No need for the wake up call we ordered - but never had....as it's the final day of the wedding which is being held across the road and the Ali Barber style music begins at 5.30am, yes you read it correctly. Our windows are shut our ear plugs are plugged yet it still booms through.

Mr Blue picks us up on time and drops us off at the bus station but not before adding us to his album of happy customers and a ' bon voyage' . Nearly seven hours and a toilet and lunch stop later we arrive in Phnom Phen to a hoard of tuk tuk drivers desperate for a fare. The journey was okay apart from the extremely loud Khmer music playing in the bus. Unfortunately, our seats were directly underneath the speakers- typical!. Thank heavens for ear plugs is all I can say!!

The journey along the river on the outskirts of Phnom Phen was a real eye-opener, so much poverty. The shacks that they live in look as if you blew on them they would collapse. It's a real humbling experience especially as the Cambodian's seem such lovely, happy people.

We get to 240, a fab modernist boutique-hotel right in the thick of town near the river and Royal Palace. Head to the quay for a wander and some food. We are pleasantly surprised at what lovely gardens, buildings and open spaces there are here - such a contrast to the outskirts.

Next morning up bright and early and off to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda - similar to Bangkok's Royal Palace but on a much smaller scale . Walking around the city we see fabulous temples and colonial architecture.

Very very hot and sweaty we make it to the day market which is supposed to be fab, forget it. We then head for S21 the former school which was used as a prison and torture camp during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. What horrific sights; photos of hundreds of tortured innocent men women and children. Their stories and bones on display as a reminder of such an horrific past. This all took place in a school in the middle of a residential area which makes it extremely chilling. The museum is a must for anyone visiting Cambodia and makes the constantly smiling faces and shouts of "hello" all the more heartening. The Khmer empire used to include most of Laos and Cambodia and part of Vietnam, the people have taken a lot of sh** but they still give you a winning smile.

  The really sad thing is that people are still suffering the effects today such as, there are still so many live land mines in Cambodia. You only have to look around to see the maimed. 
 
In the evening we head off to the Foreign Correspondence Club for a drink and a bite to eat,(fab food) a real colonial gem that is straight out of a Noel Coward novel. Suitably watered and fed we take in some more of the atmosphere with a tuk tuk ride back.