09.47 A lazy day has just begun here in Saigon. We decided to sleep in and it is time for a late breakfast. It is actually too late. Iíve promised the staff that we will not be this late tomorrow. But we wonít be guests here then.

10.13 Weíve had our breakfast and are ready to leave. We will be strolling around in the city, but we have to fix some things first. I was too slow entering the lift and the doors slid together with me inbetween. There was no harm done on the lift or on me.

Lots of people out shopping at Saigon Square Market.

Have you ever seen a empty street in Saigon?

12.18 We did a quick stroll in the city. Weíve looked for clothes at the indoor market Saigon Square but didnít find anything that felt fitting. We carried on from there to the Ben Thanh market. I bought some coffeebeans there. Now I will be able to get Vietnamese coffee at home.

12.59 We checked out from the hotel and left our bags near the reception. It is time for lunch at the Thai restaurant Silver Elephant. Once again an elephant plays a central and significant part as it comes to food on our trips.

Eating a thai lunch at the Silver Elephant.

13.52 Our man is here. Here is the hotel lobby and the man is our taxi driver who will take us to the airport. It is time to leave.

14.04 Our man waited in the taxi. The man I thought was the driver just wanted to show us the way to the taxi. We are on the move towards the international part of the airport. The driver has made comments about the red dots on my left leg. He claims that they are a symbol of fortune, thanks!

14.33 We are preparing to check in. Christer has been forced to shake out around twenty ants from his fabric bag. Is it allowed to take ants out of Vietnam? Is it OK to take ants into Cambodia? We will never know. The ants are living in the departure hall from now on. Would they have become flying ants if he had brought them with him?

15.23 We are getting rid of our dong. Weíve decided to have one final cup of coffee here in Vietnam. There is still money left from the amount I got from my parents. Money last for some time here as well as in the other countries we visited here in Asia. We had some problems finding seats but the staff arranged with some for us and we¥ve got a view towards the aeroplanes.

Peter is finishing his stay in Vietnam with a cinnamon roll.

16.26 Weíve waved good bye to Shu Ming who will fly home to Kuala Lumpur and weíve spent our last Vietnamese dong. We are sitting down and wondering how much money we will exchange as we come to Phnom Penh.

16.39 Weíve received a yes to take off from the tower. The runway is wet after a heavy rainfall that started as we were about to cross the runway and enter the plane. Walk?, no more of a rush into the plane and still we looked like we had fallen into the sea. We are sitting upfront at seats 1 B & C. The stewardess is seated across, in front of us. We are flying with Vietnam Airlines. Now everything is done and we are taking off towards the sky. A mighty cheer could he heard from a travel group from maybe Japan. Good bye Vietnam!

CAMBODIA

18.26 We have landed. The customs officer took one of our e-visas and stamped Used on the other one. Will I like Christer require a third copy to get out of the country? Why did he stamp îUsedî on the one he returned? We saw some flooded areas coming in towards the airport.

19.32 We are on a bed each in a room without windows, room 302. Around us is New York Hotel. Two plastic pieces come with our room key. One is for lights in the room. You just slide it into a slot. The other one is pulled past an optic reader in the lift. This must be done to make the lift move. We are in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We got here from the airport by taxi.

21.21 We are hungry. I am pleased that weíve found Nouveau Pho de Paris. It is a restaurant that neighbours our hotel. The menu has the thickness of a phonebook. The dishes are displayed with pictures. Weíve ordered food and 64 centilitres of beer each. The amount of beer made the waiters amused and curious.

22.32 We are back in the room. It was delicious but ever so expensive (not) Christer¥s food cost US$6 and mine US$6.30. Iíve tried to call home to Sweden. The guidebook claims that I need to dial 001 or 007 to make international calls. It doesnít work, at least not for me.

Peter in room 302 at New York Hotel in Phnom Penh (not New York).

Monday 4th of August

08.27 Our room has as mentioned no windows. It is dark in the room as we wake up. We have to turn on the lights to avoid going back to sleep.

09.51 It was varied, delicious and filling. What am I talking about? Well, our breakfast. Maybe I shall keep having these kinds of breakfasts as I get back home; noodles, bread, juice, coffee, fresh vegetables and fruits. The breakfast was served at the top floor of the hotel and we had a spectacular view of the capital of Cambodia. Our room smells of detergent. One is supposed to dial 001 or 007 to call abroad, all according to the yellow pages in the phonebook.

From the breakfast restaurant at New York Hotel you can look closer at Phnom Penh.
Here you can see the Monivong Boulevard.

