Angela Green and Charlotte Dyer are currently on VentureCo’s four month Indochina Venture.

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Empires of the East expedition diary: Update One Angela and Charlotte write... "Sousedei from Cambodia! The weather here in Siem Reap has been gorgeous since we arrived and we're all acclimatising to both the heat and the Cambodian way of life. There are a lot of differences between here and home. For instance, the delicious Asian food on tap, the insane traffic, and the fact you have to haggle when buying anything! The people are all really lovely however and we've already made friends with locals. That includes the resident hostel wildlife of mosquitoes, lizards and flies, not to mention the huge spider which the girls rescued the boys from the other day. On Monday, we started our Khmer lessons with monks from the local temple. They're part of the organisation we'll be working with to build houses later on called the Life and Hope Association. They're lovely people with great senses of humour - one of the monks even taught us insults in Khmer! Yesterday we went back to the temple to help distribute food to some of the poorest people in Siem Reap. It was a really humbling experience. Most of the children had stick-like arms and legs and were wearing clothes that were far too small for them, but they were all really friendly, smiley and beautiful. After this we went to help out in an English class for teenagers but we ended up teaching each other games outside in the sunshine. On Saturday we'll be leaving Siem Reap for two weeks to go to Phnom Penh and the beach at Sianoukville. When we get back, the hard task of building three houses will begin! We're all missing home but everyone also having the time of their lives already. Happy Chinese New Year! We arrived in Phnom Penh on Saturday after a long bus journey dodging cows on the road and listening to Chinese karaoke. The next day we visited Tuol Sleng, the notorious former Khmer Rouge prison in Phnom Penh and then the Killing Fields just outside the city. Our guide told us how her family were killed by the Khmer Rouge and that she and her mother had fled to Vietnam to escape the same fate. We were shown all the torture instruments and cells and at the Killing Fields we saw the huge monument filled with skulls that had been excavated from the site in mass graves. Although very sombering and shocking, the experience left us with a better knowledge of the country's past and what it has been through. On Monday we went to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda which houses a huge emerald Buddha and whose floor is paved with solid silver slabs weighing a kilo each. This was before setting off for Krache further north of Phnom Penh to watch wild Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong. We were lucky to see them because there are only between 80 and 100 in the wild and they are only found in this part of the world. On Thursday the group set off for another bus journey to Kampot. The next day we got up early to pile onto the back of a couple of pickup trucks and make our way up the rocky mountain track in the jungle to see the remains of the King's palace. We then had a short trek through the jungle looking at lovely orchids and spikey tropical plants - even spotting a snakeskin along the way! We then had homemade Khmer soup made by our tour guides on top of the mountain cliff looking over miles of jungle, which was truly breathtaking. We then went to the old abandoned hotel to explore and it was still possible to see remnants of sandbags and gunshots from it's Khmer Rouge occupation. We had another bumpy journey back down the mountains before taking a dip in some rapids and then going for a sunset boat trip down the Mekong. It was stunning and most people agreed that this was one of the best days so far. Click here >> for Khmer lessons and temple visits with monks Click here >> for Visiting Sihanoukville and project work begins... Click here >> for building work and Siem Reap Click here >> for lessons with the monks Click here >> for blessing ceremonies as the building work ends... Click here >> for Phnom Penh and sailing the Mekong Name: VentureCo Address: The Ironyard, 64-66 The Market Place, Warwick Click here >> for details of this placement Click here >> to see all of VentureCo's placements Click here >> to email VentureCo Tel: 0845 344 7523