Day 5- we travelled form Bangkok to the Cambodian border town of Poipet and then onto Siem Riep. This is one of our long journey days and it was not the most fun I have ever had. The border crossing went well and didn't take us too long but it took us 6 hours to go the 160km to Siem Riep. The roads were busy (full of bikes with about 6 people balanced on them) and it was just a dirt track full of rocks so we didn't make much progress!!!

In Cambodia we drove through a huge thunderstorm and the lightning strikes were so close to us and that made the journey more interesting.

The poverty in this country is so sad to see and the parents send their kids out to sell things on the street and so it is best not to buy anything or the parents will keep doing it. Even though they live in such a sad place they don't seem depressed; in fact they are all happy and speak amazing English. A tourist took two kids out for a meal last night and sat with us (it's better to feed the kids than to give money) and they were making jokes with us and were full of life.

Day 6 we stayed another nght in Siem Riep and spent the day doing more temple visits. We hired a tuk tuk driver for the day (he said his name was Bruce Lee) and we first went to Angkor Wat. The rest of the group decided to head to the temples at 5am to see the sun rise but we aren't that stupid so we followed about 9am. Angkor Wat is the sybol of Cambodia and is very different to the temples Thailand. Angkor Wat is more like a ruin than a temple and it was huge and beautifully carved.

Next we went to the Bayon which is a ruin with about 600 carvings of the king in different states of meditation and is amazing to see. We ahd a look around a market where i bought som elocal paintings and some cool long trousers (in Cambodia it is customary to cover your shoulders and knees at all times and especially when in religious buildings).

After a spot of lunch we went to Angkor Thom which is where they shot some of the Tomb Raider film. It was pretty much destroyed by the trees that had grown for hundreds of years through the bricks but you could still make out some of the carvings. By then the temperature was nearly 39oC and getting unbearable within the stone buildings so we headed back to the hotel.

On the way back we saw lots of elephants walking next to our tuk tuk and some monkeys eating bread. In the evening we went to a street vendor for some local food which cost me $1 for yellow noodle and pork and a can of beer. Kym, Roger, Vikki and me went our for a drink at the place where Angelina Joilie ate when she was filming here then we went to a crazy bar and drank too much beer. We dragged ourselves home about 3am!!!

Day 7 I hated. I wasn't feeling great after the beer and lack of sleep and then we had the worst journey ever. My seat was above the tyre on a double decker and i got travel sick within 30minutes. The journey took 6 hours and I hated every second of it. Luckily Charlene had some tablets so i took a few to knock myself out. We stopped in a village where they were selling spiders and bugs fried and that was nearly enough to push me over the edge so i sat back on the bus.

In the evening we went to a restaurant by the river which was a non profit restaurant that uses the money it makes to help the Cambodian street children. The people working there were former street children and it was good to talk to them about the good work they do. I had pizza and garlic bread (they are famous for their stone baked pizzas) and then we headed back for some rest.

Today Day 8 (Wednesday) we are still in Phnom Penh the capital of Cambodia and it is nicer here. The people are friendly and less pushy with their selling tactics. We went to the killing fields today and the genocide museum which was awful. There are so many skulls and bones lying around and the way they performed their torture was just sick. I dídn't enjoy the experience. It is sad to hear that in the schools here they don't teach the kids about the genocides like we learn about the war so a lot of Cambodians don't know what happened to their families. It is also bad that the prime minister here was a former soldier of the Khmer Rouge regime so the country is a bit corrupt.