May 21 – Day 4 had a late start of 8am which was nice; however, the day consisted of a 7 hour drive on a private bus to Phnom Penh. The roads were really bumpy – the kind where you actually get tossed out of your seat at times. We stopped to use the restroom at a gas station and the squat toilets were clean and actually flushed. You will always have to bring your own toilet paper though – otherwise you’ll have to use the hose. Along the way, we stopped for lunch where they served tarantula. It was really disgusting looking but smaller than I imagined (smaller than the palm of your hand). A couple of tourmates ate the whole thing, but I only ate a leg – it tasted like crispy nothing.
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May 22 – Day 5 consisted of visiting Choeng Ek / the killing fields which was interesting. They haven’t excavated all the bones yet, so you actually end up walking on some which are still partially buried under the walkway. We then went to the museum which was where the victims were held and tortured. The cells were very small and it looked terrible. There were two survivors there as well selling their books.
The white on the ground are bones.
Many people didn’t know this was their last photograph before death.
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This building was full of skulls organized by age and sex
From there we went to lunch at a restaurant that helps homeless children. Then we went to the silver palace which had many buildings but also had lots of sections blocked so you couldn’t view them. There were nice gardens there at least. 
From there we went to the Russian market where they sell goods that fell off the truck. The tuk tuk that took us to the palace market and hotel only cost 10 dollars and they actually wait for you while you explore and you just pay them at the end. We also walked to the central market where we bought pens and paper for the children of the house that we went to for dinner. The central market was more interesting than the Russian market. It seemed to have more quality things. The Russian one had a local section which was interesting but gross. Because it was raining and the market didn’t have proper roofing or drainage, the floor was very slippery. I didn’t take a close look at what they were selling, but I know there were full dead animals for sale, and it smelled really bad. I was happy that the vendors were not as aggressive as they were in Peru. However, I was not happy that prices were not super cheap like I thought they would be. I only bought fancy chopsticks for my sister. Afterwards, we showered and dressed for a dinner hosted by a local family which had mostly curry dishes, so I only ate a few shish kabobs, rice and some spring rolls. Unfortunately, they also served duck fetus, which was so gross to think about that I had to remove myself from that part of the table…..that meant I also couldn’t partake in the tarantula wine which was wine in a bottle with tarantulas. Overall it was a fine dinner except for the mouse turd on the table.
I do find it uncomfortable that the family does not join you for dinner. They simply host the meal and serve you. I would appreciate the dinner more if the family would eat the meal with me and have a conversation with us (even though it would have to be through a translator). Instead, you are solely there to pay them to feed you. There is minimal socialization which is disappointing.
The hotel in Phnom Penh was okay – pretty clean and only one gecko in the room. The elevator got stuck at some point so it was a bit nerve wracking to use it. The breakfast was a mix of Western and Eastern so it is overall good if you could ignore the mouse turds and roaches.
Aimee Knows 