Genocide, motorbikes and vietnamese rolls

Today's the last day of our trip until we do our three flights in three days return to the big smoke.

Phnom Penh - the last leg of Cambodia

After taking it easy and soaking up Siem Reap we flew into Phnom Penh and boy was it different. A city with few travellers, a depressing history and busy-as-all-hell traffic—Phnom Penh isn't for the faint hearted, nor for those looking for a chillout ("happy pizza" seemingly the preferred method to relax in the big city).

Choeung Ek (killing fields) and Tuol Sleng (genocide museum) were really the main attractions, both pretty heavy but fascinating and sad. How the world allowed the Khmer Rouge exterminate 1.5 million of their own people, in the four years from 1975 to when colour television was introduced in Aus to 1979 when the Ghost Train at Luna Park killed 9 Australians, is still completely beyond me.

Not a place you'd go for a relaxing holiday, but a must-see if you want to understand Cambodia, you can see why people make a B-line for the killing fields and then move on pretty quickly. The Cambodian country-side is definitely somewhere I'll be checking out next time I'm in the area.