Phnom Penh

Two more bus journeys left! Another really long bus journey and a relatively successful border crossing brought us into the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. This was to be a short stop before making our way north to Siem Reap, but we wanted at least a day to sample the notoriously good food and see the sights.

On our first evening we had our first of two brilliant meals in Phnom Penh. We ate at Friends, a charity restaurant run by former street kids. The food was served tapas style, but was Asian in nature and included curry, sti-fry, meat balls, sweet potato chips, and rice - it was so good we were forced into having one of their brilliant desserts too!

On our one and only day in Phnom Penh we decided to learn a bit more about the communist Pol Pot regime and the Cambodian Genocide of the late 70's. We hired a tuk tuk driver for the day and set out for S-21, the Genocide Museum. Visiting the former prison wasn't a very nice experience, but the museum was excellent in it's ability to explain the atrocities that happened, right down to the horrific gory details.

Visiting the Choeung Ek Killing Fields (where over 17,000 people were executed) was even harder to stomach. It was quite an upsetting experience, but we were glad that we visited and were able to learn so much about these devastating events that took place only thirty years ago.

Back in Phnom Penh we ended our brief stop with another great meal. Next stop...Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor!