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Vietnam - Thailand - Cambodia

Here it is folks - the next diary entry all the way from Cambodia!

I have just experienced my first tropical storm. We are in a place called Sihanoukville, on the Southern coast of Cambodia. A really chilled out town with loads of beach front bars/restaurants. It's a great place to be after the past week that we've had.

We left HCMC to arrive in Phnom Penh after a hot and sticky 6-7 hour bus journey. It wasn't a pleasant journey in the slightest, however we did make friends with a wicked group of people and we have now named ourselves Team Boarder. It comprised of Nay and I and an Aussie couple called Jim and Emily and then two lads from good old 'Blighty' called Jamie and Matt.

There was a sad feeling in the air as people walked around looking at portrait photos of all the prisoners at the S-21 Prison. I had an odd and scary experience there, as I found a photo of a young girl and she looked identical to me when I was the same age. I took a double look at it when I saw it; I just couldn't believe my eyes. And to think about the torture that she had to endure whilst a prisoner there - something that will always be with me from now on.

Next it was onto The Killing Fields and that just topped the day off. After听overthrowing the Khmer Republic Regime during 1975-1979, the Ultra Communist Khmer Rouge Regime converted what was a orchard and Chinese cemetery into the most cruel and barbaric killing field on Earth.

In 1979-1980, 129 mass graves were found, 86 of which were excavated. 8,985 corpses were exhumed and the largest mass grave contained 450 corpses. When you see it now, there are holes in the ground of various sizes, which could just be mistaken for ponds in the making, unfortunately that's not the case. What really happened when the young children, families and the elderly got killed is simply too horrific for me to write about.

The majority of them just want a cuddle and to talk to you, they just loved asking questions about anything and everything. We were told that most of the children had lost their parents to HIV, which is so sad. The conditions in which they lived were very poor compared to Western standards - one room with three beds sleeps most of the children and then eight children have to sleep in the classroom. There is an outdoor wash area, a small kitchen and a productive garden. The children are all taught English from five years and then there is cooking, handy-crafts, traditional dancing, general knowledge and personal hygiene. It was sad to leave the children after spending a few hours with them, their smiling little faces gleaming up at us as we left was an emotional moment.

From Phnom Penh Nay and I headed to Sihanoukville, where I am writing this from. Team Boarder had to separate, but there is talk of a reunion when we're all in Australia next year.

Nay and I are staying in a lovely little complex of rooms beside the sea and have been enjoying a few days of reading and sunbathing. Unfortunately we have arrived here just when a swarm of jelly fish decided to visit as well. So there hasn't been any swimming as they are everywhere and apparently they sting and I'm not going in far enough to find out. I've run in and dived under a few times, but then I've quickly ran out again.

There isn't a huge amount to report on from here really, as it's been chilling out time. We are here for one more day and then on Monday we leave for Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat. So till then, bye bye! x

Click on the link for part two of Rachael's latest diary: