28 Feb 10 Is it the end of beer-o-clock? (Sihanouk Ville, Phnom Penh & Siem Reap)

On 25th Feb we spent the day by the beach. Hannah, Kelsea and Malorie went on a booze cruise, so it was our mission to get more wasted than they were. By the evening we were drinking buckets of vodka and redbull whilst waiting for their boat to return. The boat didn’t return till 12am so we gave up and went home as we had to be up for 5.30am.

Early the next morning we were rudely awaken at 5am. My hangover was disgusting but we had to get moving to catch a bus back to Phnom Penh.

The bus journey was painful to say the least - I have now stated that I’m never drinking again (for now). We finally got to PP at about 1pm and quickly made our way to the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields. It was really disturbing what Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge did to the Cambodian people and the thing that struck me the most was the photography library of all the prisoners who were suspected of being spies or related to one. They all looked normal; wifes, children, babies and whole families.

After the tour we took a boat trip down the river to watch the sunset.

Early on 27th Feb we took another bus to ……….. (tbc - I’m so bad). Whilst we were there we hired bicycles and took a bike ride over the 1km bamboo bridge to the island. It was bloody hot but well worth it.

On 28th we had to take another bus, this time to Siem Reap, ready for our Angkor Wat tour. We decided we’d get to Angkor Wat in time for the sunrise, which meant a 4am start on 1st March. So we had an early night.

Early the next morning we got up and caught a tuk tuk to Angkor Wat temples. The sunrise was brilliant, rising directly over the temple.

On 2nd March we spent the day at a 5star hotel by the pool, living it up. Then in the afternoon some of us visited a local orphanage just outside of Siem Reap. The owner opened the orphanage in 1979 just ater the Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime was overturned. Both her two children and her husband starved to death during the regime so she decided to open up her home to other children. She now looks after 40 children, even though she’s getting old. She secures education for them and they all show a huge amount of (well deserved) respect for the woman. Most of all they all seemed happy, healthy and are very lucky to be in her company