See trip index here, Laos index here, and more photos from Laos here

As mentioned previously, there is very little information on the Internet about getting from Cambodia to Laos via the route we are going.  What information exists is conflicting and though we hope all the good things we read are true, we really hope all the bad things we read are false.

In Kratie, we hoped we’d find more information on getting to Laos, but really not much exists!  There are no tourist offices with set trips to choose from (yet) and there is vague mention of “VIP” minibuses that are best avoided.  Phnom Penh PP Sorya 168 has an office in Kratie, and even they don’t mention anything about Pakse on any adverts or posters they have.  The guy there will sell you tickets to either 4000 islands in Laos or Pakse in Laos, but beyond that he (appears) to know nothing else.

We bought a ticket from Kratie to Pakse for $17 each.  It is scheduled at 13:30 but told to arrive at 12:00, and it should arrive at the border at 16:00.  Worryingly the guy didn’t know any information about the border crossing, visas or bus changes or anything else!  To the border, the bus is the same if you are going to 4000 islands.  The bus is due to arrive in Pakse at 20:00.

However…

In the morning I had another Asia instant-weight-loss bug which isn’t ideal on for a good 8 hour journey.  Fortunately we were able to change the tickets to the following day and found a slightly better hotel for another night just to stay in bed.  My body did a good job of ridding itself of nasties quite rapidly from both ends.  Valentines day in bed sounds like fun, but not like this.

So the following day we arrived at the office at 12:00 for the 13:30 bus, which arrived and left about 13:15.  Surprisingly the bus was a large and comfortable with a toilet (unchecked!) – and after a 20 minute lunch stop it arrived at the border about 17:15.  The guy on the bus gives all the necessary visa and immigration forms, and for a small fee will deal with it all for you – including filling in and signing the forms…!  UK visa on arrival = $35; Cambodian exit bribe $2, Laos immigration bribe $2 and guy on bus fee $1 or $2.  The guy on the bus does not force his service and some did it themselves, but we couldn’t be bothered and let him deal with it.  So don’t forget your USD in cash and a passport photo.

This actually meant we stayed on the bus (bar getting supplies from the market) and didn’t need to do anything at all or show our face to any official.  The same bus continues into Laos dropping the people off for 4,000 islands, and continued through to Pakse stopping at a bus station 2km east of town about 20:15.  You need a tuk tuk to get into town ($2 probably), and we paid in USD as we didn’t have any KIP and he was happy with that.

Clearly the journey and crossing with Visa on Arrival (VOA) is now trivially easy and you can ignore any blog or forum question/answer from 6+ months ago (thanks to Lonely Planet forum for telling us this route was possible, we may not have tried it without their input.).  Probably going to get easier too as the Cambodians seem to be constructing a large immigration building to replace their current shed.

We didn’t reserve a hotel, so when we arrived at our first choice we were a bit annoyed to find all the normal rooms full, and after quickly checking the nearby hotels and rejecting them, we had to pay for a posher/pricier room – though changed to a cheaper room for the second night.  Plenty of ATMs on “13 South Road” in Pakse, so getting KIP is trivial.

Pakse itself isn’t a must-see destination, just convenient, though it is a good base to explore the nearby countryside which we intend to do.  Walking around the entire town is easy, and there are a few temples to see as well as a large new market selling everything from clothes to hardware, and even food so fresh it was still breathing.  Including frogs.

The walk along the river is nice with plentiful bars, and we found out quite quickly Lao beer is both nice, and cheap!  No doubt this has contributed to a nice initial view of Laos, as being chilled and rather pleasant, so we need to get into the Laos swing of just being chilled and watching time go by….

See next installment here

Cambodia Costs and Review

See our general tip page here.  Note the costs here do not include external flights, vaccines and insurance etc – this will be detailed at the end of the trip.

