We learnt that cambodian organisation is just as bad if not more annoying than Thailand's systems of stamps and stickers. The night bus dropped us off at sihanoville in the pitch black at 4.30am (4 hours earlier than expected). Once we made it to the pier we managed to find a 24 hour restaurant, of which there were a few -perhaps they make money out of how unpredictable the buses are. Annoyingly we were booked onto the 11am boat to allow for late arrival of the bus. Therefore we decided to try and get on the 9am boat which was apparently full. After being messed about by different boat employees we snuck on the 9am and had a great boat ride to the islands. It was blue skies after the rain showers of the early morning and water was completely flat. As we came round the corner and approached the mad monkey beach we already felt like we had arrived in paradise. We had to walk through the water to get to shore and it was like arriving on a reality Tv show. The hostel had its own bay and owned all the huts along the beach. The restaurant and chill area was a wooden structure overlooking the sea. What made the hostel distinctive was the hammocks and swings that were in the sea. People always seemed to be chilling in these seats and it epitomised the atmosphere of the entire hostel - relaxed and social.

When we checked in we were met with a sign saying 'no wifi make friends'. To add to this all food and drink was added to a tab and there were no cash machines. On this island, Internet and money were of no importance. It definitely felt like its own world. That afternoon a group started a volley ball match on the beach and it turned into almost the whole hostel playing together. We played as the sun went down and when the game finally finished we all ran into the sea. There was a real sense of community and it got everyone chatting and mixing.

That evening it was pizza night and while we had no choice but to buy the food from the hostel, we didn't mind too much as the food was so good! The socialising continued and every so often the bar staff would shout 'free shots at the bar' and everyone would run over for a shot. We also got involved in a game called beer cricket which we later discovered was a popular drinking game in Germany. Each team lines up on either side of the room. They have to pick two runners who stand on each side of their line. Everyone has a beer in front of them. The teams take it in turns to throw the ball at the water bottle in the middle. Once the water bottle falls over, the team that hit it can start drinking their beer and have to stop when the runner from the other team brings the ball back to their side. It got quite competitive and was clear that guys had the edge when it came to downing beer.

The next day we planned to go on a fishing trip but the boat had all been booked up the evening before. As it was still early Lexi and I decided to try and find the waterfall we had heard about. We were told to follow the river behind the hostel. It has rained that morning so we treked through the rainforest in the mud, which meant we lost a flip flop now and again. We made it to the waterfall which was slightly smaller than expected. But it was different to waterfalls we had seen before due to the number of large rocks above it. We had a swim in the cool waters then headed back to the hostel.

We decided to get away from our hostel and see Saracen bay. We got the free mad monkey boat back to where the ferry had dropped us. The beach was very long and pretty empty. There are bungalows and resorts along the beach but few people around. It was beautiful and a nice change from our small beach at mad monkey.

The atmosphere was completely different that evening as it was mostly new people compared to the night before. It does show how hostels are defined by the people that go there. In mad monkey the hostel was dominated by English people. That night there seemed to be many more groups than the night before so we had to make a bit more effort to integrate. We ate traditional Khmer coconut seafood curry that night. I am really enjoying all the south East Asian cuisine while travelling.