After emptying most of our rucksacks and taking our dirty laundry on as hand luggage (Airasia - budget airline, have a ridiculous policy that you can only check in 15kgs, seemingly having it as hand luggage doesn't affect the weight limits of the plane?!) we're all aboard our flight from Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We had a change of plan and decided to head straight to the beaches of Sihanoukville, after all we deserved a little holiday. Can we point out at this stage to all those people who think we're on 'one big holiday' that it definitely is not the case! Yes, we're making you all very jealous while you sit at home or at work (naughty naughty) reading our blog and looking at our photos but believe us, it isn't always as glamorous as it appears...for example, Jen has taken two very bad falls (unfortunately Sal only managed to get photos of the first), Sal now has to carry not only 1 bag but 4, and let's not forget to mention the many broken hearts we've caused across Asia! Right, now you're no doubt feeling better about being in freezing cold, wintery England, let us tell you about Sihanoukville...

The bus journey down south was a doddle, what's 5 hours these days? We're so excited about being able to drive (our parents cars!) to somewhere like Brighton when we get home. It would appear it's not that far away after all especially on smooth, direct motorways! So, after getting on the back of a motorbike driven by a 13yr old local kid in torrential rain we get to Monkey Republic, a busy travellers guesthouse and bar that will be our home for the next week, or so we thought! After 2 nights of not sleeping because "that music is just too loud for this time of night" we checked into somewhere else and enjoyed a week of relaxing on the beach with our new friend and surrogate Dad, Michael. We did one trip to Ream National Park in the hope of seeing more wildlife; dolphins. We were taken to a very remote beach that was beautiful (still not a patch on Phu Quoc, Vietnam) before doing a mini trek to the other side of the island where the BBQ was. The photo doesn't make the food look that appetising but it was really lovely and very tasty; garlic and pepper barracuda with salad and of course, a baguette (they're served with EVERYTHING in Laos, Vietnam & Cambodia). It was a really nice day despite finding out at the end if we wanted to see dolphins we'd have to go again in 2 months when they 'arrive'!
The US Navy (USS Mustin) were in town at the same time, providing health care to the locals and helping to build schools, etc. One night they put on a mini concert which was fantastic. The locals had never experienced anything like it before and it was so great being there to see their reaction; men, women and their children were singing (ish) and dancing away, they loved it!
After getting over the initial excitement of Heinz baked beans and Marmite (obviously not together) being on a few menus we tried the local cuisine which we loved. Fish Amok (coconut, lemon grass, garlic, etc curry sauce served in banana leaves) and Beef Lok Lak (pepper, soy & oyster sauce) served with rice, as most Cambodian meals are, yum!
We went to Sihanoukville after several recommendations from other travellers we've met along the way who said it was amazing. We enjoyed our week but weren't blown away by the place. Again, maybe we've been spoilt by beaches in Vietnam and Malaysia? There are lots of bars and restaurants there run by ex-pats who are hoping to make it the next Thai island, apparently.
Well, now we've relaxed it's time to sight see in dusty Phnom Penh...