Overall

Cambodia was a massive surprise.  Before we came we only read information on how we’d be ripped off at every opportunity; and how the roads were awful and dangerous; and how bad some accommodation was.  Our real findings though were vastly different.

Not once were we ripped off (maybe short changed a few pence), and not once did we feel unsafe.  The locals were unbelievably friendly, and even the kids happy to say a quick hello and not want/expect anything in return other than a hello and wave.  Very undemanding.

Cambodia has an awful history that we need to look at in more detail, and find out why the UK still supported Pal Pot of the Khmer Rouge years after he got booted out and millions (25% of Cambodian population) were murdered.

Considering what the country has been through we think it is amazing, and with so many kids at school the future is bright.  We only hope it doesn’t get ruined by being too touristy and then treating all westerners as walking ATMs. 

Siem Reap, Battambang and Phnom Penh were great, though we disliked the beach areas – though may have just been a bad choice.  We know we missed other parts off, and we didn’t go too far off the beaten track so haven’t really gone too deep, but we think we got a good view on the country.

Recommended to visit, and of course, Angkor Wat area is just stunning…

Budget

Our daily spend of  £39 is so little, and yet we did so much.  A fairly cheap country to get around in, and you could easily reduce our hotel costs by 50% if you like it rough,  At our level it was rather pleasant!

Security

Keeping small change (notes) loose is a good idea so you don’t get you wallet out.  Be wary of having “stuff” on display, or things dangling, as there are so many mopeds snatch-crime would be easy to do and hard to catch.

For us, we’d say we had no security issues – though we stayed alert throughout.

Useful facts:-

• ATMS:  ATMs everywhere (even in Kratie) and they only give USD.  When you get money out, if you have a big note go direct into the bank and change it (free) to smaller notes.  Canadia bank didn’t charge us anything for withdrawal
• Currency:  Most big items priced in USD, whereas smaller items priced in Reil.  4000 Reil=$1 and they are interchangable everywhere.  e.g. $1.75 item, pay $2 get 1000 reil in change.  $1.25 item, pay 5000 reil, or $1 and 1000 reil.  Easy really.
• Landry:  Most places around $1 to $1.50 per kg
• 7/11:  None – local shops only, but water etc similar price everywhere.
• Transport:  TukTuks are typical – negotiate first.  Even locals use “good” bus companies – Capitol and PP Soyra 168 are both fine and you can get tickets everywhere, and they can do hotel pickup.  Avoid tourist minibusses as they put 20+ in busses meant for 16. (+luggage!)
• Chemists:  Reasonable selection – also big supermarkets (Lucky) in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh for all western toiletaries.
• Food:  Street food easy to access.
• Language:  Knowing Yes, No helps – but English ok for normal stuff. 
• Power:  mains plugs everywhere so charging stuff is trivial (socket adapter may be needed, and of course make sure charger is 110/240v!). 
• Internet:  Wifi available in every guesthouse we used and in many bars/cafes.  Internet cafes and PCs to borrow also available free/cheap.
• Toilets:  Western style in all guest houses and in most “good” public places, there may only be one in a row so look.  Worth carrying toilet paper though seldom needed.

Stuff we took and didn’t use

(see our packing list here)

• Towels – they were provided by every guesthouse, even special beach towels
• Mozzie net – only needed in one place, and it was already provided.
• Loads of clothes – you only need 4-5 sets of undies – laundry is so trivial to do you do not need to carry as much as us.
• Spare batteries for stuff – power so available we kept things charged
• Main padlock – all guest houses had normal locks

Things we’d change

Sihanoukville wasn’t worth the trip, though Kep and surrounding places may have been.  Potentially we should have done more research surrounding these places and amended our routing.  But apart from that, we’d keep all as was.

