Sihanoukville - god I hate moto drivers here!

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Well, I know this blog is supposed to be about Sihanoukville like but I was in Bangkok for 5 days beforehand so I'll get that bit out the way first.
First night I was there we met 2 Irish lads called Sean and Paul so had a few beers with them but when we were pissed me and Alex did a runner from his missus and got a tuk tuk up to Patpong. Had a few beers there then headed back to Khao San to find Cindy sat there with a face like a slapped arse and the mood to suit so I thought fuck this and headed on home after another beer or two and several bitchy comments from across the table towards us 2.
The next night I met a girl called Tukta and a few more of Cindy's mates so had a few beers on Khao San then one of her mates took us all to this bar somewhere in her cushtie people carrier for more drinks. I found out when we got there that it was actually a gigalo bar and the owner looked like Elton John's long lost Thai brother but it was sound enough coz I was with Tukta. Me and Al polished off a bottle of Black Label whiskey, the bar staff kept calling me Alan Smith and I ate some ridiculously spicy soup but it was a good laugh all the same.
the next day Alex went back to sunny Stockport but I was too hungover to get up on time so didn't even get to say bye; Dave, Rira and Barry who we met in Koh Phangan turned up that night though so I was sorted for mates to get pissed with. Them 3 are all Liverpool fans so it was even more satisfying watching us beat beat them 1-0 with that lot sat with us! We watched it in a bar called 22 Sports Bar which is definitely my favourite bar in Bangkok to date. After the footy we jibbed on over to Sukhumvit to some bar in the middle of the actual pavement and got shitfaced; don't remember getting home anyway so must've been! I'm going on a bit too much about Bangkok here so I'll knock that on the head - to summarize I got pissed for 2 more nights then caught the coach outta there on 25th jan to make sure my visa didn't run out.
The coach took us to the port near Koh Chang then me and 4 Swedes got a minibus to the border. Border crossing was a piece of piss (if a little drawn out), and the visa was easy enough to sort (if a little pricey at 15 quid), but a moto drive later I was sat in a guesthouse with a beer in my hand, a spliff in the other and officially in Cambodia - mint! The guesthouse was in Koh Kong but I only stopped there one night, 9am next morning I was on another minibus and on my way to Sihanoukville.
No-one on the bus spoke English really so was once again more than thankful of my iPod. They told me the road from Koh Kong to Sihanoukville had recently been redone so the road was really good, I'd hate to have seen what it was like though as it's still just a dirt track in all honesty (and we were flying along it at 100kmh in a bloody Sooty van!). The best bit of the trip was all the ferries you have to catch to cross the rivers (4 in total), they were well entertaining. It made the trip seem that bit more different as well coz usually you just jump on a bus straight there.
Arrived in Sihanoukville around 2ish safe and well and was immediately ripped off by a bloody moto driver taking me to my hotel - a lesson learnt there believe me! Checked in at Royal Hotel which was only $6 a night with a fridge, fan and telly so not bad at all. Just to explain, in Cambodia you can use Riel (their own currency), American dollars and sometimes Thai Baht but I use dollars coz it's so much easier to get your head round and work out what you're actually spending. It's 4000 riel to the dollar so you get 25c and 50c back in riel coz they only use notes.
I realised I had all of about $10 on me so set off in search of a bank to get a cash advance on my Visa card (there's no cash machines in Cambodia that foreigners can use, or apparently so till I got to Siam reap. lol). Sorted that easy enough so set off in search of a good bar. Ended up in Oasis bar and hotel where I met a well cute Vietnamese girl called Nga so had a few beers with her then went and got one of my blogs sorted on t'internet.
Ended up back in Oasis once I was done and she took me and her mate Kim out to Mojo Bar which her mate and her French husband run. They were all trying to teach me Khmer in there but by the end of the night I could only remember thank you, no thank you and fuck (choi) - go my memory's shit innit?!
