Cambodia

Okay, so at the moment we are sitting on a coach that is stationary due to the driver running over 2 cows and breaking the front of the coach... We had already been on the coach for seven hours before this accident occurred....  We are heading toward Stung Treng- this is where the Laos border is, which we need to cross... So whilst I am sitting here, bored out of my mind, thought I might as well write about our past 5 days in Cambodia.

When we got to this country our first stop was Siem Reap, where we visited the Ankor Wat Temples and our second stop was Phonm Penn where we visited the Killing Fields and S:21 prison. Before we visited Cambodia, our knowledge on the genocide that occurred in this country from 1975-1979 was very little and more or less non existent; So these 5 days have been very educational to say the least and extremely sad. We are all amazed that we were not taught about the genocide in school considering it only happened a mere 35 years ago! These last days have been very insightful and have made us extremely grateful for the lives we have....



THE ANKOR WAT TEMPLES- SIEM REAP

These consist of several different sites over a vast area, we chose to see most of the temples in 1 day due to our short time in Cambodia. But you can see them over several days with a week pass. Our 1 day pass was 20 dollars each and our tuk tuk driver was 12 dollars for the day. He took us to each temple, waited for us, then took us onto the next; and as we are not history buffs or photographers, we thought 1 day was plenty. However we can see why some choose to spend several days exploring these magnificent ruins.

THE KILLING FIELDS AND S:21 PRISON- PHONM PENN

We paid a tuk tuk driver 10 dollars  between us to take us to both sites, then at each place it was 2 dollars each for entry. First we visited the killing fields, this was one place where the Khumar Rouge took innocent Cambodians- men, women, children and babies and murdered them in cold blood and threw them in mass graves during this horrific ruling from 1975-1979. This site has been excavated and the bones of these victims have been stored in a purpose built glass shrine, in order for people to pay respect.

Next we visited the S:21 prison, where the Khumar Rouge, would imprison the victims, torture and kill them... Out of the thousands of people who were detained here during these 4 years- only a handful survived. These cells were very disturbing to put it in words, I just hope the poor tortured souls are now resting in peace...

Our time in Cambodia was very short, but in a way we were glad as we didn't really take to the place, and as 3 girls we didn't feel as safe as we did in Thailand. But everyone has different experiences, and I met a few travelers that loved Cambodia.... We just had the bad luck I guess... I mean I'm sure not all the coaches run over cows.... Well that's about it, still sitting here waiting for our coach to get fixed- no doubt be here a good few more hours... the joys of traveling....