See trip index here, Cambodia index here, and more photos from Cambodia here

Our last chilled day in sunny Siem Reap we did research on how to get to our next destination – Kratie – on the way to Pakse in Laos.  Quite a journey with very limited options, and our Internet research doesn’t show any clear or simple options.  Up until now we’ve been on a well trodden backpacker path where connections and transport seems to be easy, but from here to Kratie and then from Kratie into Laos information is scarce.  What makes it more confusing is the conflicting information on who to trust, and even if a VOA (Visa on arrival) is available at the Cambodia/Laos border….  Hey ho – that adventure is to come!

For now, the only transport we can find is the Phnom Penh PP Sorya 168 bus company.  Their office in Siem Reap is on Savaha Boulevard – not the location on their website.  A bus from Siem Reap to Kratie requires a change at Kampong Cham.  Leaving SR at 7:30,due at KC at 12:00, then the bus from KC to Kratie at 12:45 arriving 16:00.  All for $10.  Apparently.

Mel decided to have a nice massage before the bus ride – premonition?

The pick up bus was due at 06:45 and arrived promptly at 07:20 taking us to our first bus, the 07:30 – which left at 8:00.  After a couple of coffee breaks (needed to get away from the flippin’ Khmer Karaoke) we arrive in Kampong Cham at 13:30 – 45 minutes after our connecting bus left.  Other people on the bus were told the connecting bus was at 13:00, 13:15 and any other time.  Regardless, we were told to wait for the 14:00 bus that arrived at 14:30 which we all bundled on.  Looks like this bus was the one we should have got and the time on the ticket was a lie.  We eventually arrived in Kratie at 18:30 – so quite a long day!

The roads were actually quite good and the drivers as quick as the busses would go, so I’d be surprised if the journey could be much quicker by bus.  The views along the way were impressive and almost like a time machine as we passed people working the land in the old method, even with ox and carts.

Kratie town itself is, well, pretty dull and a bit dirty, and probably not a destination in itself if it were not for its location.  That said, it does have a lovely local feel to it and you do get the sense you are away from the backpacker trail even if you aren’t.  The market building burned down a few months before we arrived, so work is ongoing to rebuild the centre of town which should bring it back to life a bit.  Hopefully they’ll open more eateries as the choice is limited and poor.

One of the main attractions near Kratie is the rare Irrawaddy fresh water dolphin only found here, with only around 80 left alive.  We hired a motorbike to visit the area at Kampi, and of course Cambodia drives on the European right.  Not that it actually seems to make any difference as people tend to drive on whatever side is in the shade.  Along the way stopped at the Kampi rapids – an area where the Mekong is warm and, well, has rapids.  Many locals seem to chill, swim and maybe eat there, but there was a $1 foreigner charge though not sure how legit it was.  The views of the countryside though are superb.

The Kampi dolphins are easily visible, though a charge of $7-9 is made, and this includes an hour boat tour to hunt them down.  It actually feels like a hunt but the boatsmen are very careful not to get too close.  The dolphins keep popping up but don’t jump out of the water, so are next to impossible to photograph.  Worth a trip, and hopefully the money paid goes to their conservation.

As this is our last place in Cambodia, we bought a bus ticket to Pakse in Laos.  The bus company sold the ticket but couldn’t tell us anything about it – apart from the bus is scheduled at 13:30 but get to the station at 12!  The destination of Pakse isn’t mentioned on any paperwork or adverts, or even the ticket we were given.  No Visa information was provided either so we’re still not totally sure….

So our last night in Cambodia and we’ll miss it.  It is a lovely country, and apart from the odd couple of rogues the people are friendly and honest, and its a really great place to visit with some amazing sites.  Probably much more to see off the beaten track than we’ve seen, as we seem to have stuck to the tourist trail somewhat, but overall it is much better than we originally anticipated.

See Cambodia review and summary here

See next installment here

See trip index here, Cambodia index here, and more photos from Cambodia here

After another lovely street food meal, with some superb shakes we said goodbye to Battambang – a tatty place with a friendly feel.  Hopefully it will improve over the next few years.  Our bus journey from Battambang to SIem Reap on Capitol busses cost $3.75 and took about 4 incident free hours.  Our $20 guesthouse in Siem Reap feels like a good quality hotel, superb attentive staff, excellent room and outstanding service.  Quite chuffed with the find, though at #3 on Trip Advisor its hardly unknown.

