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CambodiaAs I said before immediately I loved the scenery but I cannot say the same about the 3 towns I saw! Phnom Penh wasn't anything special at all; we literally went to see the Killing Fields and S21 before heading up to Siam Reap. S21 was shocking and really opened my eyes to the atrocities that have occurred over time but the most shocking thing is how recent some were. Pohl Pot was sending thousands to their deaths in the 70's, the 1970's and nobody did anything about it. Having been in Vietnam a few days before and hearing how the USA used Vietnam as their 'testing ground' for Napalm, agent orange and many other hideous chemicals, it was less surprising but really shocked me how these things could occur only 10 to 20 years before I was born. S21 itself is spooky, the cold concrete building reminiscent of Eastern Europe was filled with torture equipment and many tiny wooden and brick cells the size of a downstairs bathroom.Then on to Siam Reap, a cool little town with a good bar street and restaurant street but the best thing was our hotel; it served $0.50 beer on draught all day long! Two long days of temple hunting meant we slightly abused this offer! We hired a tuk tuk driver for both days for $7 each and only realised how much of a bargain that was when we got going...the place is massive, probably 30km square! We headed to a land mine museum set up by a guy who has devoted his life to disarming land mines by hand! It's incredible how many there are and how it holds back the country in the same way it does in Laos. We then went to a few temples which became more and more impressive as we went on. Walking through these stone labyrinths lined with such intricate detail amazed us all (we are travelling with a couple from Devon at the moment) and meant we went back to the hotel content and ready to consume as much 50 cent beer as we could! The next morning we left the hotel knowing we had saved the best until last, Angkor Thom, Ta Prom and finally Angkor Wat. Ta Prom is my favourite of them all, it's not as impressive as Angkor Wat but I loved getting lost in the many corridors of ageing stone lost in a forest where the trees have, over many years, become part of the temples. I got a bit trigger happy so there are loads of photos I'll put up of trees inter-wined with the temples and the amazing detail on every part of the temples.Angkor Wat itself was unbelievably impressive; it took 10 minutes to walk its grounds before getting through the first door. Once inside it is very Roman with bathing pools and symmetrical walkways. Much of it has been restored, which is a shame in a way, but does mean you see it as it was. The photos will tell you the rest!We then left Cambodia on a 12 hour bus to Bangkok and went through the hole of a town that was Poipet to cross the border...the roads have no tarmac so red clay is everywhere along with what seems like half of Britain's household waste! Cambodia is clearly a poor country but it has much less character and beauty than Laos just from my short stop here. I don't think I would make a special effort to return, not because I don't like it, it's a beautiful place in many respects but I feel I have done nearly all there is to do here and Laos offers much of the same but with an unexplainable feeling of kindness and simplicity.I'm now on the bus to Ko Tao, an island off the East Gulf Coast of Thailand where we are finally chilling out for a while! We will move about a bit; onto Ko Samui, maybe Ko Phan-Gan for the full moon party before going to the more peaceful Ko Phi Phi, Phuket, Railay and Similan Islands. Unfortunately my collar bone hasn't healed how I'd hoped so I won't be doing any backwards somersaults but I can definitely laze about on the beach and swim round in a circle with one arm! We had two nights in Bangkok before getting on the bus and went to See Muay Thai boxing and most importantly the new James Bond film in HD!! Wow...what a film, go see it now if you haven't already! The boxing was awesome too, one guy was carried off after being KO'd and another just bled like mad! The way they knee each other in the ribs is ridiculous! Anyway, ciao for now and I hope all is well in cold and dreary England!
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