We left Koh Chang at 6.00am on 3rd May expecting a not overly easy trip across the border and into Cambodia and our concerns proved well founded! Just to get to the border involved a truck taxi (sit in the back of a truck on a bench with a number of others) from our hotel to the ferry port, then catch a 45 minute ferry followed by another truck taxi to Trat bus station. We then got on a mini bus for the one hour journey to the border. This is where the 'fun' really started. The border crossing and obtaining the Cambodian visa was easy enough but the border taxi touts who gathered round you and 'escorted' you through the border controls were irritating to put it mildly. Unfortunately, we had to deal with these guys once the formalities were completed. We knew the journey to Sikanoukville was going to be 4 hours at least but we didn't expect a 1000 baht a person fare they all seemed to be quoting. We weren't sure if they were operating a cosy cartel but we accepted a lift to the bus station from one of the taxi's where we were promised a lower fare as there were other Cambodians waiting to take the same journey. When we got there we were informed that six passengers (including us) would be making the journey is an old Toyota Camry saloon car plus a driver for 800 baht each . It didn't look big enough to take that many people but given we were in the middle of no-where we didn't feel we had much choice and the situation made us feel a little nervous. There were no westerners around and these guys could have been planning a ruse to relieve us of all our money and gear for all we knew and if that was the case there wasn't much we could do. We agreed after much hassle and argument to pay the driver 1000 baht on the spot and 600 baht later, at least when we felt we were going to reach our destination. We crushed into the car, two in the drivers seat, one in the passengers seat and four of us, including us two crushed in the back. How the driver drove virtually sitting on someone else is a mystery especially as it was a manual car. The roads were straight out of the third world and a stark contrast to relatively 1st world Thailand. They were mud roads with occasional stretches of very rough, loose tarmac cutting straight through jungle, forest and rural farmland areas. The scenery at least made the journey interesting even if it was very uncomfortable and hot. We had to stop a number of times to cross rivers and waterways using the most rickety ferries you have ever seen, little more than a few old boats and wood somehow welded together to transport cars and lorries. Fortunately there was little in the way of rain with accompanying rough road and river conditions as the journey didn't bear thinking about otherwise. At least we were going somewhere and we started to feel a little safer. After 3 ½ hours of traveling from the border we reached a 'real' road, oh what joy! We were instructed to get out of the car as we were now being taken by another vehicle the rest of the way. It was a relatively comfortable mini-bus and we were the only passengers, even more joy and I paid our remaining 600 baht fare. Our joy was short lived as half an hour later we stopped at a village and were moved to another mini-bus packed full with locals and our bags were strapped precariously onto the back. It appeared we had been 'sub-contracted' out to another mini-bus for a bit of extra profit. Still, we made Sihanoukville town centre around 5.30pm before embarking on one last piece of dodgy transport, a motor cycle each which are the taxi's around here to get to our hotel. Very safe of course with the driver holding our large rucksacks whilst he's driving! We finally arrived at 6pm, exhausted after nearly 12 hours of traveling in eight different modes of transport but relieved we'd made it at all. At least our hotel was worth the effort. For a mere $10 we got a decent sized clean room, air-con and TV plus the hotel had a nice swimming pool. This was in contrast to Ko Chang where that sort of money got you a wooden hut or tiny room with a crappy bathroom. It makes such a difference to your mood and enjoyment of an area when you have somewhere decent to stay. We stayed here for a week and really enjoyed it. The beach is nothing spectacular and you do get rather hassled by beggars there so we avoided it during the day but went there in the evenings a few times to eat and drink at the many excellent restaurants and bars. The surrounding areas however are lovely and we enjoyed a couple of enjoyable cheap day trips, one went snorkelling near islands of the coast and another to the Ream National Park where the scenery was lovely. We also hooked up with a few other English travellers so it was a fairly boozy week too as the beer is seriously cheap here, a further reason to recommend it! We departed on 10th May for Siem Reap in the north where we planned to visit the Angkor Wat temples.