Back in Chiang Mai after 3 weeks of travel through Laos and Cambodia. It is comforting to be back in thailand and in this city. It is safe, a great place to kick back and wander the old town streets or meander through the busy night markets.

Since I last wrote I have explored the big city of phnom penh and then ended with 5 days relaxing in sihanoukville on the beach. Phnom penh was a unique experience and I must admit I was a little nervous about traveling there by myself. The first person I met on the bus ride down to phnom penh had one of many mugging stories that I have heard from other backpackers during my travels. Late afternoon he was walking down the street with his friend and someone came up and punched him in the face and then grabbed his wallet from him. He chased after him but as he did this two others came up, attacked the girl he was with and stole her wallet and passport. When he reported it to his guesthouse and asked them to call the police they said they did not have the number (i mean come on, who doesnt have the number to the police) When he gave them the number they still would not help him. When he did get to the police station, by his own means, they would not fill out any insurance forms, claiming they did not exist-that is until he put down $20. Overall he was left with a broken nose, a stolen wallet and a first hand story about the corruption in cambodia. As you can imagine hearing this story made me even more hesitant about being alone in the city. Fortunately, there were two british girls traveling with me on the bus so we hooked up and made plans to stick together once we arrived.

Arriving on the bus in phnom penh is an adventure in itself. Tuk-tuk drivers line up at the bus stop and barricades literally have to be put down so passengers can get off the bus without being bombarded. When we arrived it was chaos-30 or so tuk tuk drivers yelling trying to get us to pick them. Once we weeded through the crowd and found a suitable cheap driver we headed to the lakeside backpackers area in the city. We found a shabby little place (too late at night to search out a good one) with a lobby/restaurant to hang out in because wandering around at night in Phnom penh is not something I would recommend. The area surrounding our guest house was seedy and filled with young cambodian men hustling people passing by and yelling expletives. On top of that the neighboring lakeside restaurant was where all the Nigerians congregated- smoking weed, dancing, drinking and hanging out with the local prosititutes. Finished off my first night with a rat scampering under our table in the restaurant (after we had already eaten-yuck) and unfortunately not the best first impression of the city.

The next day I woke up early to search out a new guesthouse. In the daylight everything seemed much more safe and calm and I was able to find a cleaner and nicer cheap place to stay. Once my accommodations were set the british girls and I negotiated a price for the day with a tuk tuk driver and then set out to see the sights. We started at Toul Sleng( SL-21) the prison where many cambodians were held and tortured by the khmer rouge after their 1975 takeover. Once a school, the buildings had been transformed with barbed wire, chains and wooden cells. Some of the cells were so narrow they were just big enough for one person to lie down and touch both sides of the wall. On display were pictures of the many prisoners when they were admitted-men, women and chilren, as well as pictures of some of the prisoners after they had died-layed out on a bed with their number placed in front of their emaciated and beaten bodies. Torture devices were set up to show how the prisoners were treated- waterboarding, head drills, and hanging the prisoners upside down beating them unconcious then dropping them in cold filthy water to wake them up again for another round of beating were some of the methods used. Just being there was extremely depressing and to think about what had gone on in the rooms that I was now standing was overwhelming.

Following the prison we went to the Killing fields, where many of the prisoners from SL-21 were taken to be executed. Today a monument is in the middle of the area that was once filled with mass graves-and the glass structure is filled with the skulls of those found at the site. Surrounding a the monument are roped off pits where the executed prisoners were thrown into and left to decay. They graves are labeled with what was found in each one (450 men in one, another was filled with nearly 200 womens bodies) and signs about the trees tell the gruesome story of how the khmer rouge would take the babies from their mothers and holding them by their feet bash them against the tree-horrifying to even imagine.

After a sad though informative morning, we finished off the day with a visit to a local orphanage. The kids were lively and so excited to see us come up in our tuk-tuk. When they saw us pull in they all ran up and jumped on to the sides, escorting us as we drove onto the property. We spent a few hours (wich passed by very quickly) playing soccer, volleyball and taking numerous photos and videos-the kids all got a kick out of watching themselves on film. Although the kids situation itself is sad, they seem to be well situated and attend school on the property and even have a room with a few computers where they can learn IT. In fact they were some of the happiest kids I have seen in cambodia, and completely uplifted my spirits and helped to make my experience in Phnom penh a more positive one.

My second day I was on my own again and visited the royal palace (beautiful with green lush gardens and intricate architecture) and also the national museum filled with khmer sculptures and ceramics. I spent my afternoon people watching along the river with a long leisurely lunch and an afternoon coffee. Spent a relaxing last evening in the city with a good book back at my guesthouse and packed up for my early bus ride the next morning. Overall Phnom penh was somewhere I am glad to have visited and I learned a great deal about cambodia while there but it is not somewhere I would return for a long time. Although I was fortunate enough to avoid any encounters with muggers I never felt completely at ease or safe while there. People are always trying to rip you off or run a scam, grossly overcharging just because you are a foreigner. When you take a tuk tuk and every time the driver tells you to keep your bag away from the sides to avoid being swiped in a drive by-then you know that it is not a place to let your guard down.

Sihanoukville is just a quick four hour bus ride from Phnom penh and I arrived in time for the sunset and a stroll along the beach. After looking forward for weeks to the beautiful big white beaches I had heard about, once again my first impressions were filled with dissapointment. The beach was very narrow, almost no sand, crowded with bars and restaurants and an overwhelming number of people. I was staying in a run down place, a good distance from the beach and was given wrong information from my tuk tuk driver-that there were no bungalows along the beach. I later found out after exploring on my own and finding a beach front bungalow to settle in, that my driver had taken me to the guesthouse he did because he gets commission for bringing travelers there- this is a common trick the moto and tuk-tuk drivers use to earn a few extra dollars.

The place I ended up staying at was great-walked out my door and through the open air bamboo restaurant and there was the ocean and a small beachfront area with several lounge chairs.Also after a day of exploring I finally found the idyllic big white sand beach I had been dreaming about. It was just 5k down the road-complete with beach front hammocks and the perfect place to relax with a good book and a bottle of angkor beer. I spent the next four days sunbathing, swimmming and enjoying beach front barbeques of seafood, chicken skewers and grilled vegetables. I met some great people and enjoyed the 50 cent beers for nightly happy hour (6-10pm every night). Everyone seemed to congregate at this one beachfront bar called the nap house where they had great music, a pool table, cheap drinks and nightly fire shows.

After resting and recharging for several days in sihanoukville I was happy to pack up again and start my trip back to thailand. I spent one more night in Phnom penh, enjoyed a thanksgiving dinner of pho (vietnamese soup) and then the next day flew to Chiang Mai. I start at the park on monday and am very excited about the next week. I look forward to seeing the elephants, the people and all the dogs again and am excited for more hands on experience!