Feb 1, 2009 - Beachy bliss!

Ahhhh, at last we are away from the hustle, bustle, dirt and noise....I am sat a computer, and when I peep over my screen I can see the sea....about ten meters away!!! Having visited a tiny, tiny place called Kep and found no room at the inn we went to Kampot (famouse for producing pepper). We then discoved that the road to the deserted hill station of Bokor was closed, we hot footed it to the costa-del-cambodia. So far I've eaten a cheese burger and a banana split, and I have nothing else to tell you all!! We are trying to decide between...

Jan 29, 2009 - Kep, Cambodia

Kep Kep was once the playground for the rich and famous in Cambodia, just along the coast from Sihanoukville. However it was severly ravaged by Pol Pot during the war, and you can clearly see the bullet holes in the walls of the building. We stayed in a nice place, backing onto the hills, in smart bungalows on stilts. Originally we planned to stay once night in Kampot, but didn't like the look of it as we passed through on the minibus! Spent a few days in Kep, 3 in total and hired a motorbike to explore with. You need transportation as its...

Jan 28, 2009 - Battambang, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, Cambodia

19 Jan Up early for another boat ride to Battambang - journey to the port was interesting. How many people can you get in an 11 seater minibus? Yes that's right, 18! And it was run by the Krankies, this old lady with shaven hair who was the grumpiest person I have ever met. Then we picked up 2 Yanks from a swish hotel, and the Krankie lady told the woman to get in the front seat, to which she said "does it have seat belts? I can't sit in the front without seatbelts"- there was nearly a riot led by James who had little room in the back as it...

Jan 18, 2009 - Kep

Kep, dernier stop avant de passer la frontiere Vietnamienne. Tres petite ville (4000 habitants) situe en bord de littotal. Celebre pour son marche au Crabe (voir Photos). Nous nous relaxerons le reste de la journe et etablirons notre strategie pour entrer au Vietnam. La suite au prochain episode. (j'oubliais, la partie de foot avec les Cambodgiens etait Geante) Hello friends, Strange town Kep, there is no town! This village was very in "vogue" before the trouble began in Cambodia. There're plenty af abandoned villa's next to the shore. It...

Jan 16, 2009 - Kampot

Bonjour les amis, Pas de photos disponible pour le moment de Sihanoukville, un virus s'est introduit sur notre memory card, les photos ne sont pas perdus, mais les antivirus des cybercafes en Asie ne sont pas au top ... Kampot ne se trouve pas tres loin de la cote Cambodgienne, petite bourgade sans interet. La campagne des alentours est magnifique, nous visitons une plantation de poivre, des "salt Fields" (j'oublie mon francais parfois), des grottes ou les Khmers rouge se cachaient pendant la guerre et flannons le reste de la journee au...

Jan 11, 2009 - Sihanoukville

Bonjour a tous, Nous rejoignons Sihanoukville en bus, cite balneaire "phare" du Cambodge. Nous prenons donc le bus de la Capitale qui 6 heures plus tard nous depose sur le place principale de Sihanoukville. Les plages de sable blanc comble le manque de paysage tropical ... De nombreux Hotel Resort sont en construction ici et la sur les bords de plage, ce qui gache l'esprit des Bungalows et resto plage paillote qui resistent encore pour le moment, mais pour encore combien de temps ??? La nourriture (comme dans tout le pays du reste) n'est...

Jan 5, 2009 - Sihanoukville

Sihanoukville was calming down from its New Year excesses when we arrived, the odd room were once again available, the guesthouses prices were approaching normality, and there was room on the beach once more. We ended up at a place called Cool Banana which had more than its share of Scottish football shirts on display, courtesy of the frequently drunk and slightly mad Scottish manager. The only shirt of significance missing was the Rangers top so Ian felt compelled to donate his 'Gers shirt to put the situation right. Sihanoukville is...

Jan 2, 2009 - Kep

We were surprised at what a small and spread out town Kep is, there really is very little to see here and the beaches are it must be said a little disappointing. It was clear as soon as we arrived that we were going to spend no more than one night here. After booking ourselves into a guesthouse we had some seafood for which Kep is famous and then did very little else until the evening and ended up at a Lonely Planet recommended restaurant called Riel which rather curiously quoted higher prices in dollars than in the local riel currency, its...

Nov 22, 2008 - Sihanoukville to Kep, Cambodia South Coast

Phnom Penh – Sihanouk Ville – Kep – Phnom Penh Kingdom of Cambodia 21st-30th November We entered the Kingdom of Cambodia on 19 November, crossing the border from Chau Doc in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The immigration set-up resembled Old MacDonald’s forgotten farm buildings. The Khmer bureaucrats showed their love for rubber stamps and stickers with lots of meticulous stamping, stapling and scrutinising. Eventually our passports got even more decorations and our entry to Cambodia was secured. We headed straight to Phnom Penh and the...

Oct 29, 2008 - Sihanoukville: back to beach life

Sihanoukville was our last time by the sea this trip, and we were here for the Cambodian coronation holiday, so there were at least as many holidaying Khmers as there were foreigners, which was nice. It is pretty heavily touristed, and the diving wasn't great (lots of sand and starfish, but not a lot else - we've been a bit spoilt with our previous diving!), but relaxing in the sun on the long white beach by the warm blue sea wasn't horrible(!). While we were here, we also went to eat at the Snake House - a cross between a restaurant and...

Oct 27, 2008 - Kampot & Kep

Our 3 hour journey to Kampot turned out to take 6 (tho the journey was beautiful), so we arrived in the dark - and it's very dark here cos there're no street lights (no electricity at all quite often). We checked into the nearest guesthouse, made friends with a dog there (called Wayne), and then walked confusedly down random streets till we found the river and some dinner (which was delicious). The next morning we caught the early morning bus to nearby Kep (good thing we're staying next to the bus station!). Kampot is an old colonial river...

Jul 25, 2008 - Episode 13: Ground Hog Day

The last 13 Days: Our trip to Sihannoukville was set to be a break from the road for a few days. A town on the coast of Cambodia SV is a collection of beaches. Pre-commercialisation, the family run/ ex-pat funded restaurants and hostels have charm, far from the developed city beaches of Nha Trang in Vietnam. We stayed in a guesthouse on serendipity beach called Makara, holiday type bungalows with bathrooms and aircon, quite different to our current cocaroachy abode. On our first day here we bumped into Kimberly. We had previously met in Hoi...