Sihanoukville-on-sea

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So after 2 weeks of inland travel we were very excited to get to the beach. We got an overnight bus down south and arrived at 6am in the pouring rate and found a wee hotel on the beach thinking we'd go to bed for a couple of hours then go to the beach when it stopped raining. It didn't stop raining for 3 days, and by all accounts won't stop till the dry season! The next day we moved hotels to a place nearer the backpacker's scene so we could at least play pool when it was raining! There happened to be a Scottish bar, woohoo, run by a nutter from Craig Neuk so we got a bit of banter there and met up with the ozzie couple a few times. Apart from that we just hung around praying for nice weather! Oh and playing with the puppies! There were about 12 in total and they must have only been weeks old, so they kept us entertained for a long time....
All in all our quick visit was rather disappointing although we did hear of a few theft incidents while we there, one from a guys hotel room at the first hotel we were at, while he was sleeping, so I feel quite lucky. Eventually we decided to get a bus to the Thai border and aim for Bangkok, our last stop. That was a great trip! After 3 hours on the bus we stopped for some reason. It turned out the road was flooded and no cars were getting through either way. We were in the middle of nowhere but somehow some women were cashing in, selling snacks of barbequed frog (I think it was!) to the stranded folk. Two hours later we finally got moving and drove through a village of wooden huts which was under 6 inches of water. Pretty shocking but not enough for a bus full to be stranded for 2 hours!
We made it to the border and instead of going straight to Bangkok that night (we would have arrived about 3am after all the hassles) we stopped in a wee place called Trat for the night, which I would recommend to anyone. It's a quiet wee town and we got a guesthouse at a very reasonable rate, although our room did leak slightly during the night! We got a great cheap dinner then stopped at a wee cafe for a quick nightcap where we met the craziest thai woman call Oi, yup, just shout Oi, and she'll come running, and some nice gents who bought us a beer.
The next morning we got straight to the bus station via songtheaw in the pouring rain, again, where I got a very tasty pad thai brekkie for 70p and we boarded a bus back to Bangkok.
So we're now in Bangkok, in the hostel we started off in 11 months ago! Last night we went for a wee walk to find the ladyboys and had a drink at a bar we were in first time round. Oh and I may or may not have got a new tattoo......... (dont tell the parents) Today was our last full day here, tomorrow night we fly home, woohoo! and we'll probably spend the day buying some last minute pressies and tat for the family. So, so long Asia, it's been great, see you again in a few years time!
Watch out Scotland, we're on our way back!
xx

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