Cambodian coast, the good, the bad,the ugly!

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So we had the bus ride from hell to get here! (the bad, the very bad!)! We were sold a direct ticket from battambang to Sihanoukville, it was meant to take 10 hours. We left Battambang at 7.30 am and arrived in Sihanoukville at 11pm! There was a stop of two hours in Phnom Penh and a change of bus and a beyond crap driver to the coast who must have thought he was driving a tractor (did not go above first gear!) Anyways, we met too funny Greek guys with lots of stories to tell and whining to do lol! When we arrived we took a tuk tuk to Otres 2 (the quieter beach) with the greek guys and two others for 6 dollars. This bargain price was thanks to Jorges who took his mood out on the poor tuk tuk driver lol! We got to Otres and got the last bungalow right on the beach, had a few drinks with the Greek guys and went for some much needed sleep. Sleep didn't come easy as there was a boat party close by (the bad, unless you are on the boat of course 😊) The food is pretty dear on the coast, cost us nine dollars for two toasties and a couple of drinks!

The next morning, we lazed on the beach, checked out and walked to Otres Village (the good, the very good), we found ourselves a nice, peaceful bungalow on the river with a balcony hanging over the river and hammocks to chill on called Mr Socks. We set about finding some lunch and came across a restaurant called Green Lantern close by with great value, delicious Thai food. Had the funniest French owner called Olivier, who grew up in Africa and Iraq and then moved to Thailand where he married his Thai wife (amazing chef). He had many jokes and stories to tell us including one in which some Korean tourists who ate in his restaurant asked him was it him in the photo of Bob Marley (despite the fact that he's white with a shaved head! He had too many to write here so I'll just write my favorite, publishable one! He had an idea for a salon in Japan where you are given cat massages (got the idea from his cat who always licks your head lol!

We went on a three island cruise for 15 dollars including breakfast and lunch. We had our breakfast in a restaurant by the beach before we set off, it was basic but good. Our boat was way over-packed with no life jackets in sight and teenagers for Captains (only in cambodia!) Every time someone moved, the whole boat tilted! This proved pretty dodgy when people were jumping off the boat to snorkel! The snorkeling was fun, I seen many jelly fish, strange fish, off plants and sea urchins. We docked at Rabbit island and the first thing we all did was head to the bar. It was a funky tree house bar with cocktails of every kind including yummy jungle juice 😊 The island was very clean (a novelty in Cambodia) with crystal blue water and pretty white sands 😊 We swam and sunbathed until lunch was served. Our captains cooked us barbecue chicken with salad and bread in the boat and we waded out to the water to get it 😊 After seeing another small island for more snorkeling, we headed back. It was a good trip and gave us the chance to chat to fellow travelers on the boat.

The next day we took a tuk tuk into the market for some shopping, I got a few good deals with little bartering compared to what I had to do in Siem Reap and then we walked home along the coastline seeing all of the beaches. It was great to see the difference of the tourist beaches and the local beaches, sun loungers versus hammocks, cocktails versus rice meals! We met an older Swedish guy and his young Khmer wife (something we have seen a lot of in Cambodia!) Mostly rich western guys with beer bellies (the ugly!) and pretty young Khmer girls!

#spudstobananapancakes

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