SO we arrived into Cambodia on Thursday the 11th December 2008 after completing a 3day cruise up the Mekong Delta from HCMC, Vietnam. Arriving into Phnom Penh we immediately noticed some very clear differences from Vietnam...firstly the traffic. A lot more cars yet less motorbikes, less craziness, and a lot quieter (compared to HCMC, it is still pretty crazy mind you). Secondly the fact that the local alphabet is not the standard "abc" so basic signs are a lot harder to decipher. Yet in terms of similarities people are always smiling, and there seems to be food everywhere...

As per the usual scene, arriving by bus to a new location we are usually pounced upon by swarms of people in tuk tuks promising you cheap accommodation etc. So upon finding the cheapest price we were taken to one backpacker area beside the lake (there is another backpacker area by the river - we didn't even go there at all in the end). This lakeside area is unlike any other place we would have expected. Tiny little alleyways maze around and there are tiny guesthouses everywhere with rooms going from $2. Bars line the streets left right and centre and people are piling flyers upon you of the cheapest, bestest drinks at whatever bar etc...Most guesthouses are actually floating houses which board the lake.

As we were arriving quite late, aza and I had to share a room with another couple...as our room was $4 it turned out to be $1 each...don't think we could have got that any cheaper haha. Mind you this place was not luxury at all - terrible beds (in hindsite probably had bed bugs, some people were covered in bites) and the bathroom was a tiny little shack with a shower head above the toilet, which itself had no seat!! There was a sink next door but it looked close to falling off the wall haha. Anyways noone minded really...

The funny thing about this place was that almost every bar was selling 'happy' shakes, pizzas...you name it, simply by adding a $1 to your meal. At our guesthouse there were 3 guys who simply lay on the couch the whole 3 days we were there as they appeared completely out of it....Not wanting to disclose names (!) some shakes were tried, and the next morning it was discovered that they each had enough to make 5 joints...!! Several spent the day in bed recovering haha. Mind you these drugs are not legal in Cambodia yet they are everywhere. Even walking down the street people are constantly offering them to you (even old ladies saying "marijuana, hashish, opium..." haha quite a sight)...apparently many people walking around are undercover cops so it pays to be vigilant. Not sure why they aren't trying to attack the guesthouses which are clearly, literally selling the stuff as opposed to the tourists (aside from being easy targets for the cops to make some coin...)...

So aside from the fact that this place was seething with drugs it was still a very cool, busy place, with backpackers everywhere. We could have easily spent more time as the guesthouse itself was very relaxing (being on the lake, with lazy chairs all over the deck and pot plants here and there). Apparently the lake will be gone in less than 2 years as as we speak it is being filled in, as per some very rich business-men who want to develop the site....so this wee ghetto will be gone very soon!

Anwyays we had 2 days to fill in this town - day one we simply wandered around and went to the local market as well as in indoors air conditioning mall (this was very exciting for us as we were sweltering in the heat haha)...giving the hectic schedule of late we weren't too keen on doing too much. Day 2 was a lot more sombre, visiting the S 21 (prison) and the killing fields. Aza and I and the other couple went together and very little conversation was exchanged on this trip. It was a horrible site to see, especially considering such atrocities only ended 30years ago. For those who don't know, the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia (1975-1978) severely dibilitated the entire country, taking away everything that was dear to anyone (education, religion, money, family etc). In return it was expected that people endure slave labour culivating rice. People either starved to death or were viciously murdered if they complained in the slightest (or offended the officials simply by being educated or religious...). Some atrocities occured during this time...Over one third of the population was lost during these years.

SO the s 21 prison documented the horrors with probably too many photos one could stomach. There were rooms filled with photos of so many people (all ages and sexes, photos taken as they arrived in prison) and seeing them all, it was hard not to get emotional...

The klling fields were just as horrific, in fact writing about it is quite hard...not much needs to be said other than the obvious. It seems bones and skeletons are still being unearthed. We paid our respects and moved on. RIP.

Afterwards we went to another market which sells many clothes produced in factories for western countries (such as billabong, Gap, Next etc) though the place was crazy hot and busy, besides none of us were really in the mood so we moved on quickly. Back at the guesthouse that night, we had a quiet one before hitting the road the next morning (sunday) for the beach town of Sihanoukville!!