Today has been a funny old day. It is our only full day in Pnomh Penh today, we arrived last night from Sihanoukville. We just went out for dinner as soon as we got here, and we were going to go to the hospital for Becky afterwards but it was closed, so we went for a walk instead. We just had a little wander to the Palace. It was very pleasant but we couldn't really see much through the gates. Hang told us it would be lit up but it wasn't. Bimes.
So today we headed straight for the hospital. Becky is not super poorly or anything, I don't want to worry anyone! She had just run out of migrane medicine so we went to get her a fresh supply of happy pills.
I had fun times at the hospital. I like hospitals though. I like all the doctors. All the knowledge. I told that to Nat and she agreed with me because she is a geek too, but Hang laughed at me. Horrible person. Anyway we got the druggies and went to visit the Palace.
I was very excited abou visiting the Palace, because the guide books lead me to believe that it is spectacular. In Hoppy's Lonely Planet it even says that the Palace is one of the "35 things not to miss". And Nat's book is not just a Cambodia guide book, but a South East Asia one. So I thought it had to be brill.
I was not very impressed to discover that the entrance fee to the Palace was $6.25. $6.25, I tell you. That could feed you for a day here. A week even, if you didn't eat much. But. We paid it and went in. It was very pretty and nice. We posed for photos outside of pretty buildings and behind trees and stuff. Hoppy was extremely enthusiastic and kept getting excitied about "relics". "Ooh, there's relics in here!" and "Wow, a room full of relics!". She was very disappointed, however, when she discovered such a relic room and went to go inside, only to find out that the door was locked. Becky and I did worry that she might try breaking and entering to get to the relics, but she didn't. Golly, that girl is special.
Our day after leaving the palace got way serious. We went to visit the Killing Fields and Choeung Ek, which was where a load of people we killed during the Khmer Rouge. It was super interesting, but not really very fun times. The first thing you go to is a big memorial building that is about 40 feet high, and in the middle there is a big kind of shelving unit with 17 tiers, and it is just full of bones. On the first tier there is a heap of clothes, which were collected when the mass graves were excavated, and on the tiers after that there were hundreds and hundreds of skulls. It was really not very nice. We walked round for a while and we read all the signs. There were some very horrible things that happened there. I will not write about them because it is not very nice.
After the Killing Fields we went to S-21, which is the Genocide Museum. It was where loads of people were tortured, before going to the Killing Fields. This place was awful. It was especially nasty to visit, because in one of the buildings there are just hundreds and hundreds of photos of people who were held at S-21, and most of them died not long after. It was really horrid.
On a happier note, we had a lovely tuk tuk driver. We managed to barter with him to get him to take us to the Killing Fields and S-21 for $4 each, but we liked him so much that we gave him a generous tip. I say it was generous, but it wasn't really, when you think about it in real money.
After we got back I helped Becky sort out her shit. She has this problem with wanting to buy the most ridiculous hints. For example, today we walked past a shop selling quilts and she wanted one. A quilt. In cambodia. Goodness me. So anyway, normally I am the voice of reason and I tell her that she is ridiculous. She sulks for a while, but i think deep down she is grateful because her bag is huge, and it would be huger if she bought all the crap she wanted. Anyway, I was helping her sort out her bag, and I discovered a secret stash of crap that she'd bought in private! The sneaky sneaky sneaker!
We dined at a lovely place this evening. I suggested it. Yes, I am brilliant. It's this place called Friends, and I watched a program on it while I was in Phi Phi. It is a nice charity place where Cambodian kids work so that they aren't on the streets and stuff. I had nachos. Lovely lovely. We gave them a nice tip because we are leaving Cambodia tomorrow so we had loads of Riel left. They we nice there though. They pulled my seat out for me and everything.
It was a bit of a bummer tonight though, because two of the people on our tour have been poorly. Bimes. So they stayed at the hotel while we had a lovley dinner. Gutted for them.
Ooh, and something excitig happened while I was at the restaurant. A beautiful butterfly landed on my bad. I named her Marissa. Then she flew away, but we definitely made friends.
We were supposed to be going for karake times tonight, but we didn't because of the poorly people and because we have to be up at five o'clock tomorrow to go to Vietnam. Oh no.
I have just been watching BBC World News and the Big Issue guy that sings outside Ann Summers in Derby was on it. It was brill. I love that guy. He makes up the most fantastic songs, and now he is famous. Well done, Dave.
I think it might be bed time now. Night. Xx.
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