Phnom Penh

The next day, we had one of our favourite city activities: a walking tour. We met our guide at the independence monument, where we learnt about the history of the city and the origin of the name 'Phnom Penh'. We enjoyed hearing the guide's personal take on the modern development of the city and he pointed out several other monuments as we walked. After a visit to a store selling locally produced pepper and coffee, we went to a Buddhist temple, where our guide told us about the time he had spent living in the temple compound as a monk. During our tour we also visited several different types of markets, including an indoor one built by the French. The different vibes and produce between the markets was interesting. Our guide pointed out several of the UNESCO protected buildings around the city as we walked; these were French construction but the locals can't update or change them due to the protection, so many of them have fallen into disrepair. One of our favourite stops was to sample rice wine in a local restaurant and eat some market snacks, which we had picked up along the way. After passing through the railway station, we visited a mound where another Buddhist temple sits at the top. From there we walked to the night market, where we parted ways with our guide and found ourselves some dinner, which we ate on the communal floor matting. It was a very long and busy tour, we certainly got our steps for the day. The variety of things we were shown, we wouldn't have been able to find by ourselves; this is why we love having a local take us on a walking tour in a new city.

On Tuesday it was the Cambodian Queen mother's birthday, so lots of the attractions were closed. We had a chill morning, but there was our evening food tour to look forward to, which luckily was still running. We were excited to try some local dishes as this was our first time in Cambodia. Our guide took us by tuk tuk to three different local restaurants. He was very knowledgeable about the origin of the dishes and the history of the families who ran the eateries. We enjoyed all the dishes: curry, pancakes and noodles. Then for dessert, we were taken to the Russian market, where we got to try two different sweet sticky rice variations, both delicious. To end the tour we shared a drink with our guide in a bar. We don't usually frequent bars when it's just the two of us, so it was nice to do something different.

Wednesday started with a trip to the Royal Palace. It had been closed the day before for the celebrations, so we took the opportunity to go the following day instead. We wandered around the palace grounds in the early morning heat, admiring the manicured gardens. Although we weren't allowed into the Throne Hall, we were able to see the throne from the open doorway. We visited several of the pagodas in the grounds, the highlight being the Silver Pagoda, which houses an Emerald Buddha and all the floor tiles are made from silver. After our visit to the palace we hid from the sun until it was a bit cooler in the evening, when we went on a boat cruise. The cruise started in the daylight and we could see the skyline as we floated along the Tonle Sap River, joining the Mekong after about 20 minutes. We've now been on the Mekong in each of the four countries we've visited during our trip. We enjoyed our welcome drinks (a mocktail for Will of course) and live music and watched the fairy lights on the many river boats turn on, as the sun set. Two hours later, when we docked back by the palace, it was dark and the city lights and twinkling boat lights had made the last part of the cruise very pretty.

The next morning we joined a trip to one of the country's largest Killing Fields and S-21 prison. Will wasn't keen to go on another depressing tour after our visit to the War Remnants museum in Ho Chi Minh City, but he also didn't want to leave me to go alone. So we spent the next four hours learning about the Khmer Rouge and their horrible abuse of prisoners, who were taken to the killing fields to die, once they'd confessed under torture at S-21. We were shocked to learn that a quarter of Cambodia's population was killed during the Khmer Rouge regime, making it one of the worst three genocides in modern history. The trip was an all round sobering experience and Will hated it, as predicted, but it was worth going, so that we now fully understand the history of the country and can sympathise with the Cambodian people.