As my last blog was a whole two weeks worth of events that i struggled to remember I've decided to post updates a little more frequently for purposes of detail...

After crossing the border into Cambodia on foot we boarded a coach that was to take us to our first destination, a small market town called Kratie, about 3.5 hours away from the border, next to the Mekong. One of the things i immediately noticed about Cambodia is how much better the roads are than in Laos. They're much flatter and pretty much straight throughout.

As we'd spent the last of our money paying for our journey from the 4000 islands into Cambodia, our visas and bribing the authorities on our way across, we were a little worried that we may not find a place to exchange our travellers cheques at the end of the journey. We'd read in a lonely planet book that Kratie has one bank that handles money transfers but no mention of TC's. Luckily, as it turned out and as we had hoped, the book was a 2007 edition and outdated. We arrived, got a tuk tuk to the bank and all was good once we had our funds! Ciara and I were slightly worried that we might end up washing dishes in a restaurant or worse.

We then checked into a quite nice room in a guesthouse overlooking the central market square for $4 between us, TV, cold but powerful shower, and fairly clean. We quickly found out there wasnt much to do in Kratie, well the town anyway. The main attraction is the Irrawaddy dolphins that you can also see in Laos but are better to find in Cambodia. They're endangered, apparently only 76 left in total, possibly as a result of the Khmer Rouge shooting them in the 70's and dynamite fishing which still goes on today.

We went out for dinner after freshening up and ate at one of the few restaurants overlooking the market square. I ordered once of the national dishes, fish amok. Its basically similar to a curry, the sauce has a lot of coconut and lemongrass in it and it tastes amazing. You can add any meat to it as we've found out since viewing other menus but the fish amok never disappoints! Ciara opted for the chicken version and was just as pleased. I had a couple of bottles of the number 1 Cambodian beer, Angkor, to wash it down with, sweet. I drank a truckload of Beerlao in Laos, its great beer but the Angkor is a bit crisper and smoother to the taste.

The next day, we had a wander through the market, there wasnt a lot to see, mostly the kind of stuff you could buy at any market anywhere in the world, basic odds and ends. Later, we booked a car to take us to see the dolphins up the river. It was only a short drive away and when we got there we met another two people so split the cost of the boat to take us to the spot where the dolphins surface. The boat guy moored the boat and turned off the engine and we waited. We soon saw them surface but neither of our cameras were quick enough to catch them and get a decent shot! I think i have a shot of a fin, thats about it! We sat there in the heat for another 40 odd mins before returning.

That evening we ate at the same restaurant as the previous night. This time, i had a Khmer curry, which it stated on the menu was quite spicy. It didnt have much of a kick but was a quality feed all the same. I spent the rest of the evening updating my blog whilst having my feet ravaged by mosquitos as i'd forgot to put on the Deet once again, they're just about healing up now!

The next morning, we hopped on a coach to the capital, Phnom Penh. It was a 3 hour drive. As I hadnt really clicked with the previous two countries capitals, i was expecting much of the same. I was wrong! Phnom Penh, although similar in size, if not bigger than Bangkok or Vientiane, was cleaner and seemed to have a better vibe. We had the option once dropped at the coach station of going to the lakeside area or riverside, which was a tad pricier. As we were trying to keep the funds down, we opted for riverside which is the more traditional backpacker area.

Then we had the usual hustle of different guesthouse guys trying to coax us into their place. It was hot and we had two bags each to carry as per usual so booked into a very basic floating GH that was overlooking the lake. I'm dead glad we only booked the one night as later in the afternoon, after going back to the room to get something when i was on the internet round the corner, Ciara spotted a guy in the lounge/bar of our place with a torniquet around his arm nodding out after a fix!! We walked back and sure enough she was right. I know that diabetics dont sit there dribbling whilst stroking a cat after their insulin so knew what we'd seen was right, lol. Naturally we didnt fancy sticking around so booked into somewhere a bit nicer for an extra dollar a night.

