Kep: a seaside town to rival Craster

After our few days in Phnom Penh we took the bus to Kep, Cambodia's top seaside resort in the 1960s before it fell victim to the Khmer Rouge.

Nowadays it is re-establishing its position and although it falls far behind Sihanoukville in regards to attracting hoards of tourists that only elevates its charm.

The sombre side of Cambodia's capital: Phnom Penh

Like most capital cities in Asia Phnom Penh holds a certain appeal. Fast paced, high living inter-wound with the traditions of the local culture and faith is abundant and the contrast is particularly apparent as local markets and temples sit alongside western bars and restaurants on the riverside.

While this is all well and good, it is the recent history and monuments that play testimony to it that drew us to Phnom Penh.

As I've already mentioned Cambodia suffered extensively at the hands of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge and it is the atrocities committed though their rule that are exposed in many ways here. We spent the day visiting the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleung Museum and as we learnt and saw more of what had happened we encountered a myriad of emotions including shock, sadness, anger and awe.

Cambodia's children

As you might remember from our earlier posts when we first met Toria and Adam they told us about the Angkor Help the Children Organization (AHCO formerly AOEO) in Siem Reap they were going to volunteer at. Kindly inviting us to join them we organised to visit the centre together after our tour of the temples at Angkor.

Firstly to put things into context it is worth noting that Cambodia is currently the poorest country in South East Asia. Little do people realise that the country has suffered extensively over the last 50 years: being drawn into Vietnam's war with America (where the US extensively bombed and mined rural sites believed to be Vietnamese training camps); the tragic genocide and rule of the Khmer Rouge which saw a quarter of the population (approx. two million people) slaughtered; followed by the Vietnamese occupation of the country. Today the average wage is less that $1 per day with 50% of the population under the age of 50.

Siem Reap

We arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia after a very trying journey and border crossing from Bangkok. Tired and hungry we were pleased to see our friends Toria and Adam and meet their friends Gary and Lucy on the first night and head out for a few drinks and some dinner.

We were to spend the next week in Siem Reap with our time split evenly between exploring the temples at Angkor and volunteering at a local orphanage. It seems wrong to lump the two together and with that in mind I will do a separate post on our time at the orphanage.

Where to start with the glories that are Angkor...