Siem Reap is the main entry to Angkor Wat temple complex and so it is heaving with tourists.  Unlike Battambang which almost closes at 8pm, Siem Reap has a late night feel to the town and a bustle we’ve not seen for a while.  Very full of westerners though with the associated tuktuks and $1 massages, but it does have a nice feel to it along with a huge choice of restaurants.

Obviously, at Siem Reap the main attraction is the Angkor Archaeological Park with all its impressive temples.  Everyone says it takes at least a few days to explore, and as we’re really not hugely into temples we thought this was a bit generous.  But, we took advice and got a 3-day pass ($40) which is the same price as 2x 1 day passes, and hired a private tuktuk ($13) for the day to whisk us around.

Our expectations were not really that great, but we were soon convinced.  We did the standard “short route” tour, which started at Angkor Thom and Bayon temples which were hugely impressive and over a vast area.  The towers had faces on pointing to the 4 points, and the carvings through just were amazing.

After Baphuon and Phimeanakas which were okay we dropped down to the Terrace of the Leper King which had loads of carvings and again was absolutely amazing.  To be fair, even the less interesting temples were set in stunning landscapes which were worth a visit for themselves.

Following a few other minor temples we had a look around Ta Keo which was okay, then on to Ta Prohm which is famous from the Lara Croft movie – Tomb Raider.  The temple is a cross between being ruined and in good nick, and ancient trees are growing in/on/over the walls leaving some astounding views of trees intertwined with the walls.  Photos do not do any justice to the place but it was massively impressive, just sadly popular with tourist – ah – that’d be us then!

We decided to skip some other minor temples and head to Angkor Wat which looked huge from the outside, with a long walkway surrounded by a moat/lake thing!  After 5 minutes of walking, Angkor Wat looked even bigger and even more impressive but were yet to reach it. The scale is astounding and whilst possibly not the prettiest of temples, it really did shock due to the sheer size of it.

You can, of course, climb all over the temples, up loads of steps and explore.  We opted just to read a brief guidebook and not use a guide – a decision we were pleased with looking at how bored some people were of facts that they didn’t care about.  There were a few beggars and kids, but there were also some busking-bands (not begging) from people like land-mine victims – so they got our change.

After a long and incredibly interesting day, we haven’t touched the surface of the Angkor park  – but what we have seen is superbly impressive – far moreso than most ancient things we’ve seen in our previous travels.  Just a shame Lara Croft wasn’t at home….

On our rest day we continued exploring and wandering around Siem Reap, and amongst some nice temples we found a reasonable sized supermarket where we were able to buy some essentials – including hot-chocolate and a small jar of Marmite!  Made Mels day.  There are loads of bars and eateries in Siem Reap – choices between street food and good/cheap restaurants.  Amazing when you consider 12 years ago there was one bar! 

The following day, after marmite on toast for breakfast, we headed into Angkor Archaeological Park again for a big circuit tour including going to Banteay Srei which is about 38km away.  With a private tuktuk for the day it costs $22, but we met a couple of girls who we previously met in Mekong in Vietnam so shared the tuk tuk with them.  As if I would give up a chance of 3 girls company for the day…

Pre Rup was our first stop, which is an impressive mountain temple with lions and great views from the top, and then to Banteay Srei (citadel of the women) which is the most touristy temple we’ve seen.  Very intricate carvings and statues of Monkeys and Lions, but clearly the most renovated and organised.  Takes half the fun out of it when you can’t clamber over stuff.

Banteay Samre was surprisingly nice, an old moated temple, but overshadowed by other temples we’d seen.  East Mebon was also a little dull except for some ancient elephant carvings.

