Laos and Cambodia

The trip begins in the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. The city which have 1 million citizens, is located where the 3 rivers Mekong, the Bassac and Tonle Sap meets. It is a historically interesting city to visit, and everywhere you see signs of the country's cruel history of years with civil war and war with neighbouring countries. Almost every Cambodian have a family member who has been killed during the civil war from 1975 to 1979, when Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge ruled. It is estimated that 25 percent of the cambodian population lost their lives during the civil war. If you get close with the people in the city, they are very interested in talking about the past. Their biggest wish is that the whole world should know how bad things were. We will take you on a visit to the Tuol Sleng Museum, also known as Prison 21, a university which was transformed into torture chamber. We also visited the killing field, which lies 15 kilometres southwest of the city. Here 17,000 men, women and children were executed and buried in mass graves between 1975 and 79. The city has much more to offer than its cruel past. For instance the Russian market and the central market, where you'll find cheap clothes from local textile agencies to a fraction of the price back home. The waterfront is the place to be in Phnom Penh with a beautiful promenade and lots going on. Here you'll find a good selection of restaurants, bars and cafes. A 4-hour long bus ride takes us to Sihanoukville in the south of the country. It is Cambodias most popular seaside resort with a big tourist potential. Nearby there are lot of islands, although it is only possible to stay overnight at the Bamboo Island and Koh Russei. We decided to go on a day trip to some of the nearby islands, the rest of the time we spend relaxing on the beach in Sihanoukville. It must be said that the clarity of the water is not comparable with the best beaches on Phuket in Thailand or Perhentian Island in Malaysia. A good idea is to try some of the lovely restaurant along the beach at dinner time. Here you will have the opportunity to eat a romantic dinner while dipping your toes in water at the same time. Night life in Sihanoukville is great with a good selection of restaurants and bars along the beach. Do not miss a mekong bucket which is a national drink speciality. Back in Phnom Penh, we chose to take a 6 hour long bus ride up to the northern city of Siem Reap. The city is a very popular tourist destination with a good selection of restaurants and hotels. Do you fancy partying then visit the barstreet in the center of town with lots of pubs and bar. The city also have a nightmarked, though we didn't think it was anything special, perhaps because the prices were a little too high. Siem Reap is the gateway to the temples of Angkor Wat, which lies about 7 kilometres outside town. You will undoubtably find the temples interesting, they are just so beautiful! The forgotten city, Angkor, was rediscovered by the French explorer Henri Mouhot in 1860, when he found the ruins in the dense jungle. The temples of Angkor was built by King Suryavarman 2. (1113-1150) as a Hindu worship place for the god Vishnu. During that period, the city of Angkor Wat grew to be the largest city in the world with over one million citizen. We then flew to the neighbouring country Laos , where we spend the next 11 days. After careful consideration, we decided skip the south of country and go directly to the north. It seemed that the north of the country is the most exciting part, although we have subsequently heard from other tourists that soutern Laos is clearly worth a visit! One of the good things in Laos is that they leave the tourists alone, no hazzel, to explore the country with its beautiful mountains, rivers and a very friendly people. We landed in the capital Vientiane which is located near the mekong river. The city has around 300,000 citizen, and has a unique relaxed atmosphere. To our astonishment there was a lot of very modern cafes, restaurants and bars, while the buses, however, was older. There is no skyscrapers in Vientiane. Instead, the city offers long French boulevards and French inspired houses. It is also a good city to get massage at cheap prices, so we tried that numerous times. The next stop on the route was the small town of Vang Vieng, located approximately 3 hours drive from Vientiane. The city lies at a river, which runs along the forests and rice fields and in the background you see the beautiful mountains. It is a very popular city among backpackers, and you can easily spend some exciting days here. The city offers a great selection of travel agencies which arrange everything from biking, trekking, tubing down the river and rock climbing. After some pleasant days in Luang Prabang, we took a hard 8-hour bus ride further north to Luang Namtha. The city is located in the northern part of Laos near the border of Burma and is a good place to organise village stays in the jungle. W