We have just had 2 brilliant weeks in Cambodia which is such an amazing country. Sam arrived to meet us in Phnom Penh (the capital) on the morning of 19th as Julia & I were making our way there from the Phi Phi Islands - not a journey I would repeat in a hurry as we actually had to set off earlier than he did from England to get there on the same day! The final stretch of the journey from the Cambodian border to Phnom Penh introduced us to the infamous Cambodian roads. It was basically just a mud track for most of the way and being the rainy season the track was about as muddy as it could be. (see photos) We had to get out and push the minibus 3 times and were clinging on to stay in our seats the whole way over the bumps. In fact, every journey we have taken here has been either very amusing or fairly horrendous in one way or another. Anyway, we finally got there and have really enjoyed Cambodia ever since. On the first day we visited the Royal Palace and S-21 - the old school that was used as a detention centre during the Khmer Rouge regime in the 70's. It was a very eerie place with all the classrooms turned into cells and they have left various torture items in the cells as evidence of what went on there. I didn't know that much of the history before visiting but it is such a horrific story with the Khmer Rouge trying to wipe out the intellectuals & individuals to leave a kind of one level society of peasants. Just wearing glasses or speaking another language could get you killed. They were imprisoned and tortured at S-21 before being taken to the Killing Fields outside Phnom Penh where they were murdered and buried in mass graves. Over 17,000 people were sent through S-21 and on to the killing fields. Only 7 of them survived! Pretty horrible stuff but we softened the blow of visiting the killing fields by decided to cycle the 12 km there and back. We set off on what I think were actually the first bicycles ever made - obviously no gears, untrustworthy breaks and off-centre handlebars so I kept swerving off to the left. There are absolutely no rules of the road here and it is perfectly acceptable for vehicles to just head up the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic if they are planning to turn left at any point in the next hour or so. Traffic lights and junctions are there to be ignored as well so we basically just had to ride and hope for the best while trying to look in every direction at all times. Once we were out of the city it was a really nice ride through little villages that we wouldn't have seen if we had gone flying by in a tuk tuk and we really enjoyed getting there under our own steam. The locals loved it as well and thought it was hilarious that foreigners would choose to cycle which is the poor man's transport. They kept slowing next to us on their mopeds or bikes to ask where we were going and where we were from. They would then just laugh openly at us and whizz off. The people here are so incredibly friendly. They smile all the time and giggle at everything. They also love practicing their English and we are constantly stopped in the street by people just wanting to chat to us. After Phnom Penh we went north to Siem Reap from where we explored the temples at Angkor - an area of 600 square kilometres, covered in temples dating back to the 9th century. The most famous is Angkor Wat which really was incredible to see. We spent 3 days there visiting a number of the temples and definitely building up our cultural brownie points so we can justify some mindless beach time now. The temples were fascinating but I won't bore you with the facts etc. We took the bus south again to Sihanoukville, a beach town on the coast. As well as the inevitable Cambodian music blasting out full blast on the bus and the locals taking it in turns to turn and just stare at us for minutes at a time, I had a frilly nylon curtain brushing against my face the whole way so it didn't make for that comfortable a journey although it was quite an entertaining one. After a couple of hours we stopped for a break which usually involves everyone piling out at a service station to use the toilets. Julia and I got off the bus and followed everyone round the back of the tiny building where we were met with about 30 people 'relieving themselves' in what appeared to be someone's back garden! After the initial surprise we realised we had no choice but to do the same so joined the group activity while the local farmer looked on from his paddy field. Quite surreal. The next time we stopped there were people selling food but as well as the usual fruit stalls and bowls of curry to buy they were selling spiders which looked like they had been deep fried. Absolutely disgusting but people were buying them and getting stuck in... We declined! We finally arrived at our destination and spent a very nice couple of days relaxing on the beach and trying to get Sam to turn from white to magnolia, to no avail! We are now back in Phnom Penh. Sam goes home tomorrow and Julia & I head on to Vietnam - my penultimate country! I can't believe I will be home in a month. xx By the way, more photos online too