Ta Som though was impressive, back to huge faces on the top of towers and a huge tree growing out of the east gate.

Our final temple was Preah Kahn which was really quite impressive – a vast old monastery which used to have 1000 monks.  Superb carvings everywhere and loads of areas to explore and wander round, with lots walking and sadly lots of piles of the old temple!  More stunning trees growing out of the walls, and some double story structures sort of shows how it used to be.

Overall we’re templed out, but absolutely well worth the visit – must be one of the must-see areas on the planet, and I defy anyone to be bored for the duration.  Clearly tourism is a big thing here and it does contribute to the renovation of the temples, but it is a fine line between leaving the temples “as is” and renovating them.   Banteay Srei which has had huge amounts of renovation feels western, with lots of signs “can’t do this” and “can’t do that” – and it makes it pretty boring.  Whereas Preah Kahn where you can explore anywhere you want is a lot more interesting.

The mind boggles on how big an area the temples are spread over, and of course how on earth they were built, and how they used to look in their prime.  Some research required when we get back.

If anyone is tempted, get over to see the Angkor complexes as soon as you can.

 For next installment, click here

See trip index here, Cambodia index here, and more photos from Cambodia here

On our return to Phnom Penh, we wondered if our positive views would change after our experience in Sinanoukeville, as to be fair, there are plenty of girlie bars and “hello tuktuk!” men.  But something about PP makes it all less intrusive, even the girly bars are only identified by their names “69” “Horney Bar” etc…

So our last 2 nights in PP were still good, we had two good tasty meals out, a few good ice creams, and loads of walking around different parts of the city.  Phnom Penh is still very much recommended.

On leaving for the second time we headed to Battambang – a 6.5hr bus ride away.  To be fair even though it looks chaotic, the Cambodians have this sorted, as we got picked up to the hotel the entire bus ride was only $6.  We had good front seats for the lovely scenery en-route, and even the stop had good priced food and drink.  The only main issue was the driver made one mistake and had to emergency brake, but the brakes semi-failed and rather than go into the back of a lorry he had to veer on the wrong side of the road to a head-on with another oncoming lorry!  Most of the passengers were either screaming or making funny noises, but somehow everyone missed and we carried on.

The driver hit the dash dials as I think his air tank had gone, and when we stopped the customary running repairs took place – with a few compressed air leaks!  To be fair, the driver was very good and neither Mel or I (in the front seats) flinched…. 

For the first time we got to a hotel we had not pre reserved, and fortunately they had room. A reasonably smart hotel, and a big room and bath, all for $15 a night (£9.50).  Battambang is a funny place, Cambodias second most populated city, but more like a small UK town, and it is in need of a bit of TLC.  But it does have a nice feel to it and was hassle free bar a few people asking for money.  We ventured to a night stall area for some local food, and indeed had a very local and very tasty meal, with beer, for about £2.60 for us both.  They fortunately had an English menu!

There isn’t much really to see in Battambang unless you love Temples, so after seeing the town (1 day max) we spent time doing thing.  We had a morning class at cookery school, learning to make Kymer dishes, Fish Amok, Spring roles, and Lok Lak.  Very good value course ($10) as it included a market tour with information on what ingredient was what, and also buying everything we needed fresh.  After cooking, we did of course eat the lot – though Mels Tofu dish wasn’t great.

The small-world syndrome continued when after the course we bumped into people we met in the Mekong in Vietnam, and for the evening we went to the Phare Ponleu Selpak circus – which is a human art/acrobatic type circus with very disadvantaged children who also get a good grounded education.  The show wasn’t perfect, but even so it was impressive and entertaining and worth the money.  As we were full we grabbed a light tea – and astoundingly I had a meat baguette for 50c – 30p!

