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On our 2nd day in Siem Reap we caught a tuk-tuk to the National History Museum and wandered through this well laid out museum listening to the audio tour telling us about the history of the temples and the ancient Khmer. The museum had many artefacts from temples, a hall of 1000 Buddha statues and wonderful video displays as well.
After our few hours at the museum we went back to the hotel and enjoyed a massage which cost us $8 each for an hour then we topped this off with some time at the pool. As usual, Pub St was our destination for dinner.
On Friday we had a driver pick us up for the five or six hour drive to Phnom Penh. It's only 300km from Siem Reap but the roads were not great in many places. We travelled through many small towns and saw lots of open farming land. The land seems much drier here than in Vietnam and the farmers are waiting on the rainy season to plant their crops. Having our own driver meant that we could ask many questions and get lots of information along the way. We stopped at an old bridge and took a few photos of the snake heads at either end. The snake or Naga is a protector of Buddha and features in many places throughout Cambodia. We also stopped at a local market and saw the deep fried crickets, spiders and huge water cockroaches for sale. The crickets are eaten as a snack with drinks like we'd eat peanuts. The spiders are put in wine and have medicinal qualities. I'm not sure about the cockroaches! The young girls were also keen to show us the live spiders which are collected in the mountains. We were happy to leave the market!!!
On our way into Phnom Penh we stopped at The Killing Fields or Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre to see and learn more of the Pol Pot era of Cambodia's history. Again the audio tour was fantastic and told of individuals' stories as well as detailing what was at the camp and how it operated. The stories left your heart broken and a sense of disbelief that one individual could try to exterminate so many of his fellow people. The end of the tour took you to a large memorial building or Stupa where the skulls of many found in The Killing Field were housed - quite chilling!
We checked into our hotel, The Blue Lime, small but lovely and well situated near the Palace, the Museum and the Tonle Sap River. There are many restaurants one the river front and leading up to it so we chose one for dinner. Our hotel room has a lovely canopied bed and a large balcony which was catching a lovely breeze after dinner.
This morning we went by tuk-tuk through Phnom Penh to the Genocial Museum of Tuol Sleng which was a high school before being converted into a prison in 1975. We were shown where people were tortured, cells where prisoners were kept and torture implements. We also saw hundreds of photos of people who came to this prison before being taken to The Killing Field. It's amazing to think that Phnom Penh was emptied out for 4 years during these times.
This afternoon we're relaxing by the pool and will walk to the river front for dinner tonight.
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