I fought the law and I won!

View into cells, S 21
see all photos »

So we arrived across the border to Cambodia, took a tuk tuk and my bag got nicked. I had my arm through it at the time, but it was either let it go or get dragged down the road. So now, no camera, iPod no prescription sunglasses for Cathal, no raybans for me, no sunblock, no books, no bag. We went to the police station they held us up for 4 hours and asked for a $20 bribe. They pretty much told us they wouldn't try to help if we didn't pay. So we got the forms and left without giving them anything. Shouted a bit. Not holding out much hope for the insurance.

Cells, S 21
see all photos »

I can't wait to leave.

Day 3 - have calmed down a bit now, but we aren't finding the Cambodians as hospitable as we were led to believe. However to be fair- the biggest city is never the truest reflection of a nation, so we may be reversing this opinion when we venture further afield. We'll see how it goes.

We spent most of day 3 replacing our sunglasses and our passport photos that were in the stolen bag. The budget is well and truly exceeded already because of these expenses. We also spent some time shopping around for a new camera. We didn't buy one though. We also visited the silver pagoda which was really beautiful.

Outside of S 21. It used to be a high school
see all photos »

In the afternoon it started to rain incredibly heavily and all the kids ran out splashing in the puddles. They were very cute. One even took all his clothes off and ran up and down the muddy street. The kids are very sweet here, unfortunately many of them have to work, selling books and water.

So day 4 in Cambodia we decided to take a wander to the Central Market to see if we could spot our stolen goods. We reckoned they'd end up there but didn't hold out much hope of finding them.  We went to the electronics section and the first stall we looked at had some very familiar items. Yes, there were the iPod and the camera. Playing it cool we looked at them, asked the cost etc. Definitely ours, same scratches, and one of our pics on there too! Duh! So Cathal says "I'll be back in a minute." I asked him if he was going to the Bank, he said yes. I kept comparing iPods chattering away about discounts. Cathal rocks up with a policeman and the woman's face was a picture. We waved a copy of the police report (not stupid enough to bring the original). Suddenly two other blokes turned up to support the stall owner. Lots of shouting about serial numbers, for us to prove it was ours etc. (they'd taken the serial number off the camera and iPod so clearly this was no help). I rattled them, told them we would stay here all day, ruin all her sales etc. One of the blokes pocketed the police report and refused to give it back. I went out while Cathal reasoned with them (he's very good at that) and got more policemen. We had five at one point.

Street of Phonm Penh and the ubiquitous tuk tuk
see all photos »

They started shouting and threatening us, not before offering us the opportunity to our stuff  back for $125. Once they threatened me I told the police that he stole my police report, it was in his pocket. They asked for it back and then of course they were in real trouble. So the police confiscated the goods. Then it got really tricky. By then I'd managed to get someone to let me use their phone to call the British Embassy. We met the police in their office and they told us we needed to go to the Tourist Police (the ones who'd been so helpful the last time - not!). So we piled on the back of a motorbike and went off there.

Independence Monument silhouette
see all photos »

Luckily the guy I shouted at wasn't there and after half an hour of nothing happening a Major turned up. I borrowed a phone, called the embassy and got them to speak to him. So we waited and waited whilst they did an investigation. Then they brought a guy who they said was the one who sold the stuff to the stall. They interviewed him. Cathal meanwhile went to an internet cafe to get the invoice for the camera (we'd bought it online). They ascertained the camera was probably ours.

Next a photographer turned up. At this point we were pretty sure we'd be paying to get our stuff back. They brought in the seller guy and there were about eight people in the room by now. They started going through everything. Guy says he didn't know it was stolen (yeah right). They explained under Cambodian law he is a victim too and now has loss of earnings he paid $220. Which must be a lie since the woman was selling them back for $125. Anyway he wanted compensation from us, which he can request apparently. Er... let me think. No. We said that we couldn't be sure he bought it, we'd never seen him before and he couldn't prove he bought them whereas we could. Ha. So he accepted. Dunno what his options were really.

Independence Monument
see all photos »

Anyhow they hummed and haaad for a while. Said they had to keep the camera for the investigation. Lots of head shaking so I started to cry and said I was scared since they'd shown the seller my details and where I was staying. Went off the the loo in floods of tears. Cathal knew what I was up to, they all came out after me, sat me back down. Much sympathy.

I called the embassy who said they could keep the stuff for the investigation. I told them to take a picture of it and give it back to us. One of the policemen came out to me whilst I was on the phone (I was calling from a shop) he said the Chief of Police told them to give the stuff back. I went back in again and they asked us to pose for a photo with the major, we did, cheesy grins, I even slapped him on the back! Then a little photo of us all around the table looking serious. Then the Major made a stirring speech about how Cambodia is a poor country, not good law cause of the war, don't hate us etc. Actually it was very fair. Then we signed and fingerprinted a report and went on our way! It took 5 hours. Not a penny paid. We rock.

Royal Palace
see all photos »

We visited the Russian market to pick up a few bits and pieces and the followin g day we visited Toul Sleng Prison or S21 which was where the Khmer Rouge held roughly 14,000 people, with only about 10 making it out alive. It was really interesting and challenging. Well presented, you could walk around the cells and torture rooms (some with bloodstains on the ceiling still) and there were hundreds of photos of people who were held there as well as an exhibition of Khmer Rouge members today and their views. Some of them want to be brought to trial to explain why they did what they did, others want the leaders to be brought to trial and the saddest of all, some joined when they were young as they were told they'd get enough to eat. It was a very humbling few hours.

Jack and Niamh chatting
see all photos »

Off next to Kampot by bus, very, very early.

It's impossible to get around Cambodia without going back to Phnom Penh, so we had to come back in order to go to Battambang and then from Siem Reap we were once more in Phnom Penh overnight to go to Stung Treng for Laos. We stayed an extra day and decided to get Jack, the tuk tuk driver who'd been so kind to take us on a tour around the city. We passed the Independence Monument, the Silver Pagoda and visited Wat Phnom, the temple on a hill. On the hill there were lots of monkeys and we spent ages trying to get a photo without getting bitten. The next day we headed off to Stung Treng on another epic 10 hour bus journey to go to Laos from there.