You want to buy bracelet?

---

Happy New Year!

Ok I am slipping with this travel blog. It's only because we have been having so much fun here in Cambodia! Our journey here was crazy as it was on a bus run by Vietnam. As soon as we crossed the Cambodian border it was like a breath of fresh air. We had to get off the bus with all of our stuff and pass it through an x-ray machine. Then each couple bought a litre of duty-free vodka for christmas. That was a bad idea but more on that later. We climbed back on the bus sans passports and worried about it as the bus took us further and further away from the border. We were seconds from asking where our passports were when we pulled into a restaurant. They then informed us that our passports would be there in 20 minutes. We relaxed and had our first Angkor beer while we waited. Eventually we got our passports back with a shiny new (expensive) sticker for Cambodia and got back on the bus. It was still about an hour to the city and the rough got really rough part way there. We passed about 10 trucks with over 30 people jammed into the back of each one standing up and there were little kids about 6 years old with brand new babies in a sling around their necks begging for money at traffic lights. It was really sad. I passed out at one point and woke up when I realized my head was bouncing off the window. My head was pounding by this point and the light was on and they were playing horrible music so I was not a happy camper. There was a ferry we had to take across the river and I had some fun making faces back and forth with two little Cambodian boys. We arrived in Phnom Penh to a very dark and deserted neighbourhood where their office was located. It was about 10 pm so there was nobody around and we ended up walking for awhile with our backpacks looking for a restaurant and guest house. We walked past this big square pond which we quickly realized was a giant septic field basically. I am surprised I didn't throw up as it was the worst smell I've ever encountered and I was feeling kind of rough from the bus ride but I managed to keep it in. Finally we found a hotel and booked a room for the night and a bus for the morning to take us to the beach. We ventured out for some food but couldn't find much as it was late at night and we weren't in the heart of the city. The girls ended up going back after a bit as they decided they weren't hungry after all and Corey, Craig and I went to this restaurant we found. There wasn't anything for me to eat there but I wasn't hungry anyway so I just sat there with them. They ordered two soup kind of dishes and it ended up coming with about 10 different things like a big salad and little bowls of different vegetables and salads. It was pretty crazy. So much food for about $2 each. We felt bad wasting most of it but we didn't expect it and we weren't that hungry.
The next day we got up and we didn't have that much time to get breakfast so we packed quickly and then went out. We ran into our friends who had just eaten at this deli they found so we went there while they packed. Corey showed up just as we got our food to tell us the bus had shown up early so I grabbed my toast & jam and ran to get our bags while Craig paid the bill. We were taken to another bus station where we hopped onto a bigger bus for the 4 hour journey to Sihanoukville. The ride was mostly uneventful other than a quick stop we took to use the bathroom in a small village. The bathrooms were so bad that all four of us girls picked our way through a field absolutely full of garbage and chickens and cows to pee in the back field. We petted the cows and left them following us wanting more. I don't think they get very much affection here. We showed up in Sihanoukville about mid-day and were bombarded by tuk tuk and cab drivers. We had 10 of them surrounding us in a circle shouting at us while we tried to make a plan. We had to tell them to back off and give us 5 minutes but they just moved back a few feet and kept interrupting us. Finally we all piled into two cabs and they took us to a few guesthouses that were full. It was quite busy as it was two days before Christmas. We went down to a different beach and the driver took us to a guesthouse he said he knew had rooms so we decided to trust him. He ended up being right and we got very nice rooms for very cheap. We had to pay extra for Christmas day and the day after but it was worth it and they let us keep our $12 a night rate all the way through new years even though they were charging $30 a night for everyone else. It pays to stay long-term I guess.
Anyway, about Sihanoukville. It's very tourist oriented and a bit more expensive but the beach is really nice and it is lined with restaurants with lounger chairs outside for you to sunbathe on. The first day we arrived we went to the beach and sat on the sand on our sarongs as we didn't really know you could use the chairs if you spend $2 at that restaurant. We were instantly bombarded with Cambodian people selling everything you can think of. Little kids with a bent coat hanger around their shoulder full of hand-made bracelets and keychains. Women and young girls with a big basket balanced on their head. They were full of fruit, crayfish which they called 'lobster', donuts, nuts. The lobster lady pretty much followed Craig around for a few days after he bought some of them. There are amputees crawling around begging for money. Women with their basket of supplies rubbing your legs offering to 'thread' the hair off them for you or give you a pedicure. We ended up indulging in foot scrubs and massages and had some of us had hair removed. You can buy a piece of fruit that they cut up for you and put in a little bag for $1 - $1.50 depending on the fruit. Then you had to help them put the basket back on their head depending on how small they were. The little kids are so funny here and almost all of them speak amazing english. They would ask your name and always remember it. They would tie my hair up in little ponytails and drape themselves over me and lay beside me on my chair and have a nap. It was pretty cute but also sad that they had to sell bracelets all day on the beach and then come back after dinner with fireworks to sell at night. Little kids all by themselves on the beach at night with tons of tourists around. It doesn't seem very safe to me but that is the way it is.
We have been here for 10 days and mostly we've just been laying on the beach, swimming, eating and watching movies as we have HBO and another movie channel in our room. We spent one day on motorbikes touring around which was fun. We got really dirty as we encountered a few dirt roads and we had a few run-ins with cows crossing the road in front of us. It has rained a few times and when I say rained I mean it POURED. It was crazy. Huge puddles in minutes. It didn't last too long, maybe 20 minutes or so but if you were stuck in it, you were soaked instantly. We had just came back to the guesthouse after riding the motorbikes most of the day when it started the first time. It was perfect timing really.
Christmas was strange. It was weird not being home and being in a hot climate. We went on a boat which took us cliff jumping and to an island where we swam and sunbathed and had a bbq on the beach. Then we came back and had some drinks on the beach. A few too many drinks in my case and I didn't notice the millions of mosquitos chewing up my feet and ankles when I called Jenn at 10pm or so from the internet cafe. The next day it took me over 2 hours to drag myself out of bed to call my family for Christmas. I have only felt that bad a few times in my life. Stupid Vodka. Needless to say, I didn't have anything to drink other than a free shot at the bar on New Years.
Speaking of New Years... it was a night I'd mostly rather forget. It rained most of the night but not as heavy as it did before. We went to a Mexican restaurant and had really good food. Then Amanda and myself spent most of the night babysitting our drunken boyfriends who had gotten their hands on some fireworks and were not being very careful with them. We weren't very happy to say the least but we eventually dragged them home shortly after midnight and all is well now.
Corey, Craig and I are catching a bus at 7:45 tomorrow morning back to Phnom Penh where they are going to this place where you can throw grenades, shoot guns and rocket launchers and probably many other scary, dangerous things. We will probably go to the killing fields afterwards which should be very depressing and sad but worthwhile. Amanda is going to stay behind as she isn't interested in either of these things and then Corey will leave us and they will meet on Koh Chang in Thailand where Craig and I started our trip. They are going home on Jan 12th and we will be meeting up with them again most likely for one night in Bangkok on our way back from Cambodia and on their way to Singapore and their flight home. I am sad we are going to be on our own again but excited for what lies ahead. We aren't even sure of our plans once we get back to Thailand. We are heading up to Siam Reap to go to Angkor Wat which Corey and Amanda did earlier and they say we have to go there. I am glad we are going even though it wasn't in our plans before. I hope everyone had a great New Years!

---