That evening we went out and had a curry. Even with all the different dishes to sample, i've missed enjoying a good curry. Although, Pete H, if you're reading this, it wasnt a patch on your mums cuisine bro! Later after the meal we had a couple of drinks before turning in as we were tired.

Next morning, we checked out of 'smackhead heights' and into the new place. Later on, we got a tuk tuk driver for the day who took us to Tuol Sleng/S21 and the killing fields. As grisly a tourist attraction as it is, Ciara and I had both looked forward to this part of the trip.

Tuol Sleng is a former school in the centre of Phnom Penh which was used as a secret prison and interregation/torture centre by the Khmer Rouge between 1975- 79. It operates now as a genocidal museum, presumably so people dont forget what happened in the not so distant past. Apparently 20000 people or more ( possibly more came through but only paperwork for this figure exists) were brought here under the regime as they were suspected of being 'counter-revolutionaries' and tortured until they 'confessed' and then killed. As anyone knows, any confession under torture isnt worth the paper its written on. Literally only a handful of the 20000 that were brought here survived, everyone else was killed or died of disease or starvation.

The site houses the graves of the 14 bodies that were found by the Vietnamese army at Tuol Sleng when they took Phnom Penh in Jan 1979. You can walk around the different rooms of the prison totally freely which are in more or less the same condition as the Vietnamese found it. There are pictures on the walls of the 14 bodies as they were found in each of the rooms which housed the more serious suspects. Only a steel frame bed and a pair of shackles are in each room and the floors are still stained a brownish colour from all the blood.

The other buildings have hundreds upon hundreds of mugshots of the different people who were brought there as well as pictures of some of the dead prisoners. It was shocking to see that some of them were kids no older than 3 or 4 who wouldnt have even had a political opinion at that age. The Khmer Rouge' policy was that they would wipe out entire families 'down to the root' to avoid the children possibly taking revenge years later. We walked round another building draped in barbed wire that was spilt into brick and wooden cells on each floor, 30cm by 2 metres in size, all of which are still standing.

We spent about 2 hours walking round the place which had an eerie air when you think about and learn in detail of exactly what went on in each room.

We then drove out to Choeung Ek, AKA the 'Killing Fields' where the prisoners from Tuol Sleng were brought after they had confessed. When the site was unearthed in 1980, nearly 9000 bodies were dug up. 89 out of 129 mass graves were unearthed, the rest now lie underwater. The remains were put in a memorial stupa in the centre of the site and there are 11 levels, the bottom level is full of the victims clothes, the next 5 or 6 full of skulls, and the higher levels are full of bones. You can walk around (but not over) the grave sites which are now covered in grass. The paths between the graves have some of the victims clothing partially visble at the surface as it has worn away over the years and if you look hard enough there are still bone fragments jutting up out of the ground in places. There is still a tree there which used to have a loudspeaker hanging from it which used to play music to drown out the victims moans as they were being executed.

Although we had a very interesting day, the two sites were a hell of a lot to take in and reflect upon. Before I came to Cambodia I had only a very basic knowledge of what the country went through with the Khmer Rouge in power but now understand a lot better exactly what went on in their recent history. You cant help but think how different Cambodia would be today if none of it had ever taken place and how hard the people have worked to overcome what happened.

That evening, we needed to cheer ourselves up so we went out up Street 93, as its called, and had some drinks. Pretty much all of the bars up and down the street have a happy hour where you can more often than not get a beer for 50 cents. Unfortunately for Ciara she isnt a big beer drinker and had to opt for cocktails or spirits and mixers but fortunately for me i love a beer, especially at that price! The street has quite a few kids selling books to tourists. All of the guide books state not to buy any books from them as they often dont attend Khmer school, opting instead to just study English in classes, they see Khmer school as a waste of time.

