Hey Everyone! Sorry it's taken us a while to blog - when you see where we've been you'll see why we haven't been able to get in touch!!! We left Phnom Penh for Kep which took us about six hours by bus. When we arrived in Kep we did the usual and jumped into a tuk tuk which first took us to Vanna Bungalows, although it was lovely and had amazing views of the sea and the sunset, the $15 price tag was way over our budget so we headed onwards to Kep Seaside Guesthouse where we were greeted by friendly staff and a