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The Royal palace, Phnom Penh. we enjoyed 3 days in Phnom Penh and took in the majority of sites. We ate on the riverside every night and had a few boozy nights there.

The royal palace was impressive as was the sky which alternated between bright sunshine and black storm clouds. Fortunately for us they kept off.

We took a trip to Tuol sleng prison which was a camp where the "political prisoners" of the Khmer Rouge era were taken and held. We continued the macabre tour to Choeung Ek, the Killing Fields, where 1,000's were murdered. This was a stark and depressing trip.

We moved on from Phnom Penh by Coach and I had been ill that morning. If there is one time when you really don't wish to hear Cambodian Karoake classics played at a gratingly high volume for a hot and sweaty 7 hour journey it is when you have a headache and are struggling to stop yourself being sick.

On arrival at Siem reap we were greeted by touts all offering us a trip into town. We picked one and he remained our driver all week.

The picture across is the View from Phnom Bakheng of Angkor Wat. We climbed up on the evening that we arrived at Siem Reap.

....and we took these pictures up there as well

The water before the horizon is the massive Tonle sap lake.
We decided to beat the crowds down as it looked like it was about to rain and the sunset would be non-existent. However, as we sped back in our tuk tuk we looked back to see what would have been a glorious scene. Bast*rd.

On the first of our 3 full Angkor Wat visiting days we made the big fella number one stop. It wasn't too busy as it was meant to be the rainy season. Thank God for Global warming. Unless you are a Cambodian farmer awaiting the next drought of course.

The temple was stunning and massive. The central part was a very steep climb to reach the modest inner shrine.

The South gate to Angkor Thom is lined with Buddha images. unfortunately some of these have been decapitated to be sold during the Khmer Rouge years or as an act against religion which was banned at that time.

The Bayon face was the fist temple we visited once in the Angkor Thom complex.

Ta Prohm and the tomb raider scenery was probably our favourite there. We spent the first day spending time at Angkor Wat, The Bayon temple and Ta Prohm as these ae the most impressive, iconic places.

The second day we filled in a few gaps and completed the big circuit. We lingered longer at Angkor Thom and aw the other sites. this is a statue on the Terrace of the leper king. They leave sustenance (you can see the water) and light joss sticks to the image.

My favourite places on the second day were Preah khan, Preah palilay and Ta Som. Beautiful shaded ruins mixed with the jungle.

This statue was inside Preah Khan. On the third day we went to the outlying Wats and the carved riverbed of a thousand lingas. It was a mission on a tuk tuk on those poorly maintained ride with red dust being blown.

On our last full day we went to Tonle sap on a trip and saw this scene as we travelled out to the lake.

We then continued to the floating village by boat and came across local workers.

Beggar boys in their adapted vessels. The begging was upsetting as many had a genuine need. There were numerous victims of land mines around and apparently a number of incidents still occur. Th etourist industry has created the begging industry in Siem Reap. We gave blood at a special clinic as much to assauge our guilt as anything else.

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