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In mid-December we caught an early morning bus from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville on the coast of Southern Cambodia. Gerry decided to buy a baquette filled with cold meat from a street vendor at the bus station - big mistake! 24 hours later, full scale diarrhoea! Fortunately no sickness, and after a day he was eating as well as ever.
Sihanoukville is a bit shabby and is spread out across a number of beaches. We stayed in the Mealy Chenda Guesthouse above Victory Beach with a lovely view out to sea, particularly at sunset. They do a wicked barbequeue evening where you cook you're own food on a charcoal stove on your table.
The sunsets on the beach are also worth beholding. The sun sets around 6pm, after which we would head for a great little French restaurant (La Pailotte) most nights. The entrance is invitingly lit with fairy lights and leads to a narrow path crossing a small pond which Gerry did not see and fell into on the first evening!
We visited the Ream National Park and took a boat trip down some mangrove swamps. Unfortunately it took so long to negotiate the price and route
that it was midday before we took off and there was no cover on the boat and the sun did shine! Most of the trip was a big open river and we got fried!
On the 18th Dec we booked a shared car to take us to Kampot, a 3 hour drive away. We paid for 3 seats to give us some extra room at the back of the car, and an Australian guy also booked a seat. When the car turned up there was a driver and a family of four already in it. We thought the family must be getting out, which they duly did. Then the driver instructed us to get into the back of the car along with the Aussie bloke. We objected and informed him that we had paid for the 3 back seats. He said yes but normally there would be 4 people in the back. Thinking we were hard done by we got into the back seat. Then the family of four piled into the one front seat!! The father and the driver shared the driving, with one holding the steering wheel and pressing the accelerator, and the other doing the brakes
Early evening runners pass a coconut
On Ochheutal beach, the most developed beach in Sihanoukville.and changing gear! To add to the fun we had a puncture along the way.
Kampot is set in a beautiful location, by the river and surrounded by mountains. We just had time for a refreshing swim in the river and then dinner in an old French colonial building at the Bokor Mountain Club. We stayed there one night then headed back to Phnom Penh for one night before our excursion down the Mekong river to Vietnam.
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anonymous
non-member comment
It's me.
It seems yesterday I managed to break their comments database, sorry! But I believe you can still read between the lines what I wrote. Please post back often when & after you enter China. I am quite keen to know what you see and what you can not see you want to see (we know there's something we don't know, and we don't know there's something we don't know :-), etc. - Ken AST