Phnom Penh is a busy, busy city although I am guessing that Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are going to eclipse this when we get to Vietnam later in this trip. Compared to Bangkok it seems more shabby, more dirty, less organised and much more chaotic. Traffic rules seem to be flaunted (if indeed there are any) and again the people just live with this type of unorganised chaos without looking nervous, getting agitated or even really slowing down as they whiz about on a tuk tuk, moped or large 4x4 car as people cut them up, pull out on them or come the wrong way along a street. It is all accepted and expected, it is a normal day in the Cambodian capital city.

For a pedestrian walking the streets is not an easy task either as pavements, where they exist, are used for parking so most of the time is spent in the road itself amongst the speeding mopeds and tuk tuks. Crossing the road is a matter of looking for a small gap in the traffic and then just keep walking and let the cars, bikes, cyclists and tuk tuks find their own way around you - I am pretty sure if you dither (and stop) or panic (and run) you would get hit!

Given the relatively recent history of this country, which between 1975 and 1979 was led by the dictator Pol Pot and the barbaric Khmer Rouge that killed over a quarter of the population, it is hard to fully understand what the survivors of this regime actually went through. City folk were forced to work on the land, all personal belongings and wealth were taken away - the city centre of Phnom Penh, from what I can understand, was pretty much a ghost town with all transport removed with the exception of that being used to move people either into the countryside or to such terrible places as the Choeung Ek 'Killing Field' which was one of many hundred such sites across the country.

Choeung Ek, about 15km from Phnom Penh, is now the national memorial to the circa 3,000,000 people that were killed by the Khmer Rouge and it is a very moving place to visit. The audio guide really did bring you closer to the horrible actions that took place at this site where even today bone and cloth fragments are discovered. Within the capital is the Tuol Sleng (S21) prison (a school before the Khmer Rouge closed all education establishments) where people were tortured in order to confess to crimes against the regime. This site did not have the same level of information as Choeung Ek which I feel could have made it far more educational than it was.

Our hotel in PP, The Tea House Resort, was very good value coming it at just under £20 per night. The room was a little small but was nice and clean, breakfast was included and it was more than adequate for our four nights. There were plenty of options for food in Phnom Penh, but we found a great French bakery where we had simple bread and wine on a couple of occasions - the last of the big spenders! Our final evening here saw us eating at 'La Table Khmere' an east/west fusion restaurant although, with the exception of a French wine, we stuck to local food and very nice it was too.

Phnom Penh does not have lots to keep you occupied, which is probably why we walked rather than taking tuk tuks everywhere, but the Royal Palace was worthy of a visit and the walk along Sisowath Quay, alongside the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers, was really nice too. The national museum failed to impress us and really was not worth the entrance fee, the old railway station (which might one day see trains operating again) was a nice building although not really in the most desirable area.

One thing we did find was people willing to make a fast buck everywhere especially from the unwary 'westerners' and even in the Royal Palace one of the vendors was trying to charge more than advertised for bottled water (she did not get my 16 pence), the security guy at Wat Phnom who just wanted $1 to allow us in without giving a ticket and of course the tuk tuk drivers that seem to be just about everywhere asking "you want a tuk tuk sir?" to the point that you just ignore them all . . . . . Heather also scuppered an attempted bag theft by a speeding moped, fortunately the bag was securely around her otherwise it is likely that it would no longer be in our possession. A common sense tip is walk toward the traffic where ever possible and only carry what you really need!.

Vietnam is up next for us with a flight to Ho Ch Minh City (Saigon) with Qatar Arlines on the short one hour flight from Phnom Penh.