The smoothest of journeys across the border of Vietnam to Cambodia, we arrived in Phnom Penh at 16:30. Neil and I had booked a private in Me Mates Place a nice clean hostel/hotel with Cambodian beer for $1 and Mojito's for $2.75. Josh & Luke booked into 88 Backpackers which was down the road.

Our first night we went for a stroll down the river front and had a yummy curry. We organised a tuk tuk to The Killing Fields and S.21 Prison with Mr Bee for $4 each. Another intense educational day. For $5 entrance fee you got an informative audio tour, which guided you around the grounds. The unbelievable events that happened all over Cambodia was hard to take in. The tour guided you around the mass graves of hundreds of people. The hardest seeing that of the woman and babies. Next to the grave was the killing tree, soldiers would throw babies against it to kill them quickly and horrifically. The graves and tree are now covered in friendship/memory bands from visitors. In the middle of the site is the memorial shrine with 7 tiers housing the bones of the dead. It's a rare site to see so many human bones in one place. Still today during rainy season bones and clothes are washed up to the surface.

Next we visited The Genocide Museum, which is in the old Security Office 21 (S.21). It was once a school before the Khmer Rouge turned it into a prison. Here prisoners of the Khmer Rouge were tortured and imprisoned before being taken to the Killing Fields. The graves of the last dead 14 prisoners are found here. Pictures of them in their cells hang in block A next to the torture rooms. One of the blocks still has the brick cells, wooden cells and detention rooms left in the original state. The other block is used to house confessions, records and information on the guards, prisoners, 7 survivors and current status of those on trial for their crimes against humanity and genocide. Rows of pictures of the guards and rows of pictures of the numbered prisoners stretch along boards in one room. A mix of every age is found, some faces look scared, others look angry as they enter the unknown. We met one of the 2 living survivors of S.21 and what a humbling experience. He was a painter for the Khmer Rouge who went to jail and survived because of his talent.

We had an evening out at a Mexican restaurant, Viva, serving tasty filling Chimichanga and margaritas. Next door was an Irish Bar, Green Vespa with 241 on drinks and then happy hour cheap drinks at 88. We walked back from 88 whilst staying at Me Mates Place and witnessed a horrific scooter crash between 3. The collision happened at a 3 way junction; the guy with a helmet getting up and the two without didn't look alive.

After an intense and emotional day we had a more relaxed following day moving to 88 backpackers and strolling around the Russian Market. It's tight little lanes selling a mixture of everything. In the evening we had some drinks at our hostel with Amel and Katie who were also staying there.

We decided to Volunteer to help teach English at a school in a rural village just outside Phnom Penh. It was an early start and took 2 hours by tuk tuk along some dusty roads. The children were adorable, happy and excited to get to know us all. Asking our names, how many brothers and sisters we had and our jobs. They were all aged between 8-12 dirty and cute. Mr Ty showed us around the grounds, one new building with all the materials donated by different countries. Mr Ty's wife and children prepared lunch for us, then we went to the market to buy books, pencils, sweets and Luke bought a fan for the classroom. They were happy to receive it all, thanking us. We taught the class using donated English books. Naming body parts and playing heads, shoulders, knees and toes and going through the alphabet. We would say it they would repeat and then some would come up and read it out to the class. They all seemed very clever and had great basic English skills. Really fun day but absolutely shattering. Hats off to all the teachers.

We spent our evenings at 88 Backpackers being looked after by Charlie's excellent table skills and their cheap drink deals; I drank far too many mojitos. The food was even good at 88 having omelettes for breakfast and chicken BBQ skewers with rice and mango salad for dinner ($2).

We met some lovely Cambodian's in Phnom Penh and had a great time.