Hey Everyone!

Wow what a day we've had. We hired a tuk tuk for the day at a bargain $15 and jammed lots of sightseeing in. Our driver picked us up at 8am and we made our way to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. This is where, under the Pol Pot Regime, the Khmer Rouge executed some of the 2 million people who lost their lives during this time. Here, we hired a guide to take us round the silent and eerie grounds. We were taken around the orchard where you see the mass graves, all of which still show remains of the Khmer Rouge horrors, including clothes all over the floor. There is also a memorial stupa, 17 stories high, with 9000 skulls of the victims. Whilst it was the saddest thing we've seen, it was definitely worth the visit and is truly unbelievable.

After seeing the Killing Fields we moved onto the Shooting Range, which we hadn't initially planned to do but Kie couldn't resist when he was confronted with the chance to play 'Call of Duty' in real life - without killing people! The tuk tuk journey took us through the real Cambodia, where not a Western face could be seen - except ours! Of course, standing out of the crowd attracted some attention and we were greeted with smiles, waves and shouts of "HELLO". After what seemed like forever, and no sign of a shooting range, we felt like we were being driven out into the middle of nowhere to be shot rather than to do the shooting!!!!! When we arrived, Kie was given a booklet to choose which gun he wanted to use. The list was long and included an AK 47, a machine gun, a rocket launcher and a grenade launcher!!!!!!!! Truly terrifying that seemingly random people have access to such weapons!!! Like a kid at Christmas Kie chose the AK 47, donned his camo shirt and ear defenders and prepared to hit his target. Well, the noise was amazing!!! Both of us were shocked at how loud the gunshots were. After 25 rounds in approximately 1 minute, Kie's playtime was over.

Next on the agenda was Tuol Sleng Museum, which was once Tuol Svay Prey High School and was taken over by Pol Pot's security forces in 1975. They transformed the classrooms into torture chambers and renamed the facility Security Prison 21 (S-21). At the height of its activity some 100 victims were killed per day. Each prisoner was photographed and all torture documented; here the exhibition shows the haunted faces of the brutality. Some of the rooms still had blood stains on the floor. Of over 20,000 people only 7 were still alive when the Vietnamese army liberated Phnom Penh in 1979. Although the museum was packed full of tourists, the only noise came from the guides who were speaking to their groups.

Feeling somewhat downbeat, we climbed back into the tuk tuk and made our way to the National Museum which is full of Khmer artwork and Angkor-era sculptures. In the midday heat we paid our driver and walked into town for some food, Sophie enjoying her favourite - coconut curry and Kie enjoying his new favourite - Beef Loc Lak. Once fed and watered we lazily strolled along to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, sadly we weren't allowed to take photo's inside the palace but my my was it beautiful.

After a truly packed out day, we strolled back to our guesthouse for some cold drinks to wash down the day.

Tomorrow we are visiting the 'Russian Market' a must-see on the list, full of genuine designer clothes (and some not so genuine) as well as all the usuals such as dvds, silk scalves and so on. We aren't intending on spending any money here, but we've been told it's a great place to see so naturally it'd be rude not to!!

Lots of love, Sophie and Kie xx