Monday 15th June 2009

We arrived in Phnom Penh from Battambang at around 2pm, we were dropped off a different place from last time so we got a tuk tuk to lakeside which we had been told was a basic but good place to stay for location in Phnom Penh. When they said basic they meant basic (Think the guest house owners would have had to pay me to stay there not the other way around!!) after looking a two guest houses we decided this was not the place for us and we all decided to look at the hotel the tuk tuk driver was recommending near the riverside which was also a good location. This hotel was alot better in comparison to the two we had just looked at but still not great but we decided to stay here anyway as other wise we'd be walking round the rest of the afternoon trying find some where. After checking in Lisa went off to get her Vietnam visa and Suz and I went to find some lunch, while we were having lunch we suddenly had a thought that maybe Phnom Penh was the only place we could get are visa for Laos. After lunch we went to a travel agent and we were right in are thinking it is the only place other than Siam Reep to get the Laos visa. Therefore change of plan we would have to stay another night in Phnom Penh instead of going straight to Kratie on Tuesday. After getting some more passport pictures taken we then took are passport along with 3 pictures back to the travel agents (We still can't understand why they needed 3 pictures) so they could get are visa for Laos.After we had done this we went back to the hotel to meet Lisa and we all went for a drink before we went to use Skype to speak to Dad and Mel. After we had used the internet we went back to a restaurant we had gone to the last time we were here which does khmer food, it was as good as we remembered. Then back to the hotel to bed!!

Tuesday 16th June 2009

We had a rude awakening this morning at 6.30am I went the toilet and it wouldn't flush so I got back in to bed and 1 minute later we heard all this running water coming from the bathroom at a closer inspection the toilet was leaking all over the floor from the tank. Suzie went downstrairs to inform reception who were not concerned at all they eventually decided to have a look and said someone would have to come and fix it later the water was still leaking on the floor but he said not to worry about it. We eventually got back to sleep we were not impressed today was suppose to be are lay in day!! We got up and were ready about 11am and had a look in a shop called Friends which is a charity for street children they have a shop, two restaurants and a training centre. I bought a bag as my current one is falling apart, we then went to the restaurant for a drink it was quite expensive but it for a good coarse so we didn't mind. We then had a look in some of the shops near the hotel we both bought a top each as we both need some new clothes as some of are others are getting quite worn. We then got a tuk tuk to meet Lisa for lunch at the Boddhi tree which is opposite S21 prison we had a very nice lunch again from here. After Lunch Suzie and I walked to find the Russian Market in search of some new clothes we were successful in the top department Suz got 5 tops and I got 6, finding shorts that fitted proved more difficult they were either too big or too small, so I ended up with a shirt/shorts and Suz didn't find any. Trying clothes on was very amusing trying tops on was easy we just put them over the tops we were wearing but to try shorts on if you were lucky they did have a changing room but most didn't so you had to find the biggest pile of clothes and hide behind the pile to try them on. After the market we headed back to the riverside to pick up are visa's and laundry we then went back to the hotel to drop are things off and to wash are legs as because it had been raining are legs were absolutely filthy. We are now updating the blog before getting something to eat and then going back to the hotel to pack as we are getting the bus to Kratie tomorrow morning at 07.30am. We have had to get Dollars out here as the next few places we are going have no ATM's so we better budget well else we'll be stuck!!