We woke up a little late so had to rush to get the laundry in and grab some brekkie. It was going to be a big day (but more-so than we'd realised). Steve woke up with a fairly sore back that was attributed to a fairly firm mattress on the bed. Most of the beds in the hotels we'd stayed had been on the firm side but this one was particularly so.

We got on the bus where our local guide was introduced to us. The first stop was the "killing fields", one of hundreds of such places across Cambodian where Pol Pot's Khymer Rouge slaughtered millions of men, women and children (about 25% of the population). The king endorsed Pol Pot and as the people totally revered the king, he was given control of the country. Within just hours of this, people of the major cities were told to drop everything and flee to the countryside as US bombing of Cambodian cities was imminent (there had already been significant bombing campaigns in Cambodia as part of the US/Vietnam war). Pol Pot was implementing a radical form of agrarian communism which meant that "intellectuals" were not needed, just farm workers. Anyone wearing spectacles or did not have work-hardened hands were arrested for interrogation or just sent straight to the killing fields. He was following one the teachings of Sun Tzu The Art Of War to tear the weed out by the roots. By killing entire families, there would be nobody left to seek revenge and therefor the population could be controlled easier.

Pol Pot was not actually his real name; it stood for "Political Potential". The guide explained that in these area the political prisoners were bussed out of the cities to be executed en mass and buried in mass graves. Loudspeakers were mounted on trees to drown out the sound so people were not alerted to the horrors going on in the area.

Our guide was a child in these times and was sent to work in the fields. People were only given a very small amount of rice porridge each day and they had to eat whatever they could catch in the fields without the guards seeing - usually bugs, grasshoppers and spiders. They hid their identities and claimed they were orphans to avoid having traces to their parents. His father was killed but his mother managed to survive.

Steve's "sore back" had got much, much worse during this time and by the time we'd finished this part of the tour, the pain was excruciating. He knew something more serious than a back muscle ache was in play here as the pain seemed to be located in his right kidney. Jacky commented that it sounded like a kidney stone and she'd been through the same thing.... more painful than childbirth!!

We went to the Security Prison 21 which many of the political prisoners were brutally tourtured before being sent to the killing fields. The facility was a children's school prior being commandeered by the Khmer Rouge. The classrooms housed dozens of victims, chained together by their feet along metal bars. The conditions must have been horrendous. The building that housed the women still had the barbed wire intact which prevented the inmates from committing suicide by jumping from the upper floors. Sue purchased a book and had her photo taken with a survivor of the prison.

The bus took us to lunch along the waterfront but Steve's pain had grown too intense. He was vomiting and instead went back to the hotel in a tuktuk to try and cool down and get some relief. When Sue arrived back at the hotel the decision was made.... time to visit the ER.

Chenda, Sue and Steve got a Grab to Royal Phnom Penh hospital. When Steve was asked his pain rating on a scale of 1-10, he replied "its a 9.5, I'm in agony". He was rushed through to emergency and after going through the formalities of payment and insurance, he was submitted to a battery of tests and scans. Jacky was correct... he had several kidney stones, one of which was causing a complete blockage to the bladder. The options were medication (and a 7-day stay in Phnom Penh) or surgery where the stone would be removed and a stent implanted to facilitate the passing of the stones. He opted for the surgery as the doctor assumed him that he would be able to continue his tour the next day, just taking it easy with no heavy lifting and plenty of fluids.

The medical facilities in Phnom Penh are excellent and Freddy later told us that many in SE Asia are absolute state of the art. Steve was checked in at 3pm; assessment, pathology, CT scan, ultrasound and x-rays were all completed within 1.5 hours and he was in surgery at 6pm. It is extremely doubtful that would have happened that quickly in Australia. There is a price tag though and we opted to just pay the bill up front and sort it out with the travel insurance later.

Steve was out of recovery and in the hospital room by 9pm. The room was more like a hotel than a hospital. Sue and Chenda dropped in to check on him and agreed that he would check himself out in the early AM and rejoin the tour.