Around Phnom Penh

Breakfast at Clements house was delightful and great start to a fascinating day. Seeing the town with Helen as the tour guide and Amy as her sidekick we headed off to try and get through the long list developed by napkin the night before.
After being measured for various garments and raiding a DVD shop we then headed to the Russian Market – named so for the type of tourists who originally started going there. This was a great place – a tad hot under the tin roof, full of interesting items and colourful people. We are starting to come to grips with the fact that the locals here are not so “in your face” as other countries – a very pleasant change.
Shops, shops and more shops and then lunch to restaurant with an Italian theme food and French décor (including the patrons). We then trundled aboard our chauffeured van and headed off for our history lesson. The Museum of Genocide was a stark reminder of the terror and violence bestowed on the masses through the Pol Pot era. The barbed wire is still there, the instruments of torture, the blood stains on the floor, the photos and pictures describing the horror made it all so clear, as did the tour guide who showed us her scares from the torture she suffered in the fields as 15 year old.
Being humbled and shocked at what humanity can do to itself we then headed off to the killing fields to see where the masses were taken to be disposed of. The Cambodians have gone/going to a fair effort to ensure this piece of history is not forgotten. And it should not be. 3 Million people killed, a society destroyed - all for the sake of a misguided political ideal.
Afterwards Dad headed off to drinks with the boys from work and a very interesting evening being shown around the various establishments. The town is very friendly and it was quite pleasant not to hassled every step by hawkers as per Thailand. The ladies went shopping at Pencil and purchased an Emelda load of shoes and had a massage after dinner. How very splendid.