Phil here,

We finished the last blog about to fly to Phnom Penh. After an hour and a half flight, we landed in the capital of Cambodia. We had already looked at a couple of guesthouse options so jumped in a tuk tuk to take us to the riverside area. The driver had to pull over because of "engine trouble" after 5 minutes but told us not to worry as his "brother" would take us the rest of the way. The idea being that the original driver gets the fare but the brother gets to sell us his services as a guide to the surrounding attractions.

We told him where we wanted to go and he took us to the riverside. After about 45 minutes of looking at different guest houses, we decided to stay at Waterview guest house for $15 a night. It was located in a good part of town, close to all 3 markets and lots of bars and restaurants.

We booked the tuk tuk driver to take us to the killing fields and S21 prison the next day then went for some dinner.

We ate in restaurant that had a small movie theatre upstairs that showed a short film describing the history of the Khmer Rouge and Cambodia. It was shocking to say the least; we knew that we were in for a somber experience the next day.

That night was Halloween; opposite out hotel was a locals club that was having a party, so we went in for a few beers. We were sitting on the balcony watching a street dancer pull off some Michael Jackson moves when were heard some cheering from inside, we had a look in and realized that there was a ladyboy cabaret show. The ladyboys in Cambodia are fairly tall, so in their heels they are over 6ft, it's quite a sight to see them dancing and singing to lady gaga!

We called it a night around 11.30 as we were getting up early for our day trip.

We met our driver Vissel at 10 am and headed off for the day. I had heard about the shooting ranges in Cambodia and asked Vissel about them. He took us to a place down a long dirt road, behind a big metal gate, and when we walked into the reception area it had all sorts of guns on the walls. There was a menu that you looked at and choose what you wanted to shoot. I had never shot a gun before and was interested to give it a go. I wanted to shoot a rifle, the kind you can hunt with, but was given an American assault rifle instead! We went into a long concrete bunker where the guy loaded 30 rounds in the magazine and showed me where to hold it and where to aim. I squeezed the trigger and could not believe how loud one shot was. I fired 15 single shots, and then he switched it to semi-automatic. That was a crazy experience!

After the shooting range, we arrived at the killing fields. There are hundreds of sights in Cambodia where people were executed but the killing fields near Phnom Penh have been made into the main memorial dedicated to all those that were murdered during the 4 year reign of the Khmer Rouge.

We paid our $5 entrance fee which included an audio guide then set off to learn all about it. In 1975, Pol pot entered the capital with his men and cleared the city of people. Everyone was moved to the country to farm rice and work the land. His idea being that the country would be better off returning to an agricultural society. Anyone with an education was imprisoned; anyone who refused to work was executed, along with many of his own men who he thought were spies for the CIA or the KGB. Most of the prisoners were executed. To start with they killed people in the prisons like S21 but due to the number of executions, they needed to transport people to larger areas where they could dispose of the bodies. The killing fields were one of these places. They didn't just kill the prisoners though, they killed their whole families. Men women and children were brutally murdered and dumped in mass graves. Bullets were too expensive to waste, so they used clubs, shovels and knives. Anything that would do the job, really. There is a tree called the killing tree that babies were beaten against then thrown into a pit.

An estimated 20 000 people were executed there in a horrific manner, bone fragments and bits of clothing still come to the surface when it rains.

After the killing fields, we visited S21 prison back in the city. Originally this was a secondary school, but was converted into a prison. This is where the people were held before being taken to the killing fields.

From what we learnt, nearly all of the inmates were executed. There were a few that survived, most being artists and political prisoners. The artists that survived were made to paint portraits of Pol Pot, as long as he approved of the paintings.

On our way out there was an old man sitting behind a desk. He was one of the survivors of S21. He had written an autobiography of his time there, so we purchased a copy.

It was a very sobering day. We all have bad days now and again but next time I do, I will think back to our experience at the killing fields and S21 and realize that my bad day is not as bad as it seems.

That night we had dinner and turned in early.

The following day we walked around town, visited a couple of markets and went to the kings palace. The king passed away on October 15th so the whole country was in mourning.

We could not visit the interior of the palace as it was closed so just took pictures from outside the walls.

That evening we had dinner at a restaurant along the river and started chatting to one of the many kids that try to sell you things.

This young girl was 13. She sells homemade bracelets on the street to make money. She is sponsored by an Australian guy, who pays $400 a year so she can go to school and learn English. Our waiter told us earlier that he makes $2 a day working 15 hours, 7 days a week. This is a normal wage. The bracelet girl told us that she makes between $500 and $1000 a month, sometimes a tourist will ask her how much and she will hold up 5 fingers ($5) and they will think she means $50. Obviously she doesn't correct them. I wonder if the Australian guy who sends her money realizes that she could send 20 other kids to school and still live in a nice house and eat well.

We had spoken to her the night before and Miranda had said "sorry I don't want a bracelet" her reply was "sorry doesn't feed me"! She definitely knows how to work the tourists! We felt bad, which is why we offered to buy her a drink (orange juice) and find out her story.

After dinner we did a bit of bar hopping, played some pool and connect 4 then hit up the karaoke.

The next morning we took a bus to Sihanouk Ville which is 6 hours to the south and is the Cambodian Riviera. We planned to spend a week there, relaxing on the beach.