A bit of an update & a history lesson too.

After a fun day bus trip we landed in Phnom Phen, the capital of Cambodia. As soon as we arrived we were attacked by tuk-tuk drivers as usual, and it took us a little while to get our bearings, figure out where we were and figure out we need a tuk-tuk driver. We managed to get our bags on the tuk-tuk without it falling over from the weight of them and we were off. We went to the area by the lake to look for accommodation after the first few places didn't have a room for all 3 of us we got 2 rooms. We them went downstairs to the bar to get a beer - thats right I said beer.. Slowly but surely I am training myself to drink beer. Let me tell you its not easy. I am diluting it with sprite, but slowly slowly the sprite is getting less and less. It makes a huge difference when beer is 50c and a drink it $3. The bar area was pretty cool as it jutted out on the lake and was very pretty as the sun was setting. Within just this short time of being here one thing that sticks out is that Cambodians are far more friendly then the Vietnamese, the difference is massive and we are enjoying it already.
After we settled in with our beer one of the waiters did come over and offer us a bankie of weed... hmm.. maybe this is the reason for the relaxed and happy mood?!?!

The next day we had our tuk tuk driver pick us up and after bumping into Bryce last night (one of the guys we met in Halong Bay) who just happened to be in the guest house next to us he joined us to on our days adventures.
We started our day off by learning more about the war in Cambodia. and visited The Killing Fields and the S-21 Genocide museum. I did not know much of this war that was going on and was quite shocked to learn all about it and found that I took more from it then I did at the war museum in Vietnam.

I will give you a quick brief history lesson in the war if you would like to know. If you are feeling sad this in no means will cheer you up (everything that is highlighted is a link if you want to click on it for more information):
in 1975 (not that long ago) there was a group Called the Khmer Rouge took over when the government at the time was overthrown. They were under the leadership of Pol Pot. His aim was to set up a solely agrarian society and rid Cambodia of all western influence. In his mind to achieve this he had to make all the people 'equal' and to do this he killed all intellectuals - doctors, people in the old government, lawyers, people of middle to upper class and even people with glasses. All people were to work in the fields and base people (people who had lived their lives in the country) were seen as the best kinds of people as they had not been corrupted by western influence. Cities were evacuated, factories and schools were closed, and currency and private property was abolished.
People that were part of the ole regime were taken to a prison (which is now the museum) and tourchered to give up any valuable information or to say who other people in the government were.
Basically if you now living in the country and they found out you have been lying about your identity or you were an íntellect or were not a good enough worker or for whatever reason they thought you were taken to reeducation camp which was basically a cover up for you are going to die. People would disappear and just not be seen from again.
The war lasted for 4 years and approx 2 million Cambodians were killed from a population of only 7 million.

The killing fields is the actual site that people were taken to where they were killed. It is a massive plot of land where they have excavated about 83 mass graves and found over 8000 bodies (there are sill about 45 mass graves that have not been excavated). people were shot or when they didnt want to use ammo where beaten to death or buried alive and young children were often thrown against trees to kill them. It was quite eerie to be around that.
It boggles my mind to think that people could do this to their own people. I have read an amazing book written by a child survivor of the Khmer Rouge and gives you a lot of information about it. It is called First they Killed my Farther by Loung Ung if you are interested.

After all the depression we then went to the Palace to see some pretty shiny things, but gave that a skip when we found out how much it was to get it and instead we went to the river side to walk around there. After some walking we stopped to have a drink and relax a little. After a while at the bar along comes an elephant and his keeper just walking along the streets. He then stops right at our bar and they bring out some food for him and you can feed him while he just chills there. Johnson you would have been shitting yourself as the elephant was only about 10m away from us. It was pretty crazy..

For dinner we headed to get some Khmer cuisine and there was chicken amok (curry) and Beef luk lak which has the most incredible sauce. We then took part in a pub quiz with 2 Canadian guys we roped in. It was not an easy quiz, as some people know my pub quiz skills are not the greatest.. but it was good fun anyways. We came 5th out of 12 teams.. not to bad I would say!!!

After a good time in Phnom Phen its time to hit the beaches.