Day 73
We get woken up this morning by crashing and banging and the heat in the room is only getting worse so we are out quite early and find a bakery to have some breakfast. I get a little over excited at the thought of pastry and order a Danish, a croissant and some yoghurt, so yummy. We stay for a while in the air conditioned loveliness before we head out to meet our tuk tuk man. He's early so we leave as soon as we are back and start on the 25 minute ride out of the city to the killing fields. It's so interesting to see the crazy world of Cambodia, I can't look away and the time flies by.
Once we arrive, we grab an audio guide which is so well done and included in the price and I would really recommend getting it as it gives a lot more details as you go around. I think it would be impossible for me to ever convert the horror I felt walking around the site as however I try to write it, it sounds shallow and fake but it truly is horrific beyond words. As you wander, underfoot you spot teeth, bone and scraps of clothing that keep washing up , despite the best efforts of the volunteers, in rains like last night. You see pits and trees the victims where killed against and thrown into and you hear stories of mothers having to watch their children and babies being killed in front of them before being shot themselves. It begs belief that any human can do these things to another especially from the same country, all in the name of Utopia. It might sound voyeuristic to some of you that me and Ben would want to go and see something so brutal but sometimes to truly understand how horrible something is, it has to be thrust in your face, even very tastefully like this, for it to sink it at all.
The site is really well laid out and looked after, the volunteers go out each day and carefully lay to rest any bones and bits that are found and there is a beautiful memorial stupa in the centre, which you pass as you go in and on the way out where you can pay your respects. We sit silent on the way back, both a bit shocked and dumbfounded by what we have seen, when we do find the words, they are ones of anger and upset and I hope that pain stays with us forever so we never forget.
We make our way to the prison after this but it's all too much to process with where we have spent our morning so we sit quietly on a bench on the edge and then get John to drop us in town for some lunch. I'm not feeling too great, I've got these aching stomach cramps that I can't shift but I don't want to be a moaner all the time so I don't mention it and we trek on, watching the F1 and sitting by the river till the night market, where I grab the playsuit I had my eye on yesterday. Ben's told he's too sweaty to try anything on so we make our way back. I still don't feel right and after dinner, the pains get worse, turning into sickness and diarrhoea I can't shift all night, urg :(
Day 74
I spent so much of last nigh awake and on the toilet, I feel drained in more ways than one. There isn't going to be much going on today so we walk to a cafe that we loved in Laos called Joma and I manage a little food but the cramps and all else are still here. We play chess, read our books and mooch until lunch. Ben does she bit of research a finds a cinema nearby and that nearly always cheers us up so we grab a tuk tuk to a lovely air conned mall. I'm still struggling with the pain and the need to be near a toilet but it's so nice being cool and we grab tickets for Chappie. We've got an hour and a half to kill and I found just the way to...Karoke! I drag Ben into one of the booths and we belt out Bonnie Tyler, Total Eclipse of the a Heart amount other things (no Dolly though!) until I feel a bit rough and we think it's time for our film. Chappie is brilliant and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a dark comedy and Hugh Jackmen in shorts and a mullet.
After the film, we have a break through and I feel a tiny bit peckish and we grab some utterly delicious fish and chips, perfectly salty for my turbulent yummy. Once back we pack as we leave for the beaches tomorrow and I hope I'll have a better night tonight.
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