Back in 1975 to 1979 Cambodia was called Kampuchea and it was under the control of the Khmer Rouge, a regime famous for their prisons and killing fields. Our tours today would take us to the Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre 15km outside Phnom Penh and to the Toul Sleng Genocidal Museum (former office S.21). It was safe to say today would be all about death and torture. I am not sure if our tours were gong to help Julia feel any better as she was suffering from man flu.

As promised our guide picked us up at 9am sharp. The weather warm and sunny we set off in a converted motorbike taxi. The motorcycle had essentially a two wheeled trailer attached to the rear with a canopy which looked like an Indian tuck-tuck. The ride was comfortable and took us through the heart of Phnom Penh. The city was less hectic than Saigon and it seemed more spacious, maybe because there was less bikes and high-rise buildings. I was surprised, I felt this was a better city than Saigon - however we wouldn't have time to explore it fully to be able to compare. We stopped briefly along the on route and our guide bought us some face masks. This gave us an opportunity to purchase some much needed water which was much cheaper than at the hotel.

Choeung Ek was a small scrap of land. If it hadn't been for the Memorial Stupa towering overhead we wouldn't have realised the site had historical significance. I knew a little about Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge but I hadn't realised he was a complete nutter that didn't really have a just cause to kill millions of people (not that mass murder would have been acceptable if he had). The Khmer Rouge ruled from 1975 - 1979 and killed 1 in 4 of the population. Their idea was to kill anyone who had wealth or intellect (if you wore glasses, you were dead). Being communist they wanted an equal and simple farming society ruled by Pol Pot. The regime was harsh... "to get rid of grass you need to kill the roots too" One expression used by Pol Pot to justify killing entire families including the children. There were around 300 killing fields throughout Cambodia. Choeung Ek is the most famous. We followed an audio tour around the site. We passed mass graves and listened to audio commentary of Genocide. We listened to harrowing tales from survivors. How entire families had been wiped out. Death was delivered by the Khmer Rouge in horrific fashion. Car axles, picks, chains, bars, pipes and hammers - any blunt instrument as bullets were expensive. They even used the sharp end of palm tree branches to slit women and children's throats. The horror story goes on and on, account after account of suffering and torture. At the end of the tour we visited the Stupa. Filled with skulls separated into 17 levels, 17 being a significant number after the 17th April 1975 when the regime came to power. The skulls had been separated according to the injuries sustained during death... hammer traumas, level one, pick trauma, level two etc etc. It was sad to think so many people died because of a spiteful sadistic nutter who had little regard for life. It made me mad and angry.

The sun was now high in the sky when we arrived at the Genocide Museum. Julia was feeling worse for wear as we walked the grounds of the former prison which had once been a school. Like prisons all over the World it had barbed wire everywhere and that claustrophobic feel to it. Stark grey walls, decaying woodwork and rusty metal everywhere. After 10 minutes of walking around I had got a good impression of what the place must have been like. Julia now collapsed on a bench outside I ventured inside to view the picture gallery. I starred at pictures of victims that had been imprisoned here. They looked like the ordinary tuck-tuck drivers, restaurant waiters, tour guides and city dwellers that we had seen on our travels through this land. Fear awash on their faces. Their fate sealed - I studied pictures of death. Bodies beaten beyond recognition, faces smashes and head caved in. What sort of w***er' would do this?! I tried to imagine how I would have felt if I had lived here. Given my propensity to loose my temper I if given the chance I would have probably taken up arms. Think about it - 25% of your face book friends and family wiped out. I felt angry as I looked at the pictures - more so than when I visited the Vietnamese war museum. I stepped outside to check on my wife, feeling worse for wear we headed back home.

Back at the hostel I enjoyed an hours kip. I joined Julia who was outside in reception catching up on her emails. Obviously feeling better I left her to it and sat on the street to watch the World go by. The evening sun was setting. It's golden rays blanketing the city. I watched for an hour, thinking of home and life in general. It will be nice to return to home comforts, I am getting bored of putting deet on every day. However I will miss the heat and warmth and the 50p bottles of beer! We had dinner on the rooftop. I had exactly the same as I had had the night before. A lovely Cambodian pork curry with rice - gorgeous. Maybe I should invest in a Cambodian cookbook too! We finished off the evening watching Always Sunny in Philadelphia... a great show, always guaranteed to make us laugh. I climbed into bed oblivious of the bad news I would receive in the morning. Unfortunately after a short spell of being ill my lovely pet dog at the farm 'Libby' would pass away.