Hello again!

On the 25th we flew from Vientiene to Phnom Penh, in Cambodia. The flight was very short, only about 1 hour or so, with loads of space (Vietnam airways is a lot better than we expected!!) we also had some good breakfast on board too! Once there it took us absolutely ages to find somewhere decent to stay. All the budget guesthouses were a bit too rough around the edges for us so we ended up near the river front in quite a nice hotel in a room with A.C., hot showers, a TV and a fridge!! After showering and cooling down we went to the riverfront to have a look around. Phnom Penh itself isn't that spectacular. There is a french influence which gives it wide, straight streets, it's a city that would be pretty if only it were a bit cleaner, it felt as though we had travelled back to India with all the rubbish on the side of the streets. The riverfront itself is quite pretty, but unfortunately for us there were some sort of construction works going on along the river so we couldn't actually see the water... nevertheless we found somewhere to grab some food. We then decided to test our map reading skills and go to 'Capitol hotel' which is the best place to arrange tours from. We got there no problem and booked our bus to Siem Reap. The way back proved a bit more tricky as both Jess and I had forgotten what street our hotel was on, and we wern't entirely sure of the name of it... Her Majesty... the royal highness.. it was something along those lines! Needless to say we spent a while looking for our hotel and eventually asked some not-so-helpful tuk-tuk drivers which sent us the long way back!! That evening, exhausted from our adventure we went to bed pretty early.

On the 26th we went to the killing fields and the genocide mueseum. It was a bit of an intense day but i am so glad we did it. We found a nice place to go for lunch. I had the best meal i have had in a long time and it was worth the extra dollar (for $10) that it cost!

On the 27th we did the sights around Phnom Penh. We went to the National muesum, the royal palace, and the siver pagoda. The national museum was a bit of a dissapointment. There were loads of statues and sculptures from the Angkor temples and from the pre-angkor times but it hardly explained at all so it left me more confused than ever about their history and religion. The royal palace had some really beautifal grounds and the buildings were very impressive (especially the roofs) but it didn't seem to be worth the substantial entrance fee. That evening Jess and I went for a nice civilised glass of wine in a bar along the riverfront before heading back to bed.

On the 28th we had a bit of a lazy day. We had already done the sights in Phnom Penh so we went to a gueshouse that we knew had a DVD player (thank you 'Rough Guide'!) and watched 'Wanted' (A film i had been going on about for the majority of the trip) and 'Bridget Jones; The edge of reason'. That evening we went out for a few drinks but were in bed in time to watch 'Awake' and some other awful film.

Today, the 29th, we got the bus to Siem Reap. The journey was about 6 hours but it was very comfortable as we had an airconditioned bus. The first guesthouse we checked seemed perfect for us so we checked in straight away! Tonight we are going to explore the city a bit and tomorrow we are heading the the Angkor Wat temples.

I hope you have been well. Jess and I send our love and best wishes to Nana.

xxxx