Day 53-54, Phnom Penh

Nico's fever had not gone away and I was glad we had come to Phnom Penh. We went first thing to a international medical clinic where a doctor examined him and took a blood test. It was good to know that at least he was being looked at. Whilst we were waiting for the results my parents arrived. It was good to see them.  

Tuk-tastic

The blood test happily came back negative for malaria and dengue fever and we now had to wait until Monday for more test results, so we decided to just make the most of the weekend as possible. The first thing to do was transfer our bicycles and stuff to the same hotel as my parents (the budget was being stretched a bit but we deserved it). The second thing to do was EAT, after the truly laughable breakfast I had been served at the previous hotel. A Cambodian restaurant and a delicious sour fish soup later we were ready to start the day.

We hired a tuk-tuk and the four of us set off to Phnom Penh's premier tourist destinations, the Killing Fields and S-21 prison. At first, I felt uncomfortable with the idea of these sites being open to tourists, but after a few minutes there I realised that it's right to visit them, if only to remind ourselves of the horrible things our species is capable of. 

Monument at the killing fields

After a rather serious afternoon, we relaxed for a bit at the hotel,which was lovely, and then went out to dinner in another Cambodian restaurant. I haven't lost my cyclist's appetite, even when we're not cycling.

The next day, after another night of bad sleep and fever, we went to the National Museum of Cambodia. This was really really interesting, with lots of old sculpture and scripts written into stone recounting the history of the land and another, more recent, exhibition about life along the Mekong river. We then went for lunch (another sour fish soup, seriously I'm addicted), and then to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, a set of very pretty buildings. And just like that, my parents were gone as quickly as they arrived. We had to be grown-ups and organise ourselves again.

We decided to ignore this fact and just relax in our seriously nice hotel. If you're going to be ill, it's good to do it in style.