Today we had another busy day, starting with the Grand Palace which is situated near the river here in the capital city- Phnom Pehn. We had a tour guide that told us a lot about the history of the Palace and about the current king who was there today. At the Palace there was one room called the Silver Pagoda that had a floor made of pure silver tiles... It was funny to see that although the floor was covered in carpet in order to preserve the floor, the bit that we could look at was a little warn and they used good old sellotape to stick it together!
After the Palace we went to the National museum which was actually quite small to what we imagined. Here they had a lot about Angkor Wat City which we had been already, with lots of stone carvings taken from the temple. We have to admit we weren't blown away by the museum today which was a shame but worth a look anyway. After here we attempted to go to the Central market but it was closed for the Chinese New year so went to a Dim Sum place to eat instead!
In the afternoon we had an organised trip to the Killing fields and the converted school, S-21 that was a prison where they tortured thousands of people during the Genocide. The Killing fields was incredible. We had a fantastic tour guide who had personal experience with his own family being killed or starving during the Pol Pot regime as well as how he was sent to the fields to work as a scarecrow. Some of the torture techniques were unbelievable able and it is so hard to comprehend what happened here only a few decades ago. The killing fields were literally what it says - They took everyone who was educated even mothers and babies to these fields to kill them, Often using brutal ways as well as torturing them. It was so hard to comprehend what happened in such a small space, especially as you walk around there are bone fragments that have re-surfaced. We then went to S-21 where they tortured the people before taking them to the killing fields in order to get more information from them. We have taken lots of pictures that we will put up as they speak for themselves. One positive aspect was however that there were 7 survivors from this specific prison, one of whom we were able to meet and have pictures with and we bought his book too so that will be a good read on our long journeys.
3rd February
Today we drove a hearty 6 hours to the coastal town of Sihonoukville and when we arrived it was a quick change and off to the beach we swam and played games in the warm sea and the crystal waters. Here we had some lunch and walked around but it was later when the partying began. We had a lovely BBQ dinner on the beach - let of some fireworks and lanterns, played some fun (but very organised) games and partied on the lovely beach. It was definitely one of the big highlights of the trip.
4th February
Today was another relaxing day - we went on a brilliant boat trip to the islands around the coast. Although the boat has some trouble starting (giving us flashbacks from Portugal) It was soon off where we stop to do some snorkeling. Although not a huge amount to see we saw a lot of sea urchins and some cute little fish it was nice to float around and look around on the sea. The second stop was a private Island with a secluded beach where we soaked up the sun and swam in the beautiful sea. It felt like we were in paradise!! After a big of relaxing we had a tasty BBQ on the beach and not long after we returned back to shore. This evening we went to a beach bar and restaurant where we ate some great food with our feet in the sand. We need to get an early night as we are up early for another long (9 hours) bus trip to Vietnam and all this sun, sea and a lot of salt has warn us out.
Having a lovely time and meeting lots of nice and interesting people.
Until next time,
Katrien and Rob xxx
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