Hi guys,

Since our last report we have once again been up to many exciting activities. The following day from our last blog, as I said, we headed to Sihanoukville, the coast of Cambodia. We got a public bus for four hours before arriving in the very sunny little beach town. We stayed in little beach bungalows here that looked delightful from the outside, a decieving front to the suprise interior. Our bungalow was host to a range of wildlife, in particular ants, which were on every surface. Apart from the odd smell, our bathroom boasted three showers, which Sophie could cleverly arrange to give an optimum temperature experience. We naturally headed straight for the beach, but not before reviewing our sun cream range. Deciding that the factor 50+ we had previously been smothering ourselves in was far too cautious, we invested in a meagre factor 20 (which later we discovered enabled Sophie a lovely bronzed tan, whilst I personally was going for the lobster image, but seemingly in only selected stripes and patterns). Set up in our sun loungers with a refreshing chilled beverage to hand we laid back to relax, for approximately thirty seconds before we were stampeded by every child or woman selling goods on the beach attempting to bully us into purchasing their wares. When told that we were not interested in investing in a bracelet, the girls craftily decided that this could only mean we wanted not one but two or three. We were also regularly harrassed by women stroking our legs before giving us disgusted looks, and offering pedicures on incredibly sandy beaches. The sea itself was lovely and cool, however we could only swim in shifts with a watchman to prevent any rebellious sellers attempting to thieve us of our sarongs and books.

Deciding to miss out on group dinner that night we selected a beach shack that looked reputable, however we barely survived until our food arrived with the clouds of flies that swarmed us. It was also on this fateful meal time Sophie made the amateur mistake of asking a beach seller how much her bracelets are, so we were forced to eat our translucent, greasy noodles under the watchful eye of this moody teenage girl who insisted that she was sad we asked her for prices and then did not take her up on her pricey offer - although we reassured her that we were more sad by her standing over us. Eventually she gave us an icy scowl and departed, but every following trip was marked by her hunting us down on the beach to scowl more. After our dinner we headed to a bar named Monkey Republic, a British owned bar that was celebrating St Georges day with an all day happy hour. We enjoyed a coctail or two before the rest of the group arrived to join the fun and games.

The following day we were meant to be taking a boat trip out to a desert island to enjoy the sun and snorkel the day away. However, in the dawn we were awoken by crashing and banging (my diagnosis was a jumbo jet passing overhead) which turned out to be a torrential thunder storm. Unlike the rest of the group who chose to embrace the experience on their balconies, we saw this as an opportunity to stay in bed a little longer. Once the rain had stopped a little we headed out for breakfast before heading down to the beach once again, hoping for a swim. I thoroughly enjoyed my swim, however the powerful waves proved too much for Sophie's bikini, being whipped from her at every opportunity, despite only being knee deep in the water. Claiming a fear of sharks she retreated, whilst we continued wallowing in the water. Later on, unable to shrug the pleasure of my previous swim from my mind i returned to the sea with Libby, a member of the group, to relive the experience. It did not live up to the memories unfortunately, though Sophie reassures me she had a superb time lazing around with Mary (Libby's plus one). She also took up the brave role of protecting our bungalow from a rabied dog that found it highly entertaining to irritate the disfigured feral cats sharing the bungalows, and at once point made the faus-pas of nibbling the leg of one member of the group. After this incident it was exiled from the garden, finding a new game at the local restaurent. Sophie also discovered that her highly prized crystalised ginger, which she had raved about since take-off in London had been host to a party for the ants of our bungalow - obviously preferring this to my own offering of jelly babies. I also found a cocroach in our bungalow that caused us to consider setting up shop as a nature reserve, given the variety of wildlife cohabiting the hut.

That evening we headed back to Monkey Republic to celebrate Leanne's birthday. Although the evening was broken up by many a power cut, landing us in darkness and a stifling heat, we enjoyed the evening, which was finished with a cake (very odd) and sparklers.

The following day we got an eight hour bus across the Cambodian border and into Vietnam. At the border we were subjected to a tropical rain storm, that resulted in everyone getting extremely wet, as when it rains in Vietnam it rains with more power than a top of the range power shower. I offered to get my shampoo out, but decided it would probably stop raining as soon as I did. We made it across the border and arrived at our very strange smelling hotel in a city of which neither of us can remember the name. We attemped a little sightseeing before being forced back into the hotel by the stares from the locals. Early that evening we took motorbikes up a local mountain to a cafe providing hammocks and a view for the sunset. The ride up was certainly an experience, having never been on a bike before, however coming back down was far more fun, despite having an emergency stop at one point where a car met us also going at great speed. We finished up at a buddhist temple with flashing neon lights around his head, and neon lit smaller temples.

The next day we took a bus to Ho Chi Minh city, where we are at the moment, however that is enough for one post, so we will catch up on the rest at a later date.

Love Soph and Elinor

xxx