One relatively quick - 4 hour -bus later and we made the leap from Vietnam to Cambodia. The border crossing was smooth and straight forward. The most noticable difference was the intensity of the heat as we moved inland to Phnom Penh. It really felt like it cranked up a few degrees to 35-36c. Those of you that know Brett, know that once that Brett-sweat starts, there is little can be done to curb it and today was no exception!

Having been a bit care-free with our time management, and now bang in the middle of the trip, we are more aware of the fact that every "lazy day" has a cost later on down our travels so we are reigning that in a bit and trying to plan better. As a result, we aimed to just have a couple days in Phnom Penh.

We kicked it off in style: within hours of arriving on Sunday afternoon we were at a local TV outdoor "studio" watching live Khmer Boxing - the "original" kickboxing so were were informed by our tuk-tuk driver. Check out the video and photos. (I've posted one full round.)

Since arriving in SE Asia it is increasingly difficult - compared to India - to not be one of dozens if not hundreds of people doing the same thing as you. One of the best things about this Khmer boxing experience was that we were 1 of only 5 or so Westerns there out of hundreds of locals, so it felt like the real deal. Brett even had the locals cheering with him, laughing and shouting "Red! Red! Red!" as he gave full beer-loaded support to the chaps fighting in his nearest corner. However, as much as we cheered, Red was pummled by Blue fight after fight. I'm not sure if we even won one fight. Oh well, it's the drinking and taking part that counts, right?

Rooms were a bit pricer here so we were back to no A/C and just sweated it out with a wall mounted swing fan, celebrating everytime it came back around to blow some cool-ish air on us for a few seconds!

The next day was one of those days that you don't take many photos but never foget, as you learn some horrible things.

Like most people, we had vaguely heard of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot, but it is not a part of history that is taught well or in detail in our schools (as far as I recall) and was bundled in as an "also ran.." in a lesson along side the Korean War and the Vietnam War. We visited the memorial/museum space created at one of the Killing Fields outside of Phnom Penh and we were gob-smacked. This place was just one of hundreds of such sites. There was an audio tour narrated by a survivor explaining the site and the history and events as they unfolded that was really interesting and informative.

In a little over 3 years up to 1979, 1 in 4 of the Cambodian population (including women and children) were bludgoned to death with farming tools or had their throats slit by razor sharp palm leaf stems and dumped in mass graves. 1 in 4!! No guns, no gas chambers. This was close-quarters cold-blooded genocide.

To think that a political party could literally empty cities to send everyone back to the fields to farm, ban schools, religion, commerce, property ownership and simply murder anyone (and their entire family to prevent revenge killings) who showed any sign of resistence to hardcore communism is just insane. Khmers versus Khmers...no racisim here just pure hatred for anyone who did not want to be an illiterate near-slave farm worker with no hope. Totally nuts. Perhaps the worst bit is that Pol Pot lived out his days in relative comfort with his family and died in his eighties, never making it to trial for organising genocide.

Dark stuff, but really wanted to share it with you as it is one of those eye-opening moments you get once in a while and is also a really important part of travelling; to understand a culture, the people and not just feel like you are there for cheap beer, sunshine and the beach. (That came next as we headed down to Koh Rong to try and find a little taste of paradise.)