Hi from Cambodia. I have to say, Cambodia is one place neither of us will forget in a hurry.

We decided to fly to Phnom Penh from Kuala Lumpur to save ourselves the massive bus trip, and to make it easier to get to all other countries without having to re-enter any! We were only allowed 15kg of checked luggage, so ended up hauling half of our stuff into our little carry on bags. We were allowed one carry on bag weighing 7kg...ours must have weighed more, plus we had an umbrella and Emma's big camera bag. However we were waved through with a smile - so much for tight security! We took off, and despite someone nearby getting slightly airsick all was well, until the captain came on saying we had to return to KL as there was a technical fault. Fortunately they told us afterwards that it was an engine fault and within an hour we were back up again, only 2 hours behind!

So we landed after Andrew spenty the entire flight worrying about whether we could get our visa on arrival. Only then did we recall that our passport photos that we have carried around for the last 8 months were in our checked luggage...oops!

Thankfully the guards laughed and we paid an extra dollar to be picture-less. They did put Andrews name is "James Wragg" though and when he went back to explain the error they told him it would be fine! We shall see.

We jumped into a taxi and after a few pronounciation problems (ie the driver refusing to understand us!) we were dropped off at the edge of Boeng Kak lake. Convieniently at the same time a tuk tuk driver arrived and offered to take us to a lovely hostel - the taxi driver agreed it was lovely...so we jumped in! Wevended up at Lazyfish Guesthouse, right on the lake. We haggled for a bargain $4 a night and settled down for a relax!

The next day we decided to check out the Tuol Sleng Museum in the city. This place used to be a high school, but during the Pol Pot regime it was turned into a security prison. Here they sent the people thy had gathered up for not being part of the Khmer Rouge and tortured them. We saw the rooms they were kept in, strapped to beds so that they could not move. In each room was a picture of a person being tortured. Abn example of what they endured. They also had pictures of the prisoners as they entered, strapped to a chair so that they did not move for the photo. One of the most horrible places we saw was where they had built brick walls to create smaller prisons. These small prisons were tiny. Upstairs were the mass cells, where large numbers were kept - only high ranking officials got there own torture rooms!

We saw some truly horrific things in that prison. The most haunting image was the realisation that there were still bllod spots on the floor, and worse, even though it had been removed the tiles were stained with blood. We decided that we did not want to take pictures, but many people did, we could not understand why they would want pictures. There was also a sign asking us not to smile - which was not difficult to obey!

It was not until the next day when we could face travelling to the Killing fields of Choueng Ek. Those who survived the prison were sent here, along with many rounded up and immediately sent to their death. The field contains a stuka which houses more than 8,000 skulls - those found in the field. As you walk around it appears to be simply a field with several ditches. these ditches are the mass graves. Not all of this field has been emptied, only about a third has. You can still see bones in the ground, and clothes as well. Some of the signs portray horrible details of how they killed the people - not wanting to waste their bullets on them. They even played music over a loudspeaker to drown out the sound as they were killed. I have to say that despite its horrendus past it was not as harrowing an experience as the earlier visit to S-21 Museum. That was truly awful.

We moved on to Siem Reap the next day and were picked up and taken to a lovely guesthouse, at $7 a night a bit more expensive, but hey we had cable TV and a nice bathroom! That evening we went to a buffet dinner with traditional Cambodian dance. Not bad for $12 a head!

The next day we took a temple tour. The temples of Angkor are a huge tourist attraction. However we had both developed colds and were not feeling particularly up for the trip! We managed to see Angkor Wat - the biggest temple and about 3 or 4 others before we called it quits. They were all rather impressive, but we both are desperate to see the brightly coloured temples and palaces of Thailand!

Our final day in Cambodia was marked by another joyful outing - this time to the landmine museum. One man has been personally disarming lanmines since the end of the war - landmines he helped to lay years earlier. He has created this museum to teach others of the danger. What shocked us most was that the US has not signed the agreement to stop making landmines - they continue to do so.The museum was small but poignent and really made us aware of the horrors this country still faces from the numbers killed by landmines each year.

Cambodia has got to be one of the most heartbreaking countries I have been to. To see all the devastation they so recently went through is something I will never forget.

I guess its strange to say that this is one of the best places i have been to, but I really believe that it is, I will never forget Cambodia.