Day 9: 23rd Feb 2011. By Chris

Sihanoukville

So the day started with a hang over for the majority of the group... for once we were feeling fresh!!! But the groups misfortune made the long journey to Sihanoukville lots of fun!!!

We arrived around lunchtime to the hotel which was incredible, private pool, and 2 minutes walk from the beach meant we were very happy! Our tour leader gave us a short walk around the area (as he usually does to help us get our bearings) and after that it was a race to get down to the beach to catch some rays before the sun set around half 6.

We managed to find an amazing little local restaurant which was owned by one of Cambodia's greatest, Stan!! The food wasn't too speedy but when it came out it was incredible and possibly the cheapest meals we've eaten to date. We went there with Lorna and Alan, double date again!

That evening we met up with the rest of the group for cocktails on the beach and continued moving on down the beach front getting as many free drinks as possible due to the number of us, cheap night!!!

Day 10: 24th Feb 2011. By Chris

Sihanoukville, Ream National Park.

We decided today we would splash out a little bit and choose to go on a full day tour to Ream National Park. This was by far the greatest decision of the trip so far!! We had an early start and met down on the beach for breakfast with the others before boarding the bus to take us to the park. We then boarded our own private boat which would take us on a guided tour through the Mangroves of the Park. We were shown the various ways that the people living in the Park fished and worked for themselves, it was very humbling seeing these local people literally standing in the water and fishing from sunrise to sunset just to feed their families!

We were dropped off on what I can only describe as heaven! A beach that you only see on a postcard, white sandy beaches, warm water, palm trees! Wow! We stayed there for a few hours before moving on to a hike through the jungle for an hour which was brilliant, it felt like we were really deserted on an island!

Next was lunch! We stopped on a hut jutting out into the sea with the beaches all around us and were served a feast! I am now in love with Baracuda! It was so strange being in the middle of nowhere, no noises from cars or people begging, just relaxation.

We then boarded our boat for another trip to a look out tower which had panaoramic views of the entire park, it was breathtaking albeit a little bit unsafe, but were fine so no harm done! We then returned to the boat and headed back to the drop off point before heading back to the hotel for a swim in the pool.

We had raved so much about the quality of the food we had tasted the previous night that we managed to persuade the entire tour group to come with us to it that night. Stan loved us even more, he was so happy that we had brought him this many people! Service was slow but in that setting with the beach 20 yards away and the sun setting it didn't matter/ We decided to buy him a pint to say thankyou and got chatting to him... he told us that his Nephew was the chef and was 17, had been cooking for 6 months and was now head chef!! Amazing!!!

After that we moved onto the beach front again to claim as mnay freebies as possible and headed to a club called "Jay-Jays" to rave it up for a few hours before heading home.