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First full day in Phenom Penh
Got up early to meet our guide who would take us on our tour of Phenom Penh delights. We started by going to the Royal Palace another $6 dollars so feck that we said no thanks bring us to the next place. We headed to
Tuol Sleng which before 1975 and the Pol Pot regime it was a school. But they turned it into a prison for everyone, babies, children, men and women. In 1975 154 prisoners resided in the 4 block school and this number escalated to 2,250 in 1976 and it was 5,765 in 1978. The history in this now museum is harrowing. It was horrible what happened to the Cambodian people and not so long ago this happened. Worse than the Nazi's. Pol Pot wiped out over a quarter of the population. It was hard to stomach especially the torture methods and how they killed the babies. After this we were brought on the route the prisoners were brought when they were to be killed and buried in the mass graves. The Killing fields were house in a lager glass monument there lie 7 levels full of human skulls. We swathe mass graves and the tree they used to break babies heads off. It was horrible what happened here. After this we needed to cheer up so we were taken to Phenom Wat a Pagoga in honour of Grandma Ping. It was lovely but I was approached by this deformed child and oh god I nearly broke down he was so sweet and called me madam. He had been searching in the bin only he's stumpy arms and deformed fingers couldn't open it so he tried to prop it up with his flip flop. I wanted to grab him and take him away from it all. This country is developing and we knew that but please prepare yourselves before you come.
Anyway we headed for lunch then to a place that our guide recommended. I got adventurous, and what a f***ing eejit I was to do so. I hated my food and one dish smelt like sewage. This was a respectable joint as well my luck is still none existent with food so it seems. After this we went to the Russian market were I got a few nice things and George spent a good bit. Then onto the Central Market. Both Markets are amazing you can get great knock off stuff in the central market and its very organized. Note to travelers in the city power cuts happen all the time remember this. Happened loads today.
We headed to the river for a drink and of course the minute you sit down the children come off the street to you selling books and begging so drink and eat inside. We both when to a cheap spa and got our feet sorted. Then we went to a really nice restaurant called Friends which is a cookery school for street kids. They did a grand job with the food but we thought the portions were small and I was starving. We then realized that it was a tapas style bar so I ordered more. I am seriously broke now.
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