So Much to Tell...So Little Time

**note - I've just realised that my memory card has frigged up again...so there'll be no pics on this one until I get it sorted out....the curse of SE Asian internet cafés!!**

There's been some frenetic travelling recently. Since I last wrote I've spent 2 evenings eating crab in Kep, bussed to Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia and spent 2 nights there, then bussed onwards again to Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat, I've been here one night.

I've been travelling with a guy called Roger whom I met in Kep. He's been travelling for 2 years already and is heading back to India after he leaves Siem Reap. I'd put a pic up, but I only have one and he looks ever so slightly odd. I'll save him the embarrassment. I was quite grateful for his company as a local guy called Denny had taken a shine to me and took me for a moto ride around Kep National Park (at this point I thought he was a moto driver). I had to meet Roger for food at 6pm and made sure Denny knew this! A lovely dinner was had that evening, the dinner I've been waiting for, crab fried with Kampot pepper. Highly messy, but highly delicious....nom nom nom. Thank you Violet Dear.

Next we hit Phnom Penh. I'd heard that it was a bit of a dive...not much to do apart from the obvious, S21 and the Killing Fields. I won't write too much about it here as the whole thing deserves a blog post of it's own which will come up soon, but for a little bit of background...

In April 1975 The Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia after a long civil war, at first the people were happy at the end of the war and welcomed the soldiers into the cities. It soon turned nasty, Pol Pot and his guys were determined to turn Cambodia back into an agrarian society, and sent everyone to work in the rice fields. Anyone with an education, anyone who could speak French, monks, and even those who wore glasses were considered imperialists and were systematically executed. The regime got worse and worse through the late seventies, S21 (or Tuol Sleng) is an old highschool that the regime turned into a centre where people were brought to be detained, interrogated and tortured. Poeple were then sent from S21 to be executed at the Killing Fields, a location around 5km outside of Phnom Penh.

It's thought that at least 2 million Cambodians were either starved to death or executed during the 4 years that the Khmer Rouge were in power. Seeing S21 and the killing fields was pretty harrowing, but I'll leave it for another post.

After Phnom Penh we headed for Siem Reap, I wasn't sure what to expect, but people had told me that they love it.

I LOVE it!

After being here for even less than 24 hours...I can see why people might see Phnom Penh as a bit of a dive compared to this. I visited the places the right way round! Everything is here. You can get a fish foot massage almost anywhere on the street. You see people perched on the edge of inflatable swimming pools with fishies nibbling their feet. They have some incredible covered market places, so many restaurants and bars. And of course, the jewel in Cambodia cultural crown...Angkor Wat. I'm planning on visiting the temples tomorrow, I'll probably get a 3 day pass and so I should have some awesome pictures to show you over the next few days.

I'll get my card sorted out today and hopefully have some pictures for you very soon.

Love love lovers xxx