Our final day in Battambang we opted for a bike ride on the countryside which allowed use to drop into a rice paper making household (which are used for spring rolls), a craft place and to see another Killing Field memorial.   Nice again to see lots of genuine kids saying hello, and the odd blown kiss to me from the older girls, but life is pretty tough there.  The tour was worthwhile, but the guide was fairly useless – and the bikes were hideous!

Overall though, a reasonably eventful time in Battambang!

See next installment here

See trip index here, Cambodia index here, and more photos from Cambodia here

Our positive view of Cambodia and Phnom Penh continued after going out for a beer at 50p a glass and then to the local night market for tea.  You can’t get more authentic than joining pretty much all locals sitting on rugs in the centre of the food stalls.  Some of the stalls had English translations, and some had someone who spoke English to explain what everything was. Superb!  We both had Cambodian noodles, and I had one of those duck-chick-eggs – which is a duck egg which is just pre-hatch…  Tasted fine, but we did get into the “is it an Egg, or is it Meat” debate!  A fine meal for about £1 each.

The next day we went on a quad bike tour for the day, so we got picked up at 7:15 in a tuktuk (100cc moped with a 4+ seater trailer, though we’ve seen 8 in one!), and got to the company where 5 of us (3 quads) went out with 2 guides around the countryside outside of Phnom Penh.  Sadly it absolutely chucked it down first thing and we got covered in mud – all part of the fun. Just like quadding in England!  Mel did her share of driving, only hitting the guide once, and falling off the road once, but overall did pretty well.  The villages were so genuine, poor but not poverty, with loads of kids in school uniform which bodes well for Cambodias future.  So many kids coming out to wave and give high-5s, and all with genuine smiles – and only lookup upset if you didn’t wave at them!  No ulterior motive, just wanting a wave.  Hope it doesn’t turn into some places where Westerners are “kind” to kids, and the kids then associate Westerners with freebies. 

The tour took in Phnom Tamao Wildlife Sanctuary which had rescued tigers, bears, elephants and some other animals, and then a chilled lunch on Tonle Bati lake.  Finally after loads of riding (100km?), we headed to the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields near Phnom Penh.  The audio guide is necessary and it gives a very informative history of events that we were unaware of.  A moving place and very much worth a visit despite its sad past, though we would say its more informative and factual than emotional.

After an excellent meal we left Phnom Penh and headed by bus to Sihanoukville – a small coastal town 4 (make that 5.5!) hours away where there are supposed to be nice beaches and where we booked a better-than-normal hotel  for a romantic break.  The bus is weird – they have Kymer Karaoke on loud for the entire journey – and our seat was below a speaker.  Doh.   On arrival we found our hotel was a bit over sold and over priced, not the romantic place we hoped.  We then went to the beach and were almost horrified…  Serendipity beach is awful – litter everywhere, too many tuktuk/taxi sellers, beggers (including an American in a bar asking us to sub him a dollar or two!), child-gift-sellers, and bar/cafe hawkers that made any walk on the beach unbearable.

The beach itself is only 5-10m wide, full of chairs from the cafes, and not really worth a look.  Maybe we’ve been spoilt of recent, but this is a bit of a hole.  Only come here if you are 18-25 and like cheap parties, or you like the company of “friendly local girls” who were everywhere.  Otres beach is supposed to be better, but research showed no decent accommodation; most placed bulldozed last year; dodgy security to/from there, and as such we decided to carry on our journey and pick a better beach when we get back to Thailand.

A real shame that so quickly a clearly nice part of Cambodia can be turned into a dump just to satisfy a particular type of tourist.  With respect to the children in Cambodia, we are repeatedly reminded not to buy/give anything to them as it encourages them/their parents to avoid school as they can make a living by scrounging – not good.  And whilst there are many homeless children and orphanages, we keep seeing adverts saying “Orphanages are not tourist attractions – do not go”….  Many actually are fake ones set up to get tourist money….  So we’ll be avoiding kids here.