11.45 We bought a ticket to Siem Reap at the hotel reception before we left the hotel. We are supposed to pick it up later today. We are going with Mekong Express, an express bus of the better kind. Since we left the hotel we¥ve walked around in the city. We've filled up with fluids and Christer is currently looking for a street name. We are going to need it to find out where we are on the map and in reality. I am having a bench break. Behind me is a beautiful building and there are Kuwait flags in each lamppost. The reason for all the flags we also saw some of yesterday is an upcoming state visit. This journal is full and I have to change to a new one.

12.10 It is time for a new note in a new travel journal. We are sitting in the restaurant Khmer Borane. It is time for food. The reasons behind this stop are besides hunger the fact that there is rain in the air. Once again I¥ve looked at the river Mekong. There are also different flags along the riverbank. Weíve also seen the royal palace here in the city.

The streets are getting wider and more "royal" close to the Royal Palace.

Royal Palace, Phnom Penh.

Angkor, excellent beer, one of the best in Asia.

12.42 Christer ordered two bittermelons filled with minced meat. I had large irregular pieces of rice cookies topped with a mix of minced meat and spices. As it came to drinks, well we had a can of Angkor each. That is the local beer. It has a great taste. The bittermelon has a really bitter taste and it was served in a gravy of palm sugar, big contrasts in the flavours in that dish.

13.59 We strolled ever so gently back to our hotel. We passed several small workshops, travel agencies, barbershops both indoor and outdoor and several other things. We collected our bustickets before we went upstairs to calm down and plan ahead.

The bench whispers... "sit on me!"

Along the Mekong River you can find some of the upmarket hotels and a lot of travel agencies.
The photo is from the street Sisowath Quay.

15.17 Iíve written some postcards and Christer has had a shower. We are on our way out to see more of the city. I still havenít figured out how to call home but I am not giving up.

15.58 An entire mall with 4-5 floors has been thoroughly searched and explored for postcards and decent coffee. Weíve still had no success. We are on the viewing balcony and someone is trying to break the sound barrier. Music is shouted out from some loud speakers. We are at the Sorya Shopping Mall.

16.36 Our despair was great and we felt both hunger and thirst but we managed to find the Sakhanda CafÈ. Here we will have a light snack. We just got some ice tea and a small kettle that is black and hot.

You¥ll get a good view from the top floor at Sorya Shopping Mall.

17.15 Iíve written all my postcards and finished my meal. Christer has some postcards left. We will pay as soon as he is done and we¥ll try to find the post office before they close.

18.27 We found the post office in time. The post staff put stamps on our cards and stamped them. They then handed them back to us so that we could put them in the mailbox. We carried on to Wat Phnom. It is a pagoda from 1373 erected on an artificial hill. It was here that the city was founded on that very year. Weíve also looked for souvenirs and are now back at Sorya.

The giant clock at Wat Phnom.

20.57 We shopped at Soryaís supermarket and have among other things bought something that is called "muscle wine", a local alcoholic beverage that cost 1 US-dollar/bottle. It is made from herbs and parts from a deer. After a lot of attempts I¥ve finally managed to access the internet here at the hotel. I am allowed to enter Bahrain. My reference number is 288779. Christer has also been approved. We are about to visit one country more than we expected. Weíve also arranged with a place to stay in the next city, Siem Reap.

21.20 El condor pasa on a violin can be heard in the loudspeakers. We are back at Nouveau Pho de Paris. We are once again having dinner. One of the waiters asked if I was studying Vietnamese when I was writing this. Sure, my handwriting is poor but still! I guess I should be pleased that he didnít suggest Chinese or Korean.

22.26 Great food was eaten. Good plans for tomorrow have been done. Great beer is waiting. Good night will come.

Tuesday 5th of August

07.47 CNN is telling us the latest news from the upcoming olympics. They are currently informing about the situation for the equestrians in Hong Kong. We have to be very effective today.

08.24 We are going up five floors. We are going to the 8th floor. It is time for breakfast.

08.51 Strange smells meet us as we enter our room. Where do they come from? Are they from the outside or from ourselves and our backpacks? After all we¥ve only been out travelling 46 days.

09.08 We are in a tuk-tuk again. This is more of a motorcycle with a small trailer. The part we are sitting in can be hooked off. To avoid problems with the language and geography we¥ve written a note with the name of the museum we plan to visit today. Weíve shown this note to our driver. The name of the museum is Tuol Sleng.

Tuol Sleng Museum

Photos of some of the many prisoners at Tuol Sleng.

09.17 Our driver seems to have misunderstood where we want to go. He is on his way to the National Museum. He has driven us around due to closed roads (maybe because of the state visit?) Weíve shown him the note again with the name of the museum. Letís see how it goes.

