Hi there,

We're in beautiful Cambodia after another long and eventful coach Journey!

We left Saigon at 6.30am and were meant to reach Phnom Pehn at lunch, about 6hours. The coach was the same as previous, but this time we were the only tourists/westerners on it! We were quickly befriended by a chap from Cambodia

Hello!!‏ From: Eve Ashworth ([email protected]) You may not know this sender. Mark as safe | Mark as unsafe Sent: 18 October 2007 06:09:59 To: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; suan sothea ([email protected]); [email protected]; Sam Flint ([email protected]); [email protected] ([email protected]); [email protected]; Eve Ashworth ([email protected]) (Siem reap) and another 2 men, one from Malaysia and one from China but living in Vietnam. The latter 2 were on a days business and continually felt the need to give us food...cashews, doughnuts...as you tell we're obviously wasting away!!!!

Got through the border fine but then had to go over a river on a boat to get to Phnom Pehn. Unfortunately no-one told us that it was a 'bank holiday'and we proceeded to be in a queue for the next 6 hours! Imagine the M1 on christmas eve and times it by 100, with live animals and 30C! It was mad, our cambodian friend decided to persuade us to get off the coach and take a walk to the boat through the traffic and see what all the fuss was. Truely mad, people on bus roofs, live animals in bags on the front of motorbikes and lots of children begging. We stayed and people watched for a few hours then we found our other friends from the coach and sat in the shade, where they again tried to feed us...we gave in and had a beer...liquid food!!

A couple of hours later our cambodian friend found us and tried to feed us more, food off the stalls...he offered me something that looked like a deep firnd small bird...what the hell, i ate it, found the smallest bones, and afterwards found out it was a frog stuffed with fish paste...nice! But actually tastes pretty good...you don't know till you try!!

Eventually back on the coach, over the river and hit Phnom pehn about 6pm. Harassed by loads of Tuk-Tuk drivers again, we settle into a guest house, $5 for twin,on suite...cold shower! Quiet night as the next day we were up to do a tour of ALL the sights on Phnom Pehn!

We decided to go on a lttle mini bus to the sights,the tour guide spoke great english and worked 10 hours a day then headed to night university for 3 hours after work each night, and we complain we work too hard!

We started by going to the 'killing fields;', 15km outside of the city. Its the second biggest site in Cambodia with over a 120 mass graves, just over half of which have been dug up. Its a strange place, seems so peacful and green and you would never have thought over 10, 000 people were killed and tortured here less than 30 years ago. There's a building with the skulls of those they've found there, for people to come and pray, its really sureal and quite sickening thinking what happened there was nearly within my lifetime.

We went to a market and had a walk about, then to 'S-21'the genocide museum, that used to be a school before Pol Pots regime when it was taken over. The people held there were tortured before being sent to the killing fields to die.

The afternoon involved going to a couple of temples the royal palace and silver pagoda, we were feeling all lectured/historied out by the last museum so skipped it to find a man who cooked us veg and noodles on the street and sat and chilled.

We decided to go to the riverfront that night. Had a 'sundowner'cocktail in the FCC bar and then dinner, when we got asked to join 2 ozzies and a guy from Gotland? island, he says its between Latvia and Sweden...all informataion appreciated!!??

Chatted to them before getting a Tuk-tuk back, who got lost and i ended up navigating...not before we saw another accident. A 4x4 pulled out straight into a motorbike with 3 fellas on, i'm pretty sure at least one one them had pretty nasty lower leg breaks. The drivers are mad in asia!

We've decided to head to Siem Reap tomorrow, another 6 hour coach ride but not going till liunch so lie in!

Hope everyone's well.

Loads of love

Karen and Gill

xxxx