Hi all! I currently in Siem Reap, Cambodia and we are staying at a very nice guest house! It took us nearly 7 hours to get here on the bus and it was very hot - the journey costs us 6US dollars each so we couldn't complain! The place we are staying in now has only cost us 2 pound a night each and us 3 girls are in our own room with a shower and the boys are in another room together also with their own shower! We were all very excited and we have got clean towels too - so showers all round tonight!

Well since my last post we have been up to a lot! I will start with Singapore. We got to Singapore on Friday 17th very late. As soon as we left the airport the humidity hit us! It was about 11pm and still very hot! We jumped into a taxi and went to our hostel. It was very small but comfortable. We just went straight to bed as we were very tired. In the morning we got dressed and had a look around the area which we were staying in. We were staying in 'Little India' and there were lots of Indian places around. For lunch we headed into the center of Singapore. We decided to get he MRT - this is like the tube but a lot cheaper and cleaner. When we got off the MRT we headed straight to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch, which was very nice. We then had a wander around, mainly in shops and into shopping centers. There are shopping centers on nearly every corner and also at the MRT stations. All of the shopping centers were huge, I couldn't believe how big they were. Around tea time we headed into China town which was really good and had a drink there.

The next day, we went down to the harbour front and got a cable car across to the island Sentosa. As we went over the harbour there were 2 huge cruise liners. When we approached the island a lot of building work was taking place and it said that there was going to be a Hard Rock hotel and a Universal theme park. When we got to the island we got on the free bus and headed to a beach. We had some lunch and Anita and Rob had a coconut! We walked over a bridge and climbed a tower, it was the most easterly/westerly/ southerly point in Asia??? Not sure which! We then headed over to the Merlion. This is a huge statue, which is part fish and part lion. We went inside and went in the mouth and on top of the head. It was a really good view over the island. We left the island after that and headed to the 'Night Safari'. It was a zoo which only opens at night and you have to go on a train around the park. It was brillant! Most of the animals were awake as they were nocturnal! We also saw a fire show and got off for a walk around a trail in the middle. They had a mangrove walk, I wasn't keen on going in as there were lots of bats flying around. The woman told me that I would be fine as long as I wasn't an over ripe mangrove. Anita then asked me if I as an over ripe mango, like it was a serious question! Anyway, I went in and it was horrible as there wer bats coming from every which way! We got back to the hostel around 12pm and we were all very tired.

On the Monday, we packed up our bags and left them in the locker room at the hostel. We then had a wander around Arab street and went to visit a temple. We then went to Raffles, which is a really posh hotel. Behind the hotel they have a complex with restaurants and fancy shops in. We thought seeing as it was our last day in Singapore we had better try out the food at Raffles! We went into a place called the 'Long Bar'. This was the place that the Singapore Sling was invented! Naomi and Anita had one, I opted for a margarita! We had such a great experience in there, the food was so tasty and the cutlery was very posh! Again, too nice for backpackers! We then headed to another huge shopping center before returning to the hostel to get our bags to then go on the MRT to the airport. Our flight wasn't until 6am in the morning to Cambodia, but we decided as we needed to be there at 4am we would just get to the airport late and hang around. We got there about half ten as we needed to make sure we got the MRT as we couldn't afford a taxi as we had spent far too much on lunch! We dozed a bit but it was very uncomfy!

We arrived in Phnom Penh at 8.30am on Tuesday morning. We got our visas at the airport and collected out bags and then headed out to get a taxi. We were bombarded with people saying 'taxi taxi'' or 'tuk tuk'. We got a taxi but thought that we would need 2 as there were 5 of us with 12 bags! The taxi driver said that we wouldn't need 2 and we could all get in one - it was just a regular taxi and not a people carrier! We thought that we wouldn't fit but we did! We were all very squashed and I lost the feeling in my leg over half way to the hostel. When we were driving down the road it was clear that they have no rules on the road. There were cars, tuks tuks and bikes going in every direction. All the lorry's were piled high and so were the mopeds with people! We saw one with 5 people on!