The next morning I was up bright and early (well maybe not bright), and headed straight to Oasis coz Nga said she'd take me to the beach. Sure enough, as soon as she'd sorted some work out we were both sat on her scooter towards Occheuteal Beach. Her mate worked at a bar right on the quiet part of the beach so we crashed out there for a beer and a chat. An hour down the line I fancied a swim in the sea so I wander down the beach thinking I'd be on my own since I was the only one dressed for it, little did I know that people out here go swimming in all their clothes; jeans, t-shirts, the lot! Stayed in the sea till my fingers looked like prunes then we headed back to Oasis for a beer and a pizza.
That night I finally sorted the Pattaya blog out then headed over to the Angkor Arms for a few more beers. When they eventually shut I asked Leon, the manager, if any bars were open late and he invited me out oni the piss with him, his missus and a Manc lad called Dave. We went straight upstairs in Freedom across the road which was pretty much a go-go bar then onto Corner Bar on Victory Hill after that which is open 24/7 so by the time I got home around 5ish I was pretty smashed.
The next morning (well more like afternoon due to the hangover), I decided I'd do the thing I'd always wanted to do in Spain and Greece in the past but was too scared of the consequences of crashing, and hired a scooter for only $4 a day. They're 125cc 4 strokes with 4 gears (no clutch mind thankfully), so you can get them to go pretty quick like, not that I knew what speed I was doing coz the speedo was broke but I had it flat out and it had 120kmh at the end of the dial so I'm thinking I was doing maybe 90kmh? I know me Mum will be cringing at this but I'm still here aren't I so stop fretting!
Once I was sorted with breakfast and a brew I was on my way back to Occheuteal beach to try and start to get a tan. lol. I parked the bike up, got myself a beer and crashed out on the beach and it mustn't have been any more than 5 minutes before this little girl, maybe 7 or 8 years old, comes up and asks me if I'd like to join her family for a drink. I turn round to see about 30 Khmer's waving at me and beckoning me over to join them. "Erm, aye, go on then", I replied. No-one there spoke English (except the little girl), but they were more than happy to keep filling my glass with beer and give me food so I was just amazed at their hospitality to a complete stranger and one that spoke no Khmer at that! After a couple of hours I decided that I was gonna be far too pissed to ride a bike if I carried on drinking so I bought a load of beers in for them all, thanked them for letting me join them (as best I could through the little girl), and set off back to town.
That evening I went to Chez Claude for tea which is classed as a 'splurge' in LP but it was only $9 and well worth it so no worries. the restaurant is on the top of a massive hill so you get quality views and I had a 'volcano' which is a load of meat and seafood which they cook for you at your table so you couldn't really knock it for only a fiver I reckon!
I had to get an early start next day as my room was going from $6 a night to $15 coz of Chinese New Year but I managed to get the $5 room at Oasis so wasn't really arsed. Nga said she'd take us to the waterfall at Kbai Chhay so we jumped on our bikes and away we went. Half of the trip was just normal road but the other half was a red dust track so by the time I actually got to the waterfall I was absolutely plastered in shite! Dusted myself down then went off for a wander round the place - fuck me, I think half of Cambodia was at the place that day! There hadn't been much rain recently so there wasn't as much of a waterfall as there should be but everyone was loving it all the same. I was the only Western face in the crowd so I felt like I was slightly off the LP trail so that was a nice change too.
A couple of hours later we set off back and got plastered in shit again. That night I watched Man U beat Wolves 3-0 and met a Dutch guy called Jaque (or possibly Shaq), who writes for a motorbike magazine and is currently sponsored by Yamaha to go round the world visiting as many countries as possible on his R1 - quality do eh?!
Didn't do a lot next day except eat, drink and get chatted up by bargirls bu the day after was the day I was leaving to go Phnom Penh so said bye to Nga, jumped on the bus at 12:30pm and away I went...

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Photos

The dodgy-arse car ferry
I thought they were gonna sink with all our shit on but fair play, we arrived to the shore safe and sound

Nga and Kim
Two of the girls working at Oasis bar and hotel. Knocked about with Nga most days I was in Sihanoukville to be honest, she was well cute though!

Me on my mean machine
Ha ha, I buzzed off this thing to fuck me, it was only a scooter like but top fun and not much riding ability needed so suited me bang on

The waterfalls at Kbal Chhay
Me and 2000 Khmer's - mad shit!

My last meal in Sihanoukville
This was the view at sunset from Chhner Molop, proper nice view and proper nice food so I was well happy