After a nasty 9 hour layover in Kuala Lumpur airport from Tokyo where we slept on massage chairs like some new-age hobos, we arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It had just finished raining and the dust mixed with the water to give everything a pleasant, welcoming orange glow. Thankfully, for this leg of the trip we had our first offer of free accommodation, in the form of Tim’s relatives’ house. Embarrassingly, neither Tim or myself knew much of Cambodia’s history or the atrocities of the Khmer Rogue. So while we were in Phnom Penh, we visited S21: Tuol Sleng Museum and the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek.

S21 was previously used as a high school before the Khmer Rogue regime took power and was transformed into a prison in 1975. The classrooms were converted into cells/torture chambers and they have been largely untouched when you walk through them today. Some even have bed frames in the middle of the room, surrounded by ageing blood stains on the floor. Walking from room to room, passing the hundreds of photos of previous inmates of the prison was absolutely haunting and I can’t even begin to convey how horrifically confronting it was. The next day, we took a tuk tuk out to the Killing Fields, an area out of town where the inmates from S21 were taken to be executed. Strangely, the fields were beautiful, green grass and birds everywhere. However, it is impossible to not be affected by the tragedies that were committed. As we were visiting in the rainy season, we had to deal with the unfortunate side effects that the rain had on the fields. Every couple of days, shards of bones, teeth and clothes would come to the surface from the mass graves that were dug in the ground.

At the end of the walking tour, you arrive at the Stupa, which is filled with bones of the people who were killed out at the Killing Fields. Rows and rows of skulls, leg and arm bones all piled right up to the ceiling. Walking around inside the base of the building, I have never felt so claustrophobic and just generally freaked out. It was one of the most confronting days of our entire trip.

We spent about five days in Phnom Penh, taking in the sights but also allowing ourselves to relax in the comfort of an entire house, especially coming from the shoebox of a room in Tokyo. After taking in the sights and domestic bliss of Phnom Penh, we travelled in wi-fi enriched style to Siem Reap. Yes, our bus had wi-fi. What a strange concept it was to be rocketing along dusty roads, avoiding pot holes, passing poverty riddled villages only to turn your attention back to Facebook and whine that your photo didn’t upload properly. First world problems, I tell ya. They really hit you where it hurts.

The travel gods had smiled upon us and for the first time in our trip, timing worked in our favour. We were able to spend a few days with friends of ours from back in Sydney. I speak for both Tim and myself when I say that it was so nice being able to talk to someone else for a change. Finally, someone was laughing at the jokes and stories that we had re-hashed one too many times to each other. The days in Siem Reap and Angkor Wat flew by in a blur of tuk tuks, temple climbing and late night oreo and camembert runs.

….Stay tuned for Part Two….aka…the rest of the photos we took of Angkor Wat.

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