Let's Catch Up.

Ok, we have fallen a little bit behind on blogging so, unfortunately, I will have to speed through some of our more recent adventures.

From Siem Reap we had a short bus ride to Battambang. We spent the day traveling by tuk-tuk to The Killing Caves and the Bamboo Train. The killing cave was originally a holy Buddhist site with a temple high on a mountain. However, when the Khmer Rouge came into power the place was twisted and became the location of mass killing. In the mountain there is a cave with a large whole in the roof of it. Here Khmer Rouge soldiers threw men, women and children down the whole where they died on impact if they were lucky. A brutal and horrifying place that still houses many of the skulls and bones of the victims. The bamboo train is just what it sounds like. A small bamboo platform is attached to  wheels and a motor (which can quickly be disassembled in case someone is coming down the tracks in the opposite direction.) your weight on the platform keeps the 'train' on the tracks. That was an adventure! The train took us to a small village where they manufacture clay bricks. Here we were given tours of the brick making process by adorable little kids no more than 8 years old. The next morning we headed to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.

Phnom Penh is a massively sprawling city. They had a fantastic day market close to our hotel with incredible food stalls: fresh spring rolls and grilled squid were the favorites. Also a mall with AC and excellent ice cream choices was within walking distance, both of which we explored on our fist day there. The next day we went to a  shooting range where if you pay enough you can shoot any gun imaginable. Alex ended up shooting an AK-47 and enjoying himself immensely! We them went to the killing fields where we learned all about the Khmer Rouge. About 30 years ago a man in the Cambodian government named Pol Pot, took control of the government and thus the genocide and psychotic communist regime of the Khmer Rouge took hold of Cambodia. It is estimated that a third of the population was killed while they were in power. At the killing fields we saw mass graves where during the rainy season bones still continue to shift to the surface.We then went to S-21. A former high school that under the Khmer Rouge was converted to one of the country's  most brutal prisons. We ended the day by going to the national museum and seeing beautiful artifacts, many of which had once resided at Angkor Wat. That evening we again went to the market for food and the mall for entertainment. We ended up roller blading at the mall with some local kids... What a blast! The next day we headed south to the coast and the town of Sihanoukville.

Sihanoukville is a bit of a party town, with nice beaches (maybe a little dirty) and delicious and cheap food. We spent four days lounging by the beach and playing in the ocean. One day we took a tour on a three story boat to do some snorkeling (very fun) and to explore a remote and completely pristine beach. It was incredible and made the whole boat trip. Jumping of the very top of the boat (a good seven meters) was exhilarating, Alex and Garrett got pretty fancy with swan dives and back flips. We also rented motor bikes on one of the days in Sihanoukville and cruised around looking for other great beaches. Garrett and I were pulled over and 'fined' 5 dollars for not having a Cambodian drivers license. We watched the guy put the money right in his pocket. Quite the scam. From there we headed to the boarder town of Koh Kong.

Dang! Well that almost gets us up to date, but I have to run! More to come!
Ashley