Hello! After some amazingly crazy journeys, (more about that later!) I am now back safe and sound in Bangkok. The last week or so has been a mixture of very high highs and some really quite low lows! Whilst in Phnom Penh we visited the Killing Fields, where the victims of Pol Pot's regime during the 1970s were brutally murdered. I have put some photos on the site to show you all what it was like but I can't even begin to explain. This site was just one of many fields where such atrocities took place, from this site alone nearly 9,000 bodies were exhumed in 1980, and the skulls of the victims displayed in a huge stupa in the middle of the field. I really didn't know what to expect but nothing prepared me for seeing clothes and bones still sticking up from the ground, where the recent rains have unearthed yet more bodies. From there we went on to Toul Sleng (known as S21), which used to be a high school until the Khmer Rouge turned it into a torture chamber and prison. The buildings have been left exactly as they were found by the liberating forces in the late seventies, and made for pretty gruesome viewing. The metal bars and hoes etc used to beat and kill the victims (bullets were too expensive) have been left in the cells next to photos of the people who were imprisoned in those very cells. The school now serves as a museum to educate visitors about the atrocities but is desperately under-funded and is gradually falling into disrepair. After such an emotional day we decided that we needed a bit of culture and headed off to a Cambodian theatre, where we watched a great show that was a little bit of everything, part gymnastics, part puppet show (but thankfully not the scary kind!) and part dance show. I really enjoyed it and it lifted our moods enormously. From Phnom Penh I decided that I would leave the others behind and head off to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, and that was where the real highs began! Having made some friends on the bus journey there we checked into a guest house and headed off to Angkor Wat for the sunset. Unfortunately, the hill was crawling with other tourists (how dare they?!) and the weather was pretty cloudy so, after having climbed all the way to the top of the hill, we stayed for about 10 minutes and then left! The next morning we hired bikes and cycled the 15k from towm to Angkor and spent the day pootling around all the different temples - I have so many photos, prepare to be very very bored when I get back! We worked out that we cycled about 45-50k that day - needless to say we were in bed at about 9pm. No rest for the wicked though because we were up at 4am the next morning to cycle out again, this time to watch the sunrise. Cycling in the pitch black was certainly an experience (and not one that I'd like to repeat in a hurry!) but it was so worth it - Angkor at sunrise was truly magical - words cannot describe it! It was also really deserted, so after having watched the sunrise, we were able to explore it fully, without tripping over bus loads of other visitors. Having bought a three day pass for $40 we were intent on getting our money's worth and so we spent three full days there - pretty much from dawn until dusk - and I loved every minute of it! I thought that I would get a bit "templed out" but they were all different and there was always something unusual to find at each one. And so now I am in Bangkok, after one of the craziest journeys I have done since I left home! It all started ok, when we were picked up from our guest house at 7.30am and taken to the bus station. The bus we were all herded onto had definitely seen better days, but I'd travelled on far worse. Anyway, we set off and the roads rapidly deteriorated into nothing more than dirt tracks - bumping us constantly for 5 hours straight. The fun began when we came to a small village where there seemed to be a really long tail back of traffic, and we couldn't work out why. Our driver seemed to think that the traffic might just have parked and decided to drive to the front of the queue. Once we got there, it quickly became apparent that a section of the bridge had simply dropped out, and fallen into the river below! We then were given the option of sitting and waiting for 6 hours while they mended it or trying to hire a pick up from somewhere to take us to the border and carry on with the journey - hmmm - tricky decision 'eh?! Needless to say we chose to take our bags and walk down to the main road to see if we could hitch (it's alright Mum, we didn't actually do it!). After having waited for ages to no avail we were then told that the bus could go round the long way (over the footbridge) but we weren't allowed over the footbridge (for reasons unknown!) and would have to jump the gap in the old bridge where the piece had fallen out! ARGH! It was sooo scary - climbing along a section of bridge with a backpack that weighed as much as I do, knowing that I could lose my balance any minute! Once we got to the other side the bus picked us up again and off we went - bizarre! We continued to the border and crossed back into Thailand, where the most amazing bus was waiting to take us the rest of the way to Bankgok. It was one of those spangly double decker ones with seats that recline and everything - a little treat for having endured the morning from hell! We arrived in Bangkok thirteen hours after leaving Siem Reap in Cambodia - hot and tired but glad to be off a bus! Not sure what the plan is for the next few days. The girls are back down in Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party, but I kind of feel like I've been there and done that and I don't think you should go backwards. So here I am in Bangkok, trying to work out how to fill my last few days, and seemingly, they are all going to be shopping-orientated! I have a few little cultural bits and bobs to do that I missed last time so am looking forward to those too. Right - going to start the shopping extravaganza now - hope the money holds out! Lots of love to you all - see you soon! Vicky xxx PS - have just read the instruction booklet on my camera, if you're wondering why the photos have suddenly got all arty!