09.39 Weíve reached and entered Tuol Sleng, Genocide Museum. Here people were imprisoned, tortured and executed during the Khmer Rouge regime 1975-1979. Tuol Sleng was originally a high school. The classrooms turned into cells and rooms for torture and interrogation of prisoners (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum).

Photos and information about the Khmer Rouge years in Cambodia.

The classrooms at Tuol Sleng were being used as torture cells. The Khmer Rouge used car batteries during the torture and some of them are still in the rooms today.

The Khmer Rouge attempted to turn Cambodia into a classless society by depopulating cities and forcing the urban population ("New People") into agricultural communes. The entire population was forced to become farmers in labour camps. During their four years in power, the Khmer Rouge overworked and starved the population, at the same time executing selected groups who had the potential to undermine the new state (including intellectuals or even those that had stereotypical signs of learning, such as glasses) and killing many others for even minor breaches of rules.

Family relationships not sanctioned by the state were also banned, and family members could be put to death for communicating with each other. In any case, family members were often relocated to different parts of the country with all postal and telephone services abolished. The total lack of agricultural knowledge by the former city dwellers made famine inevitable. Rural dwellers were often unsympathetic or too frightened to assist them. Such acts as picking wild fruit or berries was seen as "private enterprise" for which the death penalty applied.

The casualty list from the civil war, Pol Pot's consolidation of power, and the later intervention by Vietnam is disputed. Different estimates vary from 750,000 to over two million. Credible Western and Eastern sources put the death toll inflicted by the Khmer Rouge at 1.6 million. (Source: Wikipedia)

10.15 Weíve seen pictures of prisoners here and are now looking at pictures and reading about the Khmer Rouge time at power. Weíve seen the gallows, this pole with cables attached to it had been used by the students to conduct their exercise. The Khmer Rouge utilized this place as interrogation room. The interrogators tied both hands of the prisoners to the back by a rope and lift the prisoners upside down. They did like this until prisoners lost consciousness. Then they dipped the prisonerís head into a jar of smelly, filthy water, which they normally used as fertilizer for the crops in the terrace outside. By doing so, the victims quickly regain consciousness and that meant the interrogators could continue their interrogations.

10.40 We are having a bench break. We are thinking about how on earth they were thinking then, between 1975 and 1979. Why did they treat other humans like this? What had happened if they hadnít been stopped? 70% of the population were women as their days were over.

Torture

Cabinets filled with human skulls at the Tuol Sleng Museum. You can also see the reflections of the photographer with his friend.

Peter in a tuk-tuk on his way back to the hotel.

11.04 We took another tuk-tuk back to New York Hotel. Our room has just been cleaned. Thatís a pity. We want to take a shower, throw away garbage and some other stuff before we leave. Wouldnít it have been better to wait with the cleaning until after we have checked out?

11.35 Weíve filled up with fluids and eaten some jackfruit. I must say I¥ve sure had better fruits; the fact is that we threw away most of it. We want to be on our way to our bus within 20 minutes. We are hoping for yet another tuk-tuk ride.

12.12 A man with a gray shirt and gray lines in his hair is looking for his place, not in his life but on the bus. Weíve found ours. The name of the company is Mekong Express Limousine Bus. We and most likely the gray man are going to Siem Reap in western Cambodia.

Entering the bus which will take us to Siem Reap.

We are leaving Phnom Penh.

12.46 There is a young lady in the front of the bus. She is informing us about the bus trip. It is 315 kilometres long and is estimated to last for 6 hours. She has also told about how Phnom Penh was founded and some information about the bus company. A Spanish speaking man further back is chatting around, he wonders why she isnít informing in Spanish. Snacks and beverage is on its way. A fully loaded bus with a rope around the trunk just passed. I am pleased that we chose this bus.

14.51 The surrounding landscape is breathing countryside. There are ricefields, ox/water buffalo pulled carriages with hay and simple wooden houses. Right now more houses and if not troubled waters at least light brown ones. There is some rock/pop music on the bus TV.

15.36 The bus has stopped in Kampong Thom. We are standing in front of Arunras Restaurant. We will soon enter the bus again. It feels great to stretch the body and to visit a toilet. Our fellow passengers are buying some snacks. One can buy fruits and even roasted insects like crickets and beetles. I usually try the most but I don¥t this time.

The bus has stopped in Kampong Thom. You can see the roasted insects on sale here.