The next day, we went to the post office so i could send a couple of packages and some postcards. 25 dollars and a downward smile later we stepped out into sheer torrential rain! As soon as we had stepped into the place it had started lashing it down, the amount of rain you only see in films. Our tuk tuk driver had changed into his poncho and put the waterproof siding down on his cab for us. This didnt make the blindest bit of difference as we drove through a massive puddle on our way to the Golden palace and a truck coming the other way sprayed up a shedload of muddy water onto us! As i had stuck my leg and arm up in a feeble attempt to block it, I got the brunt of the shower, Ciara only a little. We had decided to go and see the golden palace as they have an emerald Buddha there as well as some supposedly beautiful grounds. After learning that it would cost Ciara $9 for her ticket and to buy some clothing to cover her shoulders (a must for holy sites out here in Asia) and due to the fact that it was still raining pretty hard and as a result, we couldnt take pictures that easily, we decided not to bother and went to have a beer in a nearby cafe instead.

That night, after some more amok and also getting beaten at pool by one of the book selling kids (good job we werent playing for cash!) we called it a night as we had an early start the next day..

Next morning we did a 6 hour coach drive to Sihanoukville which is on the Cambodian coast. On arrival ,we talked the many tuk tuk drivers down in price for a cab and then checked into our new digs, a nice little place about 5 mins from the beach. I've been dying to get to a beach since we left the UK so was buzzing at the prospect of getting rid of my pastiness and sunning my moobs! The salt water has done wonders for my skin, not to mention the mozzie bites!

We spent our first full day on the beach, mostly in the sun which was obvious when we came back to the room in the evening. I'm not so pink anymore but unfortunately Ciara is! The only drawback to the beach was the amount of beach sellers who sadly dont take no for an answer! The beaches i went to in Goa were dead similar and i've gotten much better at stonewalling unwanted sellers. I know they're only trying to make a living but no means no! Ciara ended up getting one of the massage women to thread her eyebrows, I just watched and winced! The same woman wanted to thread my neck and shoulders (sorry readers) but i refused. I wouldnt go in for any of that, too painful. She sneakily plucked a few while i was looking the other way before i told her a definate NO!

Before we arrived in Cambodia i'd read that the people werent as friendly and a lot of people we had spoken to had told us the same, 'watch your bags' seemed to be the usual thing we heard. So naturally, I was a bit guarded at first but I can honestly say that everyone we've met along the way has been nothing but nice to deal with. I hadnt thought much about what to expect in Cambodia as a lot of people seem to only stick with Thailand so generally you hear more about Thailand than the neighbouring countries. I'd definitely recommend not missing Laos and Cambodia to anyone who is thinking about SE Asia as they each have their own charm. (I'd recommend Vietnam too if only i could :( )

One of the strangest things i've noticed so far in Cambodia is the amount of women who walk around at any time of the day in their pyjamas. I thought it was just the one or two i'd seen in in Kratie who were about to turn in or had to get up for one reason or another to see to a customer ( most shopfront businesses in SE Asia double as homes) but now understand that its more widespread! On the street, on the beach, wherever, they all look like they're about to have their Horlicks. Odd..

We're about to spend our last night in Sihanoukville before we head to Siem Reap to go and see the legendary Angkor Wat!! The last few days have pretty much been the same, breakfast, beach, dinner, beers, bed. Had my first decent amount of seafood if you dont count prawns which you can get anywhere. Enjoyed barbecued Barracuda with potato and salad as well as some lobsters with pepper on the beach. I had a disappointing shark amok at a restaurant i wish i could remember the name of to warn others! Hardly any meat, just heavy on the veg. Also had barbecued red snapper which was a whole fish but the experience was spoiled by having to pick the bones out of it while i was eating it. I'll stick with boneless fish fillets..

Not much else to write about in detail apart from the truly once in a lifetime photo opportunity that i cant believe i missed today. A monk, stood in speedboat sending a text on his phone. I didnt have my camera on me and wish i had! I reckon it would have been a perfect National Geographic picture, ha ha. To top it off, he then towed 6 people on a banana boat. Surreal..

My eyes sting from typing and i need food so i'm offski!