Hello!

Ok - for some reason I have managed to press something so this paragraph only is in big text, but I don't now how to change it and cant be arsed to try! Well I'm in Vietnam now - but I don't think I wrote since Cambodia when it was raining by the seaaaaa-side. Well it rained there! We did go and have a look down the beach (I can't remember if I wrote this alrady - I prob did knowing me), and got accosted by poor kids selling stuff - and it's sooo hard to say no! So all four of us ended up buying about 3000 bracelets, then between us in about a half an hour walk, we ended up with also aquiring a bookmark, an emboidered fish (?!), some free friendship bracelets, bracelets with names in, pedicures, manicures and some dodgey donuts... Luckily I got off relatively lightly - I stuck to John and they don't seem to like selling stuff to boys as much!

We had a couple of cool nights out in Sihnoukville. Met loads of Cambodians (a lot of whom were very gay!), played giant Jenga, met a bulemic ladyboy - who was cool, but a bit of a maniac, erm... got free shots... erm played pool badly... yeah. Just random!

We made our way to the capital, Phnom Penh. John flew home after 1 night there, whilst me Katie and Mel waited for Amy Charlotte and Louise (who we met up with on the full moon party too) for a couple of days with them before continuing on our merry way to Vietnam. Went to the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, and a wander around the city and a market, up to the Wat at the top of the highest point, down to the river - its a cool city.

Also got a Tuk Tuk out to the killing fields and the S-21 prison. Depressing is the only words I have to describe that day. It's fascintating that the Khmer Rouge genocide happened and even more scary that it ended so recently. The S-21 prison used to be a high school before the take over of the Khmer Rouge. There were 20,000 people imprisoned there over the 4/5 years, and only SEVEN survived. The conditions were appauling - the prisons tiny, they were starved, tortured, killed for no reason. There were a lot of photos from when the Vietnamese managed to overthrow the regime and release those 7 final prisoners, and it's so scary - the pictures are of these horiffically emaciated people, a lot of them with limbs missing. It was soo sad. We got a guide there, a really nice Khmer woman, who was probably in her early 50's and she guided us around the whole prison and told us things about what we were seeing - half way through the tour she was obviously getting upset with what she was telling us and I could tell she was obviously there and effected by it in some way... and at trhe end of her guiding us round she told us that she lost several members of her family - her father, husband and child included. she told us where she lived and where she was deported to (the Khmer Rouge moved all residents out of the city into the countryside), I had tears in my eyes which I really had to force back, it's so sad. All four of us had bought books about the stories of a few survivors of the Khmer Rouge Regime and I've read two of them now, and it is horrific. I've probably written about this already, but out of a population of 7 million Cambodians, over 2 million were killed and the Khmer government wasn't fully over thrown untill 1998 - the country is obviously still recovering and the people are so much more happy now! it's strange though, a whole generation was wiped out, and round Cambodia you very very rarely see anyone over the age of about 45 really, I think the whole time in Cambodia I saw 2 people with grey hair... it's horrible to think about it...

So after S-21 prison (also weird that it used to be a school - all the normal sized classrooms were changed and about 12 cells were put into each class), we went to the killing fields - a few km away where everyone from the S-21 prsion was taken to be killed. Also surreal - there was a temple structure in the middle of it, filled with literally thousands of skulls. The mass graves of the fields have been emptied (I presume they've been buried somewhere else/given a proper ceremony), but there's still loads of reminders of what you're walking through - you can still see where all the mass graves were for a start, and every step you take theres an old piece of tattered clothing buried in the dirt. Good to see as I say, but just horrific. On the same scale as the Holocaust, but a huge percentage of the population wiped out - a third pretty much. Killed for absolutely no reason.

Soo, spent another night in Phnom Penh - stayed on a little hut on stilts on the lake - was cool! Had yet another night out - No more now! haha. Then Mel and I went up to a country town called Kratie for a night (Katie stayed with the other girls before they went off home), to do a little boat trip on the Mekong River. Love the Cambodian countryside it's amazing! Saw some really rare dolphins and watched the sun set over the river! Travelled into Vietnam the next day.

Arrived therefore, in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), last night. Went for a bit of a wander last night and a few drinks. Today we have been to the Palace (which I don't think has been used since the end of the Vietnam war in 1974), and the war museum - another depressing one - but an amazing museum. I can't believe the Vietnam War carried on for 17 years - I didn't really know a lot about it, but this museum was really good, had a lot about how it came about, loads of pictures and information, loads of info about Agent Orange (which is horrific - I'd heard of it but didn't know what it was before today), loads of info on what the Americans did and loads of planes/tanks/bombs etc from the war.

This evening just been to the night market and for a cheap cocktail! We're staying in a man's house! it's a guesthouse (apparently!) but he has two rooms upstairs and he lives downstairs - with the cutest little baby! And his mom's amazing too! Theres thousands and millions of motorbikes/mopeds! The city is quite big - infact it feewls huge, but I think that's just compared to Phnom Penh (which was tiny - not one highrise building either!), as we walked round Saigon today. We got a bike today as well - its sooo hectic! Theres probably like 300 bikes to every car! And theres no crossings to go over the road, you just have to walk and they all avoid you! i was fine at first, i just went and it was all fine, but ive just had one near death experience - its chaos! but so cool, its a wicked place. Got some pics of the crazy traffic lol!

Tomorrow we're doing a day trip around the Mekong Delta - massive river system. Think we're going to treat ourselves to a KFC tomorrow haha, as it's the first fast food joint we've seen for over 2 and a half weeks I reckon! Think I've only eaten maybe 2 or 3 Western meals since I've been in Asia (5 weeks or so now?!), so I reckon I'm allowed! Then the next day we're going out to the tunnels (which I can't remember what they're called, or don't know what they're for... but I'll get to back to you once I've been!), and get the bus up the coast. Booked a good deal hop on hop off service and we hope to be in Hanoi in the north in about 10 days, for about a week in Laos (a bit short but never mind), a few days in thailand the Kuala Lumpar then Stansted! Not long eeeek - it's going way to quick! I can't believe I'm actually going to be back in the Uk in a few weeks, it's going to be weird hehe! But I have apparently (thanks mom haha!) got a job sorted for a few weeks YAY.

Anyways. Laters!x