October 13th - 15th

We got up early to catch the 7am bus from Siem Reap back to Phnom Penh which took about 6 hours. Bus was pretty empty, but the road seemed oddly much bumpier on the way back than it did on the way there.

Once we got to Phnom Penh we made the suicidal decision to get a 'share taxi' to Kampot. We got a really cheap fare but had to share a normal car with four other locals plus the driver so it was a real squeeze. Add to this the torrential showers on the way, the fact that the driver's windscreen leaked and the fact that he stopped an hour out of Kampot to tow one of his mates which massively slowed us down and you can see why we weren't best pleased on arrival.

If he hadn't stopped at one point and put a tarpaulin over the half open boot our stuff would have been soaked, but luckily he did. He also didn't stop due to visibility once even though Stevie Wonder would have been as well placed to sit behind the wheel as a result of the torrent of water smashing off the 'windscreen'. The other minor irritation was that the trip took 4, not 2 hours as described by our guide book. Fortunately we're both patient people.

Anyway, we got there in the end and managed to bag the last room of 'Blissful' guesthouse which was an unbelievably cheap $5 a night total for both of us. Surely this was too good to be true? Yes. The old adage that you get what you pay for couldn't have been more true - the smell emanating from the en suite bathroom was anything but blissful (in fact nasal hair burning) and the room wasn't particularly clean, but we resolved to stay our planned three nights to save some money for later in the trip.

Fortunately the bar downstairs was decent, as was the location. The staff it has to be said though were a bit odd and appeared to be a mixture of drop-outs and dead legs from all corners of the world who, frankly, could all have done with a good shower and a visit to the dentist for extensive reconstructive surgery. Perhaps this is why no-one had answered the phone when we tried to call ahead three times - lazy stoners. There also appeared to be a fair few stray dogs running in and out of the premises, all itching and scratching more than the nit-nurse's waiting room of your average primary school. Rest assured, Trip Advisor will be updated with a stern review of the premises - long live t'internet.

The final monumental point to note of the day's developments was a crushing victory at Scrabble for P Guerrieria.

The following day, we discovered that the 'town'of Kampot is really small as we walked around and saw the ''sights'' in all of half an hour, and saw a few other tourist couples wandering around aimlessly as well which was at least a bit reassuring. We had lunch a Captain Chim's (oo arr me hearties you've found my gold e.t.c.) and Paul got stuck into the first beef lok lak of the trip, a Cambodian speciality, which is deeeelicious.

We watched a Brit couple outside tentatively decide on whether to hire a scooter or not and laughed after they massively bottled it when a dreadlocked ex-pat local told them they'd be mentally unhinged unless they had insurance. Nice work dreadzone.

Decided that with Kampot "done'' we should investigate further afield the next day and book a trip into the countryside. Cambodian tour guy was a salesman of the first class order - currently we were the only ones on the trip, so it was looking dicey as to whether we'd be able to include the boat trip as well, however he reassured us that he'd try to find another couple of suckers, sorry customers, to bring along.

Went for wander down by the river in the evening which was really peaceful and had a great view. A lot of locals seemed to out for a promenade as well so there was a nice atmosphere and the perfect photo opportunity (which you may or may not see as we think our camera stick may have a virus...noooooooooo). Had a great meal at Rikitikitavi to finish the day off - try saying that after a few sherbets, although forgot head torches and got a little bit lost on the way home in the dark (and it started raining...).

Went on the day trip around the local area with two fellow tourists, Jess and Chloe (nurses from Bristol, calm down lads). A tuk-tuk drove us up to the local pepper fields to start the trip which was actually pretty interesting in the end and not to be sneezed at (sorry). Kampot is actually world famous for its pepper bizarrely and apparently Parisian restaurants used to insist on only stocking pepper from this area. trev fact of the day...

The field was pretty small with plants about the size of raspberry bushes and we also tried some guava from one of the adjoining fields. It was pretty raw so tasted really bitter. There were also a load of mango trees and kiwis growing in the adjoining field - pretty mental to see all of this growing in one place.

Next stop were some frankly average caves with a few bats and oddly shaped rocks that looked like elephants. We saw quite a few bats and there were clearly hundreds more above us squeaking away, but Sarah refused to take a flash photo despite my coercion after a flashback to The Goonies. There were also a couple of requests for 'donations' to a couple of cave collections, but we made sure these were minimal as it was a bit of a joke to be honest. Our tour guide also appeared to be the Cambodian version of Gok Wan which at least kept me amused.

Next stop was the locally famed fishing village Kep for lunch and a quick tour. The crab was supposed to be amazing so we got stuck in - it was pretty expensive for what it was and hard work to get to any meat with only a knife and fork, but what we did manage to get was tasty. During lunch there was another torrential downpour which effectively ended the rest of the day's tour, but we didn't mind too much. We'd earlier found out that our planned trip to Rabbit Island later in the day had been postponed because of the choppy sea, but we got our money back at least.

We went for dinner with the girls in the evening and then walked back to the guesthouse in the pitch black - not many street lights in Kampot. We'd remembered our headtorches this time though so made it back OK. Hurrah. Next stop Sihanoukville - where the girls have just come from, and apparently where it rained non stop while they were there. Excellent...