Some observations about Phomn Pehn... the traffic here is mental! There are cars and bikes and tuk-tuks coming from all directions at all times, and crossing the road is a nightmare, because as soon as there's a break in the traffic coming in one direction, the traffic going the other way spreads out to fill up the space! Traffic lights are ignored and drivers seem to have no fear - we saw one motorcyclist drive straight into five lanes of oncoming traffic - mentalist!
It's also the most 'western' place I've been to so far, especially in terms of food. When we arrived I was delighted to find a cafe that served cheese and bean toasties, and since then have had veggie pasta bolognese, burritos, banoffee pie and a proper veggie cooked breakfast (which was much needed after a night on the proper Cambodian beer). I've not been neglecting my quest for strange fruit though - this time it's a jack fruit, which looks like a pimply green mango. I don't think the one I had was ripe though, because it was hard and tasted like a sour melon.

The main events of our stay in Phnom Pehn have been the Toul Sleng prison genocide museum, and the killing fields and Chong Ex. I won't write too much about these, because in all honesty they were pretty horrific and I don't want to leave everyone depressed. The first thing you see when you get to to Tuol Sleng is the tombs of the last 14 victims killed at the prison before the fall of the Khmer Rouge, and inside the first building are 'interogation cells' with photos of each of them when they were found. Not nice. The cells are empty apart from the photos and metal bed frames, and in some cases, some examples of torture instruments. Other buildings contained the cells that prisoners lived in, and thousands of photos of the victims - I calculated 450 in one room alone. There's also lots of historical info about the KR - the things that really stood out were the slogan that the KR used to refer to the 'new people' (ie the intellectuals they wanted to eradicate): "to keep you is no gain, to lose you is no loss", and the descriptions of a KR wedding and their attitude to marriage as a whole - it was scarily like 1984. We also saw a movie featuring a interviews with survivors, relatives of victims and a former TS prison guard, which almost brought tears to my eyes. It's scary to think this sort of thing could have happened just 30 years ago, and that those responsible still haven't been brought to justice (I was shocked to discover that the UN continued to support the Khmer Rouge for 12 years after they fell from power, and condemned the Vietnamese intervention, although I did later learn that everything that went on had been meticulously hidden from the rest of the world). There is a tribunal due this month though, so hopefully they will get what they deserve then.

The Killing fields were equally harrowing. About half the graves are still to be exhumed, and there are clothes and bones sticking up from the ground on the paths you walk along. Some of the graves uncovered there had as many as 450 bodies, and I think the most sickening thing I saw there was a tree that was used as a place for killing babies. It was pretty difficult to take it all in to be honest. There's a memorial stupa (tower) there as a tribute to the dead, with 17 shelves covered in human skulls (17 because the KR took over on 17 April - 1975).
After seeing all that it's getting pretty hard to say no to all the children and amputees who are out begging on the street all the time as well. If I ever complain about anything again, can someone please remind me of these last few days?!

On a lighter note, we've also been to see the National Museum (which wasn't as good as the one in Siem Reap) and the Royal Palce and Silver Pagoda. The Palace was really beautiful, set in a peaceful garden, and the Silver Pagoda contained some fine examples of Buddhist bling - a seated Buddha carved out of emarald, and gold standing Buddha covered in 2,000+ diamonds. The floor is made our of silver (hence the name) but most of it was covered up and what was exposed was dusty and, frankly, needed a good polish.

It's still super hot here, and getting a little humid too. Apparently there's a posh hotel nearby that lets grubby falang use its pool if you ask nicely (and show them the money, probably), so I think I am going to try and sweet talk my way into there a bit later on. Last night Selina and I went to a bar where the barman let us choose the music from his laptop - as she and I have fairly different tastes, there followed the most bizarre mix of rock, indie, cheese and oldies! I took mild offence though when the barman stopped the Elvis track we were playing in favour of "something newer and more happening" and put on... Razorlight?! Hardly cutting edge! We left not long after that :-)

Byee for now, we're off to Sihanoukville for some beach time tomorrow so I'll write again then.

Kim xx