We eventually arrived at our hostel in one piece! We then checked in the hostel and decided to get out visas for Vietnam sorted out. We were speaking to the people in the hostel and they said how they got their visas. So we got in a tuk tuk and headed for the Embassy. We pulled up a little box and handed our passports over and some money and we were told to come back the next day at 5pm. We thought that sounded perfectly normal as that is what we had heard was right! Lol! We were wrong! As we turned up at 5pm the next day to a guy running up to us with out a uniform on. He was the guy in the booth from yesterday in his normal clothes. He said that he wanted more money before he did the visas for us. He wanted another 80 dollars, which was far too much! We said no as we had already paid and we had a receipt to say that we had paid for 5 visas! His English got considerably worse - no surprise there! We decided that we weren't going to pay as it was far too much and asked for our money back. He opened up his wallet and said that he didnt have enough and to follow him, he gave us the passports back and hopped back on his motorbike! We then jumped in the tuk tuk. the tuk tuk driver was following him but couldn't keep up as there were 5 of us in it and there was so much traffic. We did catch a few glimpses of him and we thought that we had kissed our money good bye - we thought the situation wasn't that bad as we still had our passports! Then he stopped and went into a money exchange/ jewellery place and then produced some more money. We can't believe that we got our money back - we were so lucky! At the moment we are getting our visas through a travel agent, it was about the same price anyway but thought it sounded safer!

Later that day we also went to the National Museum and went out for some tea. As we walked down the streets the whole place was so different to anything I have ever seen before. There were just people everywhere, bikes etc and rubbish everywhere too. There were so many different smells walking down the street. You cant walk down the street without someone shouting 'tuk tuk'. I don't know if everyone knows what they are - they are a a little carriage bit at the back attached to a motorbike. They are so much fun.

We found a restaurant which was really nice but we had constantly had people trying to sell us stuff at the table and begging. There were asking for the food off our plates. I think that we left a small amount of food between the 5 of us and as soon as we had left the table there were people in there taking it. I just can't explain how much of a culture shock it is coming to a place like this.

On the Wednesday we had a little lie in as we were so tired. We then went to the Central market. It was defiantley an experience. As soon as we walked in we had people coming up to us and pushing things in our faces. We just had a walk around and somehow we ended up in the food section. The smells were absolutely disgusting! I saw some fish that were alive on the floor and the next thing I saw was a woman hacking the head off! She did it a few times and then Anita felt something wet on her leg!

On Wednesday we had a driver who took us to different places around the city. The first one was the 'Killing Fields'. This is where thousands and thousands of people were killed. In 1975 a man named Pol Pot decided that he wanted to create a new country. He killed everyone who was educated. They were taken blindfolded to the place we were at to be killed. As soon as you walk in you see a huge glass tower with 8,000 skulls and underneath are the peoples clothes. It was just so upsetting and we all found it very hard. Around the fields were mass graves which had been dug up and there were clothes across the place and also bones out of the ground. It was odd in a way as the place seemed so peaceful and calm. We all left lost for words.

The next stop was the Russian Market. The market was just amazing and we all made some purchases. It was really fun as we were all haggling the prices! When we got back to the bus it wouldn't start! The driver couldn't speak much English but said 'push'! So the boys, Anita and Naomi hopped out and gave the bus a push! It worked and off we went to S21.

S21 was a prison were all the people were kept before they were taken to the killing fields. Most of the people who were kept there were tortured. You could walk in the cells and see the instruments they were tortured with. They had lots of pictures to show you what happened to the people. Along some of the walls there were hundreds of pictures just of their face. Again, it was so upsetting. Its hard to believe that this only happened 30 ish years ago.

After that we went to the Palace and the Silver Pagoda. At first I wasn't allowed in as I had my shoulders uncovered and my shorts were too short - Anita's shorts were also too short! They have a clever t shirt stand outside so I got a white t shirt to wear and we hired some trousers. Me and Anita were the height of fashion - Anita's were bright green! The place was just beautiful and such a contrast to the rest of the city.

Well I have finish there for now as my time on the internet is nearly up. Tomorrow morning we are going to the temples here for the day and are staying for sunset and the following morning we are getting up for sunrise.

Will update again soon. x