Ahhhh Phnom Penh... It feels so strange to be in a city again and yet I love this place and I'm not sure I have the will power to leave. But all good things must come to an end and there're other places I gotta check out in Cambodia. So I think today's my last day here - tomorrow I'll head down to the coast for a couple days before coming back through PP on the way to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat).

So I've been in PP for a few days now. Found an amazing guesthouse (Top Banana if anyone's planning a trip to Cambodia - highly recommend it) which really makes all the difference. Ran into Mairead (Irish friend I met in Thailand) and she's staying in a boring guesthouse by the lake with all the other backpackers - she can't wait to get out of the city. So besides hanging out on the balcony of the guesthouse I've been walking everywhere in the city. The riverfront - not the Mekong! - is a fun place to just hang out. I think it's where the locals go on dates, it's kind of fun to walk along at sunset and see all the couples. Went to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. Not as impressive as I would have imagined - you aren't allowed within sight of the actual Royal Palace seeing as the king lives there... And the Silver Pagoda... I was expecting to be bedazzled by all the silver. It has a floor entirely made out of silver tiles weighing 1kg each. But they covered all the silver with carpets (what? They want to preserve it?) so it wasn't all that amazing. But there is a budha statue in the pagoda that's covered with diamonds. That was really neat to see.

Other must-see sights I've done... Day before yesterday I ventured out to the Killing Fields. Met a guy there who was honoring his parents - they were both beaten to death in the Killing Fields. He goes once a week to the pagoda there and burns incense for them. Hearing his story about the Khmer Rouge was really amazing. Really powerful actually. Walking around all the mass graves was a little less intense - something about all the children following me begging... I was planning to go to Toul Sleng right after the Killing Fields but luckily it was closed for lunch. So I headed to the Russian Market and had some fun looking at all the shops - might have to go back and get some cheap CDs. But I did head off to Toul Sleng (it's a museum - was originally a high school, Khmer Rouge turned it into the S-21 prison) in the afternoon. The Khmer Rouge photographed each of the prisoners there and just looking at the walls of pictures - most of them children was overpowering. Only 5 people survived S-21. They had seperated the classrooms into 10 cells each - about the size of the stalls in a bathroom. One of the survivors had painted pictures of the various tortures that went on there. They also had an hour-long movie following the lives of 2 people during the Khmer Rouge's reign of power. Both were killed.

After seeing both Toul Sleng and the Killing Fields, I was emotionally drained and really didn't do anything else that day. One of the big things to combine with Toul Sleng and the KF is heading off to the shooting range. Yes, one of the military bases here has turned itself into a tourist site - for just a few dollars you too can shoot an M16 or a granade launcher at a target. And for a few more dollars you can try to shoot a cow or a chicken! What luck! What an opportunity! It's incredible, really.

So one of the exciting things happening here is the elections are coming up - this will the third election ever and the main question on everyone's mind is who will win? The CPP (Cambodian People's Party) or Funcipec? Or will they share power like they did for the past 2 terms? There're parades everywhere and trucks driving down the streets blaring something - unfortunately I don't speak Khmer... The government is recommending tourists stay low on July 26th and the immediate days afterward - the country may become a bit unstable around then. So maybe it's a good thing I'm heading out of the country on the 14th.

In the morning I can sit on the balcony of my guesthouse and look into Wat Lang Ka - the monks are doing their chants before heading off into the neighborhoods. According to budhist law, monks are only allowed things which people give them. And they are only allowed to eat before noon. So after their morning prayers they walk around - the shopkeepers give them some rice and in return a prayer is said for them. In the afternoons the monks study - they have something like 50 subjects they are supposed to be come proficient in. If a barang (Khmer for westerner) is in a Wat in the afternoons, he usually ends up helping the monks with their English. It's kind of fun actually.