When we crossed into Cambodia we were expecting a scam at the border. I'd read about the officials charging you extra for your visa so when we got there it came as no surprise that they said it was $35 and not the $30 like we knew it should be. I told him I knew it was $30 and he appeared to add up the cost for 2 visas again and look confused and then said it was $32 like his maths was wrong the first time. I tried again to pay the right amount but he wasn't budging, we decided to pay the $2 bribe each rather than arguing anymore as ultimately we wanted to get into Cambodia and he was our way in. We know its a cultural thing but we both hate the corruption and I felt better that he knew, that I knew, that he was ripping us off!

Once in Kampot we arrived at our guesthouse to be pleasantly surprised, there was a really nice bar area, the owners were English and really friendly and we'd been upgraded to a bungalow. The down side was we'd been there less than 10 minutes when I felt like someone was sticking needles in my feet, I looked down and they were covered in biting red ants. I'm not exaggerating, they hurt like hell! I soon found the trick to avoid them was to walk really quickly and not stand still in between the bungalow and the bar. Casson was in his element here, he had a full English breakfast made with proper sausages and bacon.

On our first day we hired a moped and drove to Kep, on the way there we drove past rice paddies, traditional stilted houses and water buffalo, it was lovely. Kep itself was really small, we went to the crab market were you can watch them bringing the crab baskets in from the sea and you can choose what you want from the seafood and they cook it straight away in front of you on a BBQ.

The following day we went to Bokor National Park along with a fellow Northerner from Liverpool called Eddie who we'd met at the guest house. It was the most bizarre place ever, when you think of a national park i'm sure you don't picture a huge and we mean HUGE casino/resort, well this had that and a derilect casino which was really eerie to go into and also a derelict Catholic church.

The journey there was good, it was up a mountain so the views were amazing, it was a really sunny day but the further we drove up the colder it got and then we were surrounded by mist and a fine rain. I said "well at least the mist isn't on the road" we literally went round a bend as I was saying it and then we drove straight into mist, we could hardly see the road in front of us!

After the mountain drive we all headed into town, grabbed a bite to eat and then went on a sunset cruise on the river. It was so nice, really peaceful, amazing scenery and a great sunset. By the time we were heading back it was dark so we also got to see lots of fireflies.

We really liked Kampot, there wasn't a lot going on there but the people were friendly and it was really relaxed.

General points
1) We both formed an addiction here to Chinese noodle soup with dumplings.

2) Eddie gave us a book called "survival in the killing fields" and it was like nothing I've ever read before. I still can't believe the atrocities that occurred during the Khmer rouge reign in Cambodia