And so the whistle stop tour of Cambodia culminated with the head long dash for Sihanoukville with a very quick stop in Phnom Penh on the way there.

I left Siem Reap feeling that I had seen as much as I could see and although it was New years eve, I was in good spirits that I would make Sihanoukville, find some accommodation and drift into the best party of my life. The journey to Phnom Penh was fairly hard work what with the gayest 'bus steward' so far feeling that he had to share with us in intimate detail every single peice of scenery and history that he knew about which although quite interesting, was a bit much as he tended to rattle on for about 20 minutes in Khmer and then in broken English by which point, we were well past said tree, village, genocidal site and therefore the impact of whatever we were meant to be looking at was somewhat reduced. Add to this the terrible pronunciation (albeit a darn site better than my Khmer) and the old brain was somewhat frazzled by 4 hrous intense concentration. I am sure he would win employee of the month every month if for nothing more than his sheer enthusiasm. Never have i seen a man more dedicated to needlessly plumping bags back into the overhead storage cubbys and furnishing us with wet wipes like they were going out of fashion.

So, as you can imagine, I arrived there pretty drained, having had only a brief respite from the aural/nasal/oral onslaught at a charming little town called Kampong Thom and still had to face the joys of another 4 hours on a similar bus to Sihanoukille.

I arrivesd at Sihanoukville to the usual fanfare and delight (having to physically fight off taxi/moto drivers who are desperate to steal your bag so you will follow them to their taxi or grab you to thrust a dog eared card for their 'special hotel into your face') and immediately went to a chap who was stood apart from the rest. I negotiated a price to the hotel and depsite his protestations that every hotel was full and he could take me to a special hotel (the usual trick), I insisted I had a booking and was meeting friends at a certain hotel. Now this motive usually works and shuts them up but I became increasingly concerned as we picked up a small boy (his son) and he kept on telling me that every hotel withing a km of the sea was booked up.

At this point i should have probably listened to him but as is the problem in SE Asia; you cant trust anyone and whilst travelling is great fun, you have to have your guard up the WHOLE time in defence of potential rip off/scams/crimes. It is the thing that i singularly hate the most about travelling because it detracts form the enjoyment an interaction with the locals that they see you as a cash cow ripe for milking. Anyway enough of my rant!

I was dropped at myhotel and surprise surprise, the man was ot lying and I spent the next 2 hours doing half a BCFT or thereabouts (walked 5 miles) stopping at every hotel and guesthouse trying to find a room. I even considered paying WELL over the budget for one night's accom in a Hilton or Sheraton but even they were full. I eventually ended up in an internet cafe trying to find hotels on Lastminute.com and Expedia (to no avail) and finally called Chez Claude who provided me with a room.

I arrived at Chez Claude having realised that the reason he had a room was because it was in the middle of nowhere - a 15 minute motorbike ride from town (I actually found out later that the road to the beaches is actually only about 3km and perfectly manageable but Mr moto had taken me the long way round - see what i mean?!)

Claude was a lovely french guy who ran the place woith his local wife and the hotel was perched on a hill top with spectacular views of the bay below. He had been there for about 12 years and over that time had improved the place to a really high standard. He had also carved himself a niche for scuba divers and is the most highly thought of dive company in Sihanoukville. Or so he told me!! Whatever the case, he does NOT attract party animals so I spent my New Yrs Eve with a couple of families and their kids, a bottle or two of wine and a good book. In fact, I didnt actually see the dawning of the new year as I went to bed at 10! Disappointing after my high hopes but probably healthier.

I spent a couple of days with Claude and even attempted some diving which was abandoned and then subsequently refunded due to the weather conditions before moving to Serendipity beach. I can truly say that this was the best place so far on my travels. The guesthouse wasnt all that great - $8 and cheerful but the vibe of the place was SO friendly and the people really easy going. I could have seen myself moving there for a season to run a bar on the beach. All the expats are really positive about the place too which is a good sign. The first day I arrived in teh evening and all that day there had been a fire on the nearby hillside and someone's house was burnt down and all the tourists and locals teamed up to pass buckets of seawater up the mountain to dampen the fire. The same thing happened in the market later that night and i was pleased to hear that both families who had lost their livelihoods had been given places to stay in local guesthouses and other people were giving them food and things to sell to get them back on their feet. That was such a refreshing thing to see in a community.

I spent about a week in Sihanoukville having the time of my life before heading back to Phnom Penh for a day where I visited the humbling S21 (the genocide museum where Pol Pots regime killed all the academics and anyone else who may have challenged him). It was a gruesome place and there are still blood stains on the wall from the torture victims. It makes you realise how brutal some of these regimes were. The whole place has the macabre majesty I found quite horrifying.

I left Phnom Penh on my way to Vietnam and the start of the Intrepid tour which started in Hanoi. Before that though, I had to contend with the worst of what Saigon/Ho Chi Minh could offer!