 Due to the lack of tarmac roads (as we found on the quads), the way to continue our journey is back to Phnom Penh and then on from there.  So another 5.5hrs back to our old guesthouse, where the owner said we were the second set of people to return back from Sihanoukville quickly – so its not just us who hated it.  The other people returned the same day!!!

For next installment click here

See trip index here, Cambodia index here, and more photos from Cambodia here

On day 63 we entered our fourth country on this trip – Cambodia. We have to admit, prior to this trip we knew nothing about Cambodia except the infamous Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, and perhaps we had heard of Ankor Wat.  Chatting to people along our route, Cambodia got mixed feelings – some people hated it and wanted to get out quickly.  There were also travellers tales of corruption and necessary bribes…

And so from Vietnam on the Mekong, we paid $22 for our Visa – which was actually $20 plus $2 beer fund to get us in.  Everyone had to pay $22.  The Sinhtourist trip worked well till our last minibus where we had to get out overcrowded van and walk when the road was rough, and then dropped everyone in the middle of nowhere except a load of expensive TukTuks…

With my Android phone and GPS maps, it wasn’t actually a big issue as we knew where we were and where to go – so when quoted $8 to get there we laughed, said we have GPS and its not that far to walk, and as we walked off he agreed to the $2 price which in truth was fair.  Oh dear…  Is this what it is going to be like…?

Our guesthouse was basic but clean and as expected, and very friendly, and we went wandering…

And what a very pleasant surprise!  The only annoyance is the constant “Hello – TukTuk?” – but apart from that it is a great place to visit. Instantly we were very happy buying food off the street for genuine prices, and happily surprised we can read road signs and menus etc.  French and English are in most places and its very easy to get by, and there is no feeling of being scammed as there was in Hanoi.  I even had a lovely street burger with local touches, and made with so much effort it was like the scene out of Love Actually where Roan Atkinson was wrapping the Christmas present.  Superb and fresh for about 80p.

The only real negative is that many of the bars are for the many sex-pats who live or holiday here, where “friendly girls” are always good company.  Seems fairly open and one of the local magazines has a 2-page article on how to choose them!  Weird, but harmless and non aggressive, and there are plenty of other bars.

Great positives are decent coffee and cappuccino sorely missed in ‘Nam; lovely ice-cream; and even a Euro-standard supermarket with everything you can find in the UK – even Cheddar cheese!  As well as the familiar feeling, you do get the chaos and adventure feel as you do in Hanoi – just on a lower stress setting.

Phnom Penh has many large open spaces, and walking around is easily done.  The S21 prison is the first insight into the Khmer Rouge regime – where a primary school was used as a prison and a torture area for pretty much everyone the regime didn’t like.  During their reign the cities were evacuated and like ghost towns.  Some quite horrifying bits in there, but a bit dated. 

The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda were also worth a visit, with a huge similarity with the Bangkok Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew – even down to the model of Ankor Wat.  The Bangkok palace is more colourful and restored, but the Palace in Phnom Penh is still very much a must see and mightily impressive.

After a couple of markets and monuments Mel decided to have a hair cut, so for $2 someone cut it but were too scared to take it as short as she wanted.  Still a vast improvement and no longer resembles a birds nest.  From the new shopping centre you can climb to the top, through a restaurant, and right to a walkway with impressive city views – and a good view over the central market where Mel tried to get some new underwear.   Now Mel isn’t the biggest of girls, but she struggled to get anything that wasn’t Bridget-Jones sizes!

More walking took us to the never-really-used Olympic stadium – bet it cost a lot less than the ones we’re building in London!  And then on to Wat Phnom – which means Hill Temple.  Hence Phnom Penh is so called because a lady called Penh founded the temple – hence Penh’s Hill – Phnom Penh.  Which is pronounced in Cambodia as “p-nom pen”.

A rather pleasant start to Cambodia, and if it continues like this we’re amazed it isn’t on everyones holiday radar yet…

Next installment here