This week I took the bus to Phnom Penh, a six hour endurance test on what is laughably called a VIP bus, with sleeper seats that would do Ryanair proud for legroom.

The city is best known for its museum and relationship with the killing fields of the late 70’s. It is in fact a rather charmless place in the daytime, but does however boast some quality night life with good eating and a selection of bars catering for every taste, in the nicest possible sense. I was torn between a rock bar, jazz bar or a beautifully ambient French happening, with home blended rum, a lovely African – French music vibe and menu to match. After the blandness of Siem Reap, I enjoyed the nightlife very much.

Daytime it is very much the recent history of the Khmer Rouge, or the Royal Palace.

As far as the Royal Palace is concerned, whilst I am prepared to accept such opulence in Thailand, I found the display of riches here, compared to the poverty outside, grossly obscene. Enough said.

Moving onto the dark recent history, the day trip around the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum and Choeung Ek Memorial left me exhausted. The main museum is set on the site of a former school, which was converted to an interrogation facility by the Khmer Rouge. The displays are very well done, with a series of different exhibitions of extraordinary quality displaying a selection of viewpoints, from the victims, those who were drawn in at that time and outsiders who passed through. Ironically the boss of this unit is currently on trial in Phnom Penh and verdict is due in the New Year. It is then a 15km trip out of town to the Choeung Ek Memorial. Here it was that over 17,000 victims of the Khmer Rouge were murdered. Recent rains have disturbed the topsoil, bringing bone fragments to the surface underneath the footpaths. Skulls themselves are held in the dramatic Memorial Stupa.

The other thing Phnom Penh is well known for is the very darkest side of human nature. In the countryside young girls are sometimes regarded as the equivalent of cattle, thus they can be sold by their own parents/guardians with no feelings of basic human emotion. The remarkable book by Somaly Mam 'The Road Of Lost Innocence' http://www.somaly.org/store/ is a must read to understand this concept further. I will not go further here, but as they say the truth is out there. The author is truly one of the bravest and most courageous women who has ever graced this world - read this book if you feel strong enough.

Back at the Orphanage young Araget (our abandoned baby) has put on weight but is showing signs of jaundice and is currently back in hospital under investigation.