kitted out with a great communal bar/lounge area in the garden with a huge projector screen and over 500movies to choose from It was a 5 minute walk from the closest beach, a 20minute bike ride from our school in the centre, a 15minute bike ride to our favourite beach - Otres Beach - and close to a huge selection of restaurants and bars. PERFECT!

We met up with Jonah, the director of the school - The Samaritan's Love Mission - that afternoon to discuss what and who we would be teaching for the next few days. We were told that the school runs 2 classes a day (5:30-6:30 and 6:30-7:30) and is attended by about 150pupils as an extracurricular to advance their English. To our surprise, we were thrown right into the deep end and had to teach our first classes right then and there. I was given a class of the youngest kids between the ages of 6-7 who were just starting to learn English. Jeff was given the most advanced class to teach and had to follow a set work from a textbook that dealt with some difficult grammar and vocabulary. We were both pretty nervous at the outset but by the 3rd day we had become more confident and comfortable at the front of the classroom.

A few days into arriving in Sihounikville, we met up again with our Laos buddies, Jay and Jeanette from Holland but the reunion was dampened with the news that they had decided to split up. Jay moved on pretty quickly to Siem Reap and Jeanette moved into our hostel and we spent the next week with her while she planned her next step. She introduced us to an English couple she had met when she was in Thailand, Martin and Sarah, and we spent our nights with them eating amazing food and drinking beers, cocktails and buckets at the huge selection of bars in town.

Generally, our days in Sihounikville took on a most relaxed routine - We woke up every day to the sun blazing down and would head either to the close-by beach called Occheautal or take a bike ride to the further but quieter Otres beach. The beaches are all lined with restaurant huts with huge comfy chairs and tables and deck chairs on the beach in front of their turf. We found our favourite place at each of the beaches and would order our regular brunches and drinks and spend the day reading on our deck chairs and taking refreshing dips in the lake-like sea. We would hope onto our bikes at 5:00pm and ride the 20minute route to the school, do our 2 classes, ride back, have a beautiful cold shower and then head off to dinner. We were in Sihounikville for 15 nights and did try out quite a few places but were inevitably pulled back to one of two places that served the most amazing barbecued fish with rice, salad and garlic bread for 3 whole dollars. Definitely the best meals of the trip so far and eating it with our feet in the sand and accompanied by a beer and a pina colada made it taste that much better. We would often catch a film at the guesthouse after dinner or have a few drinks with Jeanette, Martin and Sarah.

Our above routine was only broken on very odd occasions - one of the days we took our bikes for a long ride along the coastline to see some of the other beaches in the area. We were unimpressed by them and didn't land up staying at any of them and instead diverted back to our regular spot but the ride was a pretty strenuous1.5hour ride and it gave both of us a new appreciation for our crazy friends who do iron man. Another day, we splurged and treated ourselves to an hour jet-ski ride. Jeff took the driver's seat and was obviously a natural. The day we went out was windless and the sea was nearly completely flat which allowed us to fly across the water at super fast speeds. Jeff was quite impressed when I eventually took the reigns - I am usually overly cautious but my nerves went out the window when I realized that should we lose balance and fall, we wouldn't scrape our knees open again but instead land in water and therefore felt confident enough to rev the jet-ski to a respectable enough speed to make Jeff squeal a little at the back. On Valentine's day we took a boat ride out to 3 of the surrounding islands off the shore of the Sihounikville coast. We snorkelled at one of them and were treated to a delicious barbecue for lunch at Bamboo island where we could soak in the sun without the ever-whining locals on Occheautal beach selling everything from bracelets, books and massages to fruit and food. (They all had a routine of offering their products and when we would say no they would reply with 'why not?' or 'Okay later' - our only gripe for our 2 weeks in town.)

We were sad to eventually say our farewells to the town that had become our home for the longest period since we left for our trip but time was running short and there were still other places to visit before our Cambodian visa run out. We took a short bus trip to a neighbouring coastal town called Kampot but only spent one night there when we realized that there wasn't much to do or see. Kep was our next destination - famous for its incredible crab market - we gorged ourselves on seafood on our first night there, took a long beautiful walk along the coast, swam in the pool in the gorgeous gardens of our guesthouse setup right on the seashore and watched the stunning sunset over the sea with refreshing pineapple fruit shakes in hand.

Our final stop in Cambodia was the bustling capital, Phnon Penh. With Jeff feeling a bit under the weather, we spent our first day in our hotel room which happily coincided with the live airing of the Oscars on our cable TV followed by some old Oscar winning flicks like Ben Hur and the Sting We ventured out only to get ourselves food but the lazy day paid off as the next day which was planned for some serious sight seeing, Jeff was on the mend and was ready for a full day out and about.

We started off at the Tuol Sleng Museum.Once a centre of learning, Tuol Svay Prey high school was taken over by Pol Pot's security forces, who transformed the classrooms into torture chambers for any suspected traitors to the regime and renamed the facility 'Security Prison 21' or 'S-21'. Today, the long corridors of the museum display haunting photographs of the victims which were meticulously taken by the Khmer Rouge as the prisoners entered the facility. We saw the tiny cells that had been built up within the classrooms, walked into the torture chambers, furnished only with rout iron beds and foot shackles and read the shocking accounts of the 7 victims who were found at S21 on the day of liberation. From there, we went to the infamous killing fields of Choeung Ek where most of the 17 000 detainees held at the S21 prison were bludgeoned to death and thrown into a number of mass graves which have subsequently been excavated. The skeletal remains of the victims have been placed in a tower memorial and the over 100 mass graves have been roped off. As we walked around the area of the mass graves we noticed scattered pieces of material - we were told that as a result of rain, the ground of the graves exposes articles of clothing that were not evident when the graves were initially exhumed. An eerie experience but one that was an apt ending to our time in Cambodia - a country filled with such extremes. Majestic man-made beauty in the temples of Angkor wat, natural beauty in the stunning beaches of the south coast and then the chaotic and violent past still haunting the country in the form of places like Choeung Ek and in the begging faces of the land-mine victims we encountered throughout our time here.