Kampot

We left for Kampot in the dodgiest little mini-bus yesterday, our driver was a race driver one corner he went around so fast a dog was sitting on the road, the noise of that dog hitting the underside of the bus and screaming will haunt me forever :(

So we arrive in Kampot (Home of the Worlds best pepper) and we decide to treat ourselves to a lovely meal in Rikitikitavi, the bottle of wine cost nearly twice the price of our room for the night and the whole meal was still under $35. Excellent food.

The next day we rented another moto and hit the country, it really is an beautiful place, kids running after the bike, motorbikes with dead pigs on the back, massively overstocked cars and bikes, you need to be a mile a minute to catch these on film but as you drive your bike down a road that has more potholes then the entire county of Leitrim, things get interested. Funnilly enough as you can see in my photo, you'll see all off Cambodia littered with Johnie Walker & old Pepsi Bottles filled with a yellow substance, this is the local petrol station! I kid you not.

Sihanoukville & Waterfall

Today we started our day by visiting the Vietnam consulate and sorting our visas, what a pain free process, fill out a form, hand the man $45 and the visa's stuck to your passport there and then!

We were told about a nice waterfall on the outskirts of the town, we hopped on the bike and ventured down a dirt road with moon craters all over the place, how I managed to keep 2 tyres on the bike is beyond me! We arrived at the waterfall and my god the place was just ruined by straw huts selling crap, I don't mean one or 2 there was dozens of these places. We saw the waterfall nothing spectacular by what we saw in Australia & NZ but beautiful none the less.

Next stop was the beach and had a swim and went for a bite to eat in Bayon, the poor guy didn't have a word of English and the menu was a pretty dire translation such as "Food is made with larger potion" and "The Beef is very learned", funny but the food was really good, the smell itself would drag you into the place.

After we negotiated Cambodian rush hour traffic which is always fun.. Whatever you do don't stop!

The Small Hotel Sihanoukville

Such a great place to stay I feel I have to mention it here, the best place we've stayed in Cambodia. Ran by a Swedish guy and his Cambodian wife: Henrik and Mom Olsson. The room was spotless and complete with minibar, cable TV and free wifi (also free internet kiosk downstairs). The staff were always with a smile and looked after everything. The room was cleaned everyday and buses, moto rental, food, etc was looked after. The food and breakfast here is A1.

When we arrived late after the kitchen was closed Henrik got someone to cook our dinner for us. There is a nice bar to chill out and mingle with the owners and resident barflies that are staying there. Mom was also at our beck and call and organised even the smallest of chores.

It's a shame places like these only come around once in a blue moon, don't be swayed by the convenience of beachside accomodation, stay at The Small Hotel Sihanoukville.

I'm probably forgetting loads here, but they also have 2 lovely dogs that are very friendly. All in all a fine place to have the craic

Contact Details Below:

Sihanoukville

It took over 12 hours to get here from Siem Reap including stops and change overs the bus was OK but had a Ryanair-esque familiarity with the seats so cramped together.

We arrived at Sihanoukville and as we got into the city the storm killed most the towns electricity, as we got off the bus we were bombarded by 50 or so tuk tuk drivers as if we were celebrities going down the red carpet. We arrived at 'The Small Hotel' and what a place this is, it's run by a Swedish and Khmer couple and between themselves and their staff they can't do enough for you, we arrived late and the kitchen was closed so he got the chef up to make us our dinner!

Next day we rented a bike for $4 and drove the island, technically you are not supposed to drive without a Cambodian drivers licence but a few George Washington's I'm told tends to turn a blind eye. Getting used to the right hand side of the road is difficult enough but Sihanoukville haven't got their traffic lights a long time and it's a game of bumper cars at must junctions!

We chilled out at a few beaches as this is what this place is all about!

Angkor Temples - Part 2

A 4:30 am rise turned out to be a big anti-climax the sky was cloudy and we unfortunately didn't see much of a sunrise, worth the experience however. The place was jam packed, we decided to make our way through the rest of the list. So a morning of temple trekking, breakfast and back for a nap. There was a couple of Monks with Cambodian people and they were trying to ask me did I speak Cambodian, anyhow I managed to work out they wanted a picture with me, they've obviously never encounter an individual quite as hairy as I am right now!