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So after our Jetset non-backpacker day of commuting we reached Phnom Penh. A day of sight seeing ensued, starting with rejection from the Royal Palace since it was closed between 11-2 so we made tracks to the National Museum where a wide display of Cambodian artefacts from art, religion, warfare and farming were on display. The museum also had a beautiful central courtyard where we sat and soaked up the atmosphere. After lunch we headed out to the Killing Fields which was a pretty sobering experience. This was one of the main sites where Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge soldiers inflicted their genocidal strategy upon the Cambodian people. We also visited S-21 prison which felt really oppressive and sinister and was where a lot of the prisoners were held for interrogation. Just for those of you that might not have seen on the news, the first of the Khmer Rouge soldiers is being put on trial now for crimes against humanity. It was a real eye opener seeing just how brutal this regime was and how it happened in such recent times. From what we've seen of the Cambodian people they were very much upbeat and are really embracing life after Pol Pot's rule.
To continue our consumer vibe we headed to the Russian Market and bought some toys for our trip to an orphanage the next day. That evening we treated ourselves to dinner at the Foreign Correspondents Club which was stil pretty reasonable but had an amazing atmosphere and was a great spot for people watching beside the mekong river.
In the morning we headed to a local orphanage which house children from babies to 10 years old for a year. Some of the children were severely disabled with one little girl not having any forearms of lower legs. The hairclips and nail varnish we brought with wre a big hit with the girls, and boys! Stayed here for a couple of hours playing with the children, but had to leave to catch our bus to Siam Reap.
Arrived at Jasmine Guesthouse Siam Reap that evening and had an early night in preparation for our 5am start to Angkor Wat in the morning. Our lovely Tuk-Tuk driver Sabi picked us up bright and early and took us to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat, quite a sight to behold! Our driver then proceeded to take us to the rest of the temples around the site which is the size of Manhttan and had a population of 1 million when London only had a population of 30,000! The amount of temples and the quality and detail in their construction was breathtaking. In some of the remains the jungle had taken root and this gave them an air of mystery as trees wound around the stone ruins! Our very kind driver bought us a local delicacy for lunch which was a banana wrapped in sticky rice and contained in a banana leaf...very tasty! By the end of the day we were pretty Wat-ed out by the whole experience and spent a relaxing afternoon at our hostel watching Wedding Crashers!
In the morning we were meant to be catching our bus to Bangkok, but this didn't quite materialise and the guy in charge instead packed us up in to cars to be driven to the border where a bus would meet us on the Thai side! the road from Siam Reap to the border is notoriously terrible (rumour has it that an airline is paying the authorities to not worry about giving the road its much needed upgrade so more tourists still fly from Bangkok out to Angkor Wat!) so we bumped along the red dusty dirt track in this guys car for 3 hours at I don't know what speed, since his speedo wasn't working! The road was full of pot holes (making Cudworth Lane seem as smooth as a baby's bottom!)
Arrived at the border safely though and then caught our VIP bus for the further 5 hours to Bangkok. O the joy is in the journey....not!
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