The 4th and final blog entry for Cambodia (as we have written them out of order just make sure you have caught them all.)

Our first beach day in 7 weeks of travelling so a very exciting moment, bikini's ready (well Steve wore shorts!) we head to the beach, find a sun lounger and let the relaxing commence, or so we thought....the girls/women here parrade the beach selling all sorts and they are very persuasive (or maybe me and Sharon are just weak!). So 6 hours later we return browner in some places and slightly red in others with a manicure, pedicure, sarong, fruit, leg wax with cotton and talc (random but effective!) and braclets.

Food in Sikanoukville generally consisted of BBQ's on the beach, we sampled some different local seafood for the bargain price of $3 most days - baracuda, seabass, tuna all washed down with some of the cheapest beer we have found yet at 50 cents a pint!

We decide not to turn into total beach bums just yet so book on a boat tour to Ream National park advertised as monkeys, birds, snakes and maybe dolphins. We saw 1 eagle!! The river boat ride through the mangroves was relaxing and we treked through some jungle to get to our own private beach which was lovely, water like a bath and no sewerage in sight. We were also joined by a belgian couple on our boat the girl was the spit of Charlie Moon (for those Lloyds people reading I will post a picture, Charlie have you got a Belgian sister??) this provided us with much entertainment.

Then came the rain and rain and more rain! So 2 days of internet, pool, beer and the cinema followed...3 and a half hours of Apocolypse now almost put us off of the cinema, the first hour was good but the rest was like everyone was on drugs! Even the guy that owned the cinema fell asleep so we had to go back the next day to pay, he was chuffed with our honesty and wouldn't take our money. So the next day we felt like we should visit again this time as paying customers so especially as it was so comfy. Furnished with big round wicker chairs/sofa's with cushions and blankets and best of all a fridge with cold beer and snacks, brilliant!! England take note!! So first up, Napoleon Dynamite on Ben Ralphs recommendation, Ben what were you thinking??, that is 2 hours of my life I'm never going to get back! Luckily the day wasn't a complete washout (sorry I couldn't resist!!) Zoolander saved the day as it was funny and actually had a story line.

Breaking the cinema, pool, internet trend Sharon asked if she could help out for a few hours at a local childrens painting project after buying a painting as a souvenir. They were desperate for volunteers and had the leaders been more enthusiastic she might have been swayed to stay on for a little while but the kids seemed happy enough so this seemed a little pointless.

My General thoughts on Sikanoukville (just in case you were dying to know!) It has developed from almost nowhere probably quicker than it can handle. No clear plans for rubbish or sewerage (I won't go into detail, I'm sure you can imagine!) The road down to the beach would be better described as rubble. Their approach to electrics is also interesting, one day we watched blokes out in flip flops and shorts mending cabling in a torrential downpour desperate to get the power restored, crazy and we kept a wide berth! Give it a few years it will probably be totally commercialised as I noticed Hilton building signs up and they don't normally miss a trick! Saying that, we found a couple of nice guesthouses (all apart from our little mouse that visited in the night and the bugs that took a liking to Sharon's Oreo's and infested our safety deposit box) and it was good to chill out for a few days. Oh and of course, a good cinema!

After checking the forecast and realising that the weather wasn't going to clear anytime soon, we deicde to move on - there are only so many films you can watch and games of pool you can play! So we do the return journey back 4 hours on a bus to Phnom Penh (Doubling back, but the quickest way back into Vietnam). On arrival we decide we have been and done Phnom Penh so why waste another day travelling lets just get to Vietnam now. We flag down a tuk tuk driver and embark on a challenge anneka style race about town to find a bus with space to Vietnam, 5th go lucky and with 5 mins to spare - jackpot. Sadly it's national day so we spend 3 hours sat at a ferry point to cross a river that we possibly could have jumped! Our bus almost fills the ferry so it's no wonder it took us as long to get to the front of the line. The border crossing was wet but largely uneventful and we arrive tired in Ho Chi Minh at midnight.. Sharon sits in a bar with the bags and me and Steve go in search of a home for the night, we get down a back alley and the whole street goes pitch black, we both grab our valuables first thoughts being it's an elaborate plot but it turns out to be a harmless powercut. We view the room by candlelight and settle on the guesthouse for the night, leaving the exploring of our new country for the morning!