A quick pit stop in Bangkok before revisiting Cambodia and a few days relaxing at the beach, much needed !!

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Day 205 (Sun 31^stMarch)



This was my last day in Singapore and we had done pretty much everything I wanted to do. I did fancy a visit up the ‘London Eye’ like thing and maybe a view from a hotel bar or something but really couldn’t be bothered paying the price to do so. We instead went for a bit of a hike up into Mount Faber park. Took us a while to find it as we went out the station the wrong way but when we got there met with steps, and lots of them. Totally knackered, drained, soaked and exhausted by the time we got to the top we took a breather and lie down, well I did anyways. After this we decided we’d had enough of walking in the park and headed down. Now there is a lot more to walk around in the park but it was seriously hot and we were well under watered so back down we went.

We had a lazy afternoon followed by me heading off to the airport and Lee of to a different hostel in the city. I got to the airport a good 2 hours before my flight to then not be able to find it on the departures board. I started a mini panic as I saw a flight with the same company, being Tiger Airways, 70 minutes earlier. I fast walked to the counter to ask and show my reference to be told my flight was 5 minutes earlier and to go and check in, however I could still not find anywhere to check in.

I now panicked more and asked another member of staff about it. Turns out I was on the 70 mins earlier flight which was departing in 25 minutes. I was never informed of this by Tiger Airways and have complained to them but no reply as you can imagine. Twice I have flown with them, both times my flight has been moved, at least the first time I was told about it. I legged it through departures and was the last person on the plane although it did seem this may have happened to a few people. I was not in the mood to ask however and just got on the plane instead. Arrived in Bangkok and made my way to my hostel, which this time is in the Silom district and way away from Khao San road, to keep the temptation of heavy drinking sessions at bay.



Day 206 (Mon 1^st April)



I only really had one thing to get done today but it was an important thing. I needed to visit the visa application centre for India to get my visa as I am flying there in 2 weeks and it takes 8 days to process. I had planned on going 8am but I didn’t wake up until 9:30am. I got showered and headed off arriving around 11am. The queue didn’t seem huge and I needed to get pictures done and a few things printed so got them done and paid for and joined the queue.

I was in this queue for a good hour to get to the front, have my documents looked at, told they were fine and given a number. I was then allowed into the waiting room. I had 37 people to wait until me. Considering it was now 12pm and they were only on number 43 for the day I figured I’d have a wait on my hands. A 3 hour wait it turned out to be. Lucky I had nothing else to do because I spent most my day there but my application got handed in. Being April Fools day it did feel a bit like the whole thing was a joke sat in there.

In the evening I popped to an Irish bar to take in some football on the tv. About 1o minutes before the end the evenings music started, why it couldn’t have waited I don’t know but it did anyways. In hindsight I am glad it did because the American guy singing was hilarious, changing all the songs to add a Thai twist, generally centred around what other activities go on here. It was pretty amusing. Didn’t stay long as I’d have 3 pints and after that it could have ended in a session.



Day 207 (Tues 2^nd April)



Early start to get a bus to the Cambodian border. Left my hostel around 6:30am, made the 7:30am bus and off and away. The border took maybe 5 hours to reach and the crossing had a huge queue, where it was swelteringly hot. Got through and myself, a German and 2 Polish got a taxi to Siem Reap. I have until the middle of next week to wait for a decision on my visa so figured I’d head back to Siem Reap and get away from Bangkok. I enjoyed myself there last time.

I arrived around tea time and headed to my hostel from last time and was re-acquainted with my digital camera. Unfortunately none of the staff had taken any photo’s with it. I am always sure if I see a camera left to take a few ‘selfies’ or funnies for when the owner get it back. Got to have a sense of humour. In the evening I was picked up by Hena and taken to see Vichet, from here we heading out for food and some drinks down Pub Street. I made sure not to get too drunk this time.



Day 208 (Wed 3^rd April)



We had an early start although none of us actually had any breakfast at the cafe. The girls were off from work so we decided to go to the beach for a few days so we booked the bus for the evening. We then spent the rest of the day pretty much waiting for the bus as it was so hot there was not a lot we could do. During the afternoon 2 of Vichet’s younger sisters arrived in SR so the 5 of us just hung out for a few hours. With the new arrivals in town Hena decided she was staying in SR so myself and Vichet headed off for the bus.

We got the night bus at 8pm, it broke down 3 times then the driver just went for it. It was as rough as anything, not enjoyable and took way longer than expected. I think the suspension was broken so 5 hours spent being thrown around the bus in the dark was not pleasant by any means.



Day 209-211 (Thurs 4^th – Sat 6^th April)



We eventually arrived in Sihanoukville after changing buses in Phnom Penh, horrible journey done. We got on the boat pretty much straight away to head to Koh Rong, a place I actually didn’t go to first time round in Cambodia so was quite keen to go too.

The fact it’s a small pretty deserted island there obviously isn’t a lot to do. At this moment in time Koh Rong is getting a lot of attention and press and is quickly becoming busy with new bungalows and guesthouse springing up. I imagine in 2 or 3 years it’ll be totally different and not a sleepy as it is now.

We spent our 2 days there pretty much chilling on the couple of beaches in range of our bungalow, eating in the few restaurants or swimming in the sea. Another pastime being lazing in hammocks with some music playing. The trip here was horrible but the end result very nice. Travelling has its moments. Koh Rong is one of them.

The main issue with the island at present is the lack of air con or fans. The rooms can get incredibly hot and this can be unpleasant when trying to sleep. I imagine with the popularity it’s gaining and the custom it’ll be a little airier in the rooms soon. (I am amazed airier is a word but I am not getting a spell error)

We took the boat back on Saturday, Vichet was sick from the swell. Luckily I have plenty of experience when it comes to boats so didn’t bother me a bit. We couldn’t get a return night bus so we had dinner in the restaurant of where I stayed last time as I knew the food portions were huge and got some kip. It’s safe to say we had a nice relaxing few days on Koh Rong and I would definitely recommend it to anyone going to Sihanoukville, actually just miss Sihanoukville out, it’s a dump.



Day 212 (Sun 7^th April)



Sunday turned out to be a transit day. It took from 8am to 10pm to get back to Siem Reap with a short stopover in Phnom Penh where Vichet’s little sister Rattanak came to see us for a bit. There was a hell of a thunderstorm in Siem Reap on arrival. I was going to head to the pub to watch the football but realised Everton had already finished as I read the match time wrong. It saved me a few dollars anyways.

Monday I used as a lazy day, I got my bus sorted to head back to Bangkok tomorrow. Apart from that, me and Vichet had lunch in Siem Reaps Irish bar and then I pretty much lay in bed all day, drifting in and out of consciousness next to the fan. It is hot season in Cambodia and regularly reaches 40 degrees, hot hot hot!!

I popped out in the evening for a couple of beers but nothing heavy as the bus was an early one in the morning.

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