16.17 The guy in the seat in front of me is chewing on some insects. He has offered some to other passengers.

18.52 After all we¥re here now, Christer said and put the guide book on the nightstand. Here is by the way room 303, Angkor Thom Hotel in Siem Reap. We got here in a tuk-tuk from the bus station, the fourth one today. Weíve also booked a ride for tomorrowís trip to the temple area of Angkor Wat. Our tuk-tuk-driver was an enthusiastic young man in his 20¥s who spoke perfect English non-stop. Every tuk-tuk-driver here in Siem Reap seems to have an official vest with a number on. If you are displeased all you have to do is to report the number to the authorities. The guy in the reception looked surprised as we checked in here. Hadnít he been informed that we were coming? We have booked here, or?

Wat Bo Street in Siem Reap

20.27 Weíve left the hotel and walked around in dark but peaceful Siem Reap. My mobile inside of my backpack just informed us the time. It must have been some unknown function, but I do have an energetic telephone. Last year it managed to call my parents on its own.

20.45 Weíve continued our walk through a dark Siem Reap. The street lights consist of 40 and 60 watts bulbs. Weíve arrived at Angkor Honolulu CafÈ. It is time for dinner.

22.28 E-mail and other things have been checked on the computers here in the place we call home. It is time to figure out about tomorrow. Some things are already planned. Weíve asked in the reception about breakfast. It is served at 08.00 and our transport arrives one hour later.

Wednesday 6th of August

07.17 Here we are walking around the streets in peace and quiet. The sun is shining and everything is good. The peace and harmony is suddenly interrupted by an old man coming running across the street screaming tuk-tuk!! We reply with a nice and polite no to the old man. He insists that he should stamp our passports and that we should sign a list that we have been going with him. I show him my passport, get a red stamp in it and suddenly I hear a voice in the distance; "It is time to get up, it is 07.00!" What, who, why asks my brain. I suddenly get it. It is time to get up, it is 07.00 and the mobile has spoken. The street, the old man and everything disappears. The dream is gone and I am awake.

08.11 It is full activity among the guys behind the counter. One is working by the stove. The other one is handling butter, marmalade and spices. They are little by little putting together our breakfast. Some money was just given to a young lady who came by on a bike. She had some bread bags on her handles. We were asked if we wanted to use the internet as we passed the reception. We told them that we wanted breakfast. Didnít we book a breakfast yesterday?

08.44 We got our breakfast at 08.25. They serves us; eggs, sausage and bacon and to that a baguette, butter and marmalade. We were informed as we paid for the breakfast that we were supposed to get a cup of coffee/tea as well. They just have to give that to us later. Our tuk-tuk-driver from yesterday came around and said ìHelloî as we had paid. We are rushing through the room before we can leave. Next in line is the brushing of the teeth.

08.57 Weíve changed driver for today. The one we had booked with had other plans and we are going with a colleague of his instead. I hope the destination remains. We are now standing in a crossing and wait. There was no one in the reception as we left so I brought the key with me. We are on our way to the temple area of Angkor, centre of the medieval Khmer kingdom and a symbol of modern day Cambodia. It can be seen on the flag and has given name to the beer, several hotels and many other things.

Tuk-tuk transport heading for Angkor Wat.

Can anyone tell us why these locals are collecting grass in their boat?

09.27 Beneath us is the footway that leads to the temples of Angkor Wat. It is huge, it is magnificent. It is countless amounts of carved rock. They began to build it at 1102. It is according to our guide book the largest religious building in the world. All kinds of languages are spoken around us. Our driver has promised to wait until we are done. We bought a one-day pass and were photographed as we entered the huge area.

Christer in front of Angkor Wat.

A dog without owner in front of the mighty Angkor Wat.

10.23 I am exalted and impressed. It is vast, incredible. We were also offered three sticks of incense each. We bowed three times, well Christer bowed six times, before a headless hindu god. The incense man had missed the three bows that Christer did and asked him to bow again. We were a little later asked to do the very same for Buddha but we didnít. I am now sitting by a maybe 2-3 metres high and about 50 metres long stone relief. It shows the final battle of the epic tale of Mahabharata.

10.42 Weíve just sat down to get us something to drink. Around us vendors of t-shirts, guidebooks, postcards and many other things are swarming like flies. One of them asked if we were brothers or sisters. I hope it is a lack of language skills and not a failure looking like men. As soon as we are done here I¥ll buy some t-shirts from the most quiet vendor. After that we¥ll look for our driver.

One of the many faces you can see at the entrance to the old capital Angkor Thom.

11.14 We continued with the tuk-tuk to the southern gate of Angkor Thom, the temple area that is, not the hotel. Angkor Thom was the capital of the ancient Khmer kingdom and had its most glorious days in the 13th century. We were let off and the tuk-tuk went inside without us. We passed the gate and were met by screaming vendors. An old man suddenly started to play on strings with a bow and chased us. We entered our vehicle and now the trip is over for now. We are getting out seeing more of Angkor Thom. Weíve promised our driver that we will have lunch at Bayon Restaurant number 17 later.

11.25 We are standing and looking at the Bayon temple. Stonefaces are looking back on us from it. I think they have seen a lot during the centuries and through the cause of history. I can hear a rising, chirping sound. Is it bird or a child? Angkor Thom was resurrected between 1181 and 1219. Bayon was the state temple of the king.

11.51 Here we are sitting inside this historical temple. Inside this historic building are traces of modern days. People have dropped, lost, thrown away; candy wraps, straws, cigarette buts and a shirt button. Why canít they keep track on their things? Why do they ignore the signs that say it is forbidden to sit on some parts of the temple?

Bayon, the state temple in Angkor Thom.

12.17 The time has come for yet another temple. This time it is the Baphuon that we are looking at. The sun is as it breaks through the clouds ever so effective and tares on us. This temple is like the others mighty and amazing. It is a Shiva temple from the 11th century that has converted to Buddhism. A man passed as I was writing this, a man that Christer has seen before. It might have been in Saigon or Nha Trang.

12.32 It is time for lunch at Bayon Restaurant 17. There are several small restaurants lined up here. Our beverages are here and so are the vendors.

12.40 A young female book vendor asked us where we were from and I told her. She smiled and said; "you will buy this book if I know the capital of Sweden" She claimed I would learn a lot if I bought the book, among them how to speak the native tongue, Khmer.

Buddha turned up again, this time in the Bayon temple.

A stoneface looked at us.

13.11 The vendoress returned and we left. We were taken to new places. We are walking along a well beaten forest track. We are on our way to Ta Prohm (Old Brahma). We just met a policeman on a motorcycle. Weíve also seen a live band on the track here in the jungle. The band members were all victims of land mines and had missing parts of their bodies.

14.01 Just among the trees and sometimes under them were the temples. I am impressed how they could build back then. We can hear a cracking sound from one of the branches of a tree. Some are looking up with a worried look. They wonder if the branch will break and fall. Weíve taken pictures of ants and butterflies. Ta Prohm is known from the movie "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" that was shot here.

The fantastic surroundings at Ta Prohm.

14.49 The tuk-tuk took us back to Angkor Thom. This time it was the hotel. We went shopping at the nearby Apsara Market. Weíve now returned to our room. It isn't cleaned. Maybe we should have left the key this morning? It feels like as it comes to today's trip that we could spend several days there and still want to see more. We are pleased with what we have seen though. Our driver was magnificent and we have booked him for the trip to the airport tomorrow.

15.54 It is time to see our home town of Siem Reap in daylight. I guess we will find out what it has to offer. I must remember to leave the key and ask about the cleaning as we leave. It isn't necessary to clean the room but still.

16.09 An explanation has been left. The room isn't cleaned unless the key is left in the reception. The key is left and the room is supposed to be cleaned. Iíve tried to call home through the phonebook in my mobile. The signals have gone through but no reply.

16.41 The Blue Pumpkin is the name of the place for our afternoon snack. Weíve ordered croissants with cheese and ham. We are drinking pineapple juice and Tall Black Coffee. I know that it is coffee. But how does it look like and how does it taste? We saw a young girl in a Swedish soccer jersey not far from here.

18.17 It was a large cup of tasty, black coffee. After the visit to the cafÈ I¥ve been at an internet cafÈ to print out a copy of my e-visa to Cambodia. The guys at the border took one of my copies and stamped ìusedî on the other one. It didnít go so well to get me a copy, it didnít work at all to be honest. Christer went to buy himself a t-shirt. That went much better. We are back in our cleaned room. It is time for some rest before we head out again.

An elephant has come to town.

20.02 The first stop of the evening is done. We are seated by the computers in the lobby.

20.52 The next step in the final Cambodian evening is taken. We are at Khmer Kitchen Restaurant in the centre. Christer will try Khmer curry and I will go for a classic dish, cashew nuts and chicken.

Peter sending a SMS to Roger back home in distant Sweden.

22.36 Plenty of taste wraps up the dishes. Plenty of walking wraps up the way home. Someone came out of the darkness and grabbed my right arm and said something that I couldnít hear. I turned around and said a distinctive ìNoî. Christer has donated the shirt he bought in Quy Nhon to the citizens of Siem Reap. It was npt designed for a European and is now having a bench break. The shirt was long enough but way to narrow over the shoulders. We are packing our things before we wrap up the day. What will our next home be like? What kind of room is it? We saw some of the hotel the 25th of June. Tomorrow we will fly back to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.