Surviving the Cambodian mini-bus

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There was a spectacular thunder storm last night, and judging by how wet everything was it rained a lot whilst we were asleep. This meant that the clothes we’d left to dry on the balcony were wetter than when we’d put them out! Oops.

After breakfast we went looking for critters in the sea. Unfortunately the wind picked up and the sky clouded over making it very difficult to see anything. As the rain came down we gave up and swam back to our things before packing and checking out.

The rest of the morning was spent reading in the bar, watching the ominous sky and dark sea with its white horses.
Our tuk tuk to the bus stop was due to pick us up at 1pm. It was 30mins late. The hostel was great - ringing the driver and chasing him, and even promised to sort another bus if we missed ours.
Fortunately we got to the bus stop with 5mins to go, the taxi driver then rang the minibus driver to check we hadn’t missed it and waited until we were picked up. He redeemed his tardiness.

Having booked the bus quite late we had got the last 2 seats - right next to the driver. This is to be avoided if at all possible. I was in the middle seat, not a proper seat, very cramped and with no seatbelt. Stephens was at least a proper seat with seatbelt. This would have bothered me less had I not been able to see what was in front of us quite so well. Our driver spent most of the time on his phone and quite happily accelerated from 20kph to 110kph and back again within a very short amount of time. I had a very clear view of how close we got to numerous vehicles, and even a few animals. I really didn’t fancy ending up with my head through the windscreen. Fortunately it’s a relatively short journey and we arrived safely in Kampot.
(NB we booked our bus with CTT travels and it was new, comfy and they didn’t overbook seats. It’s cheaper to book in person than online but we wanted to know it was sorted)

Around Christmas and New Year the prices for accommodation in Cambodia rocket, especially in the touristy areas. This meant our accommodation in Kampot was a little out of town. We therefore decided to stay in town for a while and check in later.
We wondered down to the famous Durian roundabout and enjoyed a coffee. We then headed towards the main restaurant area in town and enjoyed a meal at the French ‘auberge de soleil’ restaurant recommended to us by our hostel.

Finally heading over to our hotel we were pleased to find it very pretty and comfy.

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Photos

View from our balcony on Ream Beach
It’s pouring - you can see the sea but it’s hard to tell where the sky ends and the sea starts...