I apologise for how long it has taken me to write the next update but it is amazing how busy we are, doing nothing and having no plans really takes up your day…

So the last time I checked in we were on our way to Cambodia. Wow what a country!? We arrived in Phnom Penh when it was dark and raining. We hadn't booked anywhere to stay so we had to trust the taxi driver when he said he was taking us to a popular area. He was telling the truth. We only had two nights, as we were there to visit the Killing fields and S21 prison. It was a horrible experience filled with a lot of sadness but I am glad we educated ourselves on what happened in this country and what the people of Cambodia have been through. It is crazy to think that all these terrible things happened in 1975 - 1979 and no one outside of Cambodia had a clue of what horrific things were going on. 1 in 4 people were killed so over a 3rd of the population were wiped out by Pol Pot who was the leader and who was paranoid and by the sounds of it and by his actions was very insane! When you are in Cambodia you hardly see old people due to this and if you do, you notice that there is something very sad within there eyes. Everyone you meet would have had family affected or killed within this time. Very very sad!

The killing fields were very emotional. You walk around listening to an audio guide on how the people were murdered around the area. There is lots of greenery and a river in the middle of this field. Apparently that when it is rain season you can see bones and skulls being washed up due to the thousands that were murdered here and as they were thrown into big pits the soil and ground still have many bodies undiscovered. There is a bit on the audio where you need to take 10 minutes to listen to true stories from either survivors or the murderers; there is a sit down area around the lake. I was sat there by myself when this little boy appeared, he must have been about 6 or 7, he had a hand made slingshot and was collecting stones and sticks that he could use, I then watched him for ages with such determination tying to hit a bird in the tree over the river.. He had no idea I was watching him so he was so natural like a small Tarzan climbing the bank and trees. It was a simple but sweet moment. The end of the tour was when you saw two things that will never leave you. The first is a massive tree that they used to kill the babies, they would hold the babies by their feet and hit them against the tree to crack their skulls. What kind of human being could do such a thing? Then the other was at the end of the tour there is a glass tower building that is full of bones and skulls that have been recovered from the pits. It is just overwhelming seeing them all and clearly seeing what injuries they sustained. I won't tell you all about it as it was pretty hard hitting but if you are interested in History and reading up on what goes on in the world then you must look it up and read about what happened here. It was so sad being there but it was slightly strange as it also had quite a peaceful vibe around the setting with the birds singing and big green trees and the sun was shining.

After this we thought we might go cheer ourselves up so we visited the S21 prison. This was not fun at all. What a horrible horrible place. From the moment we walked in I felt sick. The prison is open for you to walk around at your own pace so we all naturally walked off on our own as it was such an eerie place and filled with sadness that I couldn't face going in some of the rooms so had to leave the others. You can see the original equipment that was used to terrorise and abuse the prisoners. There was blood stained on the walls and floor and the whole place just felt wrong. The prison was used before the people were taking to the killing fields to be slaughtered. I hated it. I kept myself together until we visited the rooms that had photos of the victims. There was just room upon room with photo's filling up the whole place of faces of men, women, girls, boys that had been killed. Everyone that had been brought to this place had their photo taken. You could see in their eyes how scared they were and how they had been beaten, they were crying or worse. I was choked up already but when I saw a picture of a tear stained boy that was the same age as my godson I just lost it. The tears were just flowing and I couldn't stop. You could feel this negative energy all around the place and I couldn't wait to leave. What makes it even sadder is things like this, maybe not to this degree, are still going on in the world. We just don't hear about it so we think that it doesn't happen. I could not get this out my head and to say a few tears were shed that day is a slight understatement. Again though, I had a very sweet moment…. When I left the prison I was all blubbery and red faced from crying and we couldn't find our tuk tuk driver. I stopped walking for a minute when this little Cambodian boy called over to me in his broken English "Oi, Oi" I looked up and he said "hello miss how are you?" I answered him and then he and his mates burst out laughing and laughing, they thought it was hilarious. It made me smile and laugh so much. It was just weird timing but that little one had no idea how sad I was feeling and how he cheered me up.

I loved the Tuk Tuk drivers in Phnom Penh they were so funny. They could hardly speak English but they loved having jokes with us and being funny. One morning I walked out of our guesthouse when a tuk tuk driver wearing a liverpool shirt started chatting to me. He asked which team I supported and I told him Pompey and he thought this was hilarious. He couldn't speak English but he knew the history of my team and started laughing at me. He then called out to his mate and told him who I supported and he shouted out Pompey whilst giving me the thumbs down. How rude! This went on half way down the road with all the tuk tuk drivers laughing at me whislt wearing Chelsea and Liverpool Shirts. Yer alright then. I was mugged off big time.

So after a few days in Phnom Penh we headed to Siem Reap on a 5 hour bus journey that had me saying my prayers again. They are all lunatics on the road and the overtaking on corners is just not right, especially when I am sat in the middle seat and can clearly see all on coming traffic. We arrived safely though and checked into a guesthouse that was run by a guy that comes from Bouremouth. (Strange fella, I couldn't work him out) We stayed here for 4 days. The main town is basically made up of markets and bars and tuk tuk drivers. I honestly thought I was going to turn mental if I ever heard the word "tuk tuk" again. I even wanted to get the tshirt saying no tuk tuk today. Seriously, you are saying "no thanks" about every minute. It gets tiring!

Visiting Angkor Wat which was one of the highlights of my trip. It is just phenomenal. The size, the structure, the temples and the lay out, the fact you can just walk around freely seeing it all and taking it all in. We went on the first day for sunset which was beautiful if the other 10,000 tourists weren't there as well. (I will be in so many Chinese people's pictures, but for some reason they don't care, they just click away). It was stunning but it was also hard work as the volume of people in one space was just annoying. The next day we got up at 4.30 to leave to see sunrise over Angkor Wat (Thank you for the advice Scott/Judith) it was stunning. For those of you that know me well you know that I love the sun and the moon, so being here at Sunrise whilst the Moon was still out, well I was in my element. The sun was rising with the moon still clearly in the sky and it was beautiful. As well as that there is a lake in the front of Angkor Wat so you can see the reflection of the temples and the sun. We got some lovely photos that I will update soon. (Angkor Wat is where they filmed Tomb Raider for those of you that don't know). We spent the day visiting all the different tombs, temples and monuments, it was stunning but when you are walking around in 30 degrees heat it does get a bit much. And much to my embarrassment my trousers ripped very badly in na inappropriate place so I had to walk around with my sarong wrapped around me all day just in case I flashed anyone. Not the best when you are visiting Temples. The only thing that put us off or annoyed us was when this little girl called Tania crazy because she wouldn't buy anything from her shop. They are all sweet and nice to you at first but when you say No they can swear at you and turn really bitter. We both said a few things under our breath and walked off. I understand they are very poor but all day we were hassled and it just gets too much plus we both had given all our money to other children along the way, like everything I had so we had nothing left to buy anything. Apart from that it was such an experience.

After this we flew back to Thailand Bangkok to go to Boom Lott Elephant Sanctuary. To get there we had to take another overnight train up near Chiang Mai, another fun experience with Chang Beer and random people. Tania has been researching and following Boom Lott for the past year as she is a MASSIVE animal lover and she didn't want to visit just any sanctuary due to the way they are still treated and the experience you get. Our whole trip had been based around this visit due to these being the only available dates we could stay. It was all so worth it. It was a once in a lifetime experience and one that I will never ever forget and it made Tania and I very happy!!!!!

We were picked up from our guest house by a worker called Faa and a volunteer called Anika (Faa was from Thailand and Anika was from Holland and she was in the army and used to be a sniper, she was small but something very scary about her. O yer she could kill me with one bullet and one move, and she reminded me of this on two occasions. Hardcore!) It is hard to describe what it BL was like as it was surreal to be somewhere so peaceful and at one with nature. We were treated like part of the family from the moment we got there by the owner who had 3 children and cats and dogs everywhere.

BL is home to eleven elephants that all have been rescued from either a very hard life working as illegal loggers or from abuse and pain. They come to live at BL freely and in a very happy and caring environment.

I was a bit nervous at first as obviously they are massive creatures and have huge trunks etc so when they come up to you or come to say hello whilst eating lunch it was a bit scary at first. I elephant whispered to one elephant called Lotus, I told him that I was scared and a bit nervous and needed him to be gentle else I would freak out. Can you believe he then walked up to me and softly put his trunk near me to touch? It was like he understood how nervous I was and was making sure I knew it was ok. (I know I sound crazy but this actually happened) After that Lotus and I had a bond. I know you shouldn't have favourites but he was mine!

We spent 4 amazing days at Boom Lott. We would wake up to the elephants screeching and calling out to each other. They all slept in different bits of the park from each other so in the morning they would be so excited to see each other and you would have to move quickly out the way as they would run to meet each other and then have a make so much noise as if they are chatting and catching up, asking how they slept and what they got up to during the night. Their ears would be going mental and so would their trunks. They then would all go over to the breakfast area for the bananas. After this they were just left to get on with what ever they wanted to do, they would swim, drink, chill out, hangout with us or go play. We were encouraged to help with all duties so I was up every day collecting Bananas, washing the elephants after they had been playing, giving them the hose to drink from and just hanging out with them . We would walk with them every day and they would go play in the bigger river and just walk freely were they wanted to go. They were very happy and content. It was fascinating to watch them interact with each other and play. We just let them get on with it and if they wanted to interact with us then they would let you know, not the other way round. The mahouts (the elephants guide) were with the elephants all day. They stayed with them at night and took care of their every need. They had there own language and it was beautiful to watch them communicate with each other. Each Mahout had his own story and they were all so lovely, even the ones with no teeth! After one long day working, one of the mahouts brought out his home made Whiskey and wanted a drinking partner. No one else was up for it but as I can't see a man drink alone I offered my services and got nicely pissed with him. There is no mixing the drinks here, they just go around having a shot after shot. Dinner was interesting that night!!!! I could write about Boom Lott and the story on how it come about all day but I think if you are interested you should read up on Katherine and her incredible journey on opening and running this elephant sanctuary. She is one strong and inspirational lady who dedicates her life to helping and saving these animals and she is only in her early thirties. She is quite famous because of her story but she is humble and soft and doesn't like the limelight as she just wants what is right and what is best for the elephants.

I can honestly say those 4 days are one of the best experiences I have had in my life. It was perfect. We laughed, we meet new friends and we got to hang out and experience how elephants live in their own environment. Perfect!!

I have to tell you about one night that was very adventurous. Katherine decided to take all her guests out (4 of us) to the local restaurant. So she and her family go in one car and the rest of us go with Faa and he is driving. So we are singing and chatting away when he pulls off onto this road and says to me "ha we might see a ghost as it's called ghost road" I didn't think anything of it and laughed it off but five minutes down this road he suddenly pulls over and looks at me with the whitest face and tells me he doesn't feel good whilst holding his hands up that had cramped and looked all weird. I was calm and asked him what was wrong but he was having trouble breathing and talking. I started to strip him as he had loads of clothes on and about 4 headbands holding up his dreads so I thought he was over heating. Everyone was looking at each other thinking s***, our driver is dying and we are on the ghost road. So I got him out the car and started fanning him down whilst trying to get sense out of him. Then his lips turned blue and he couldn't talk, although he was so scared he stared laughing as his tongue swelled and he was making strange noises. I got him to the back of the truck and had to lift him onto the back where I stayed with him whist Army Lady drove us to the restaurant. We dropped off Tania and the other guest and then we headed to the local hospital as he was not well and kept passing out on me. I was alone on the back of this truck with his head in my lap trying to get him calm down and then stay conscious. It was a very scary 20 minutes! We got the hospital and I ran with the stretcher guys into A&E and started shouting and explaining what had happened, and then it clicked no one speaks bloody English, so while I was ready to pass out through stress and anxiety I had to watch the nurses log off of Facebook and then calmly come over and try speak to Faa who was out of it. I couldn't believe it, they gave him Morphine that sent him straight to sleep and then I was told to wait in the reception area. WTF???? Ten minutes later, yes TEN minutes he was being pushed out to the carpark on a stretcher waiting for his girlfriend and her dad to pick him up to rest. So that was how I left him, lying on a stretcher in the hospital car park waiting for a lift. I was in shock! So I hope Faa is ok, as I haven't seen or heard from him since.

After this we headed to South Thailand which was a very different experience. We partied and relaxed for two and half weeks but I will write about this next time. Don't worry mum I will sensor it…. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx