Phnom Penh: 2nd-4th October

We set off very early to catch our bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The 6 hour journey was fine with no hassle getting our visas at the border. The beautiful countryside of Cambodia made for an interesting final 2 hours on the bus. Great introduction to the city when we arrived and had our first Tuk-Tuk ride to our hostel- loved it- such an awesome way to travel (a carriage attached to a moped).

Cambodia is a really poor country- the poverty is obvious all around. So many street kids, begging or selling things to survive- we bought them bananas as its not good to give them money with the possibility of an organisation exploiting them behind it. Also a huge amount of people with missing limbs- the unfortunate victims of landmines. Its really sad to see people living the way so many cambodians have to and it makes you feel so lucky to be from the UK.

We hired Mr. Bora to drive us around for the full day on the second day to see all the sights- what an amazing day. He picked us up in his tuk-tuk at 9am and took us first of all to the Genocide museum (S-21)- again this was a harrowing place with alot of graphic images of the terrible crimes which took place there not so long ago. After this we went to the Killing Fields at El Cheoung- On entering we were wowed by a tall beautiful pagoda-like monument but as we walked closer we noticed it was the monument that holds over 8,000 skulls and thousands of bones and clothes- seventeen levels of the remains of people who were excecuted by the monsters of the Khmer Rouge. Around the monument were also a number of mass graves.

Next we stopped at an orphanage- Mr. Bora suggested it but we weren't so sure- we didnt want to treat the children like animals in a zoo with rich tourists coming to look at them. But he explained that they are not supported by the government and have severe food shortages so we bought a gigantic bag of rice to take to them. We had a lovely time with the children who were so sweet. Steve played volleyball with a crowd of boys and got completely shown up- they were amazing! One lovely girl wanted to hold my hand and show me round the place- where they cook, eat, play and sleep. The sleeping conditions were quite terrible and she was embarrassed by the state of the toilet/washing area. I had to fight back the tears as she was apologising to me for the state of it- i couldnt believe this poor wee girl, who is an orphan through no fault of her own, felt the need to apologise to me- it was heart breaking.

Next stop was the magnificent Royal Palace. Each and every one of the many buildings were exquisite. And our last stop was Wat Phnom- temple on a hill. Lots of monkeys around it which was very entertaining! When we were driving back to the hostel we heard a loud animal sound behind us on the road and turned to see a massive elephant just walking down the road- wouldnt see that in Glasgow!

Love Shanita and Steven xxx