SIHANOUKVILLEHmmm where do we start? Christmas in the sex trade centre of Cambodia, if not the world, we think?! We might have spent Christmas with Gary Glitter if he hadn't he been caught - not quite the type of celebrity we are looking to spot. Nevertheless Sihanoukville is a very beautiful beach resort on the coast of Cambodia, it's a great place despite being inhabited by a very suspect bunch of Anglo/French/Irish ex-pats (with the exception of Mick and the staff at Coasters bar where we spent most of our time - they are all cool). We do have to mention the rip-off factor again though, which is pretty bad all over Cambodia but reaches epic proportions here! Our coach tickets to Sihanouville (200km) cost us a miserly $4 each, a bargain. Our taxi (1km) to the hostel from the bus drop off point in Rippoffville costs a staggering $10, Grrr Mark loved paying that one 'they didnt even wear a mask'! Our $25 room - which proves to be the most expensive room we will occupy in Asia - was also a bit of an insect-fest and the service wasn't up to much given that they had given everybody Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off so no festive drinks or food available here; the only thing that saved it was the view, which we have to admit was very impressive. So, if you ever go to Sihanoukville (and you probably won't) be on your guard, the d*** Turpin wannabes are out in force. Our Christmas was quite good as it turned out and consisted of a crazy night out on Christmas eve at Eden bar followed by a Christmas day of: champagne, presents, christmas carols (on ipod), christmas tree and lights, beach, more booze, a non-traditional Christmas dinner (which didn't go down too well with Mark!!), a fire work display and yet more booze; all with the Christmas santa hats still on, excellent. One of the reasons we travelled to Sihanoukville was because of the ease in obtaining travel visas for Vietnam from the Vietnamese consulate they have located here. 'The visa takes 15 mins flat to process' we'd heard, this sounded too good to be true but to be fair obtaining the visa did as promised, turn out to be a piece of cake. We got ours on from a man in Coasters bar on Boxing Day whilst enjoying lunch and a beer. You just give him your travel details and passports and hey presto an hour or so later he returns, 'here's your stamped visa, enjoy your trip'! Apparently the same thing takes some people 3-4 days to process in Bangkok.On leaving Cambodia we had mixed emotions about the place given our differing experiences there. Learning about Cambodias troubled and also glorious past was a rewarding and enlightening experience however we felt frustrated by the amount of exploitation that goes on - both of the Cambodian people and of the tourists. There is so much corruption in the higher ranks of the country that the money doesn't filter through to the people that actually need it, which seems to result in the Cambodians having to sell what is most precious to them. It also means that as a tourist you do get the feeling of being treated like a walking ATM, much more so here we find than anywhere else we visit in Asia. When we speak to other travellers about their time in Cambodia, the vast majority of people love the place. We have to agree it is a unique place - stunning and sad in equal measure and whilst we could not honestly say that we would rush back here, it is certainly a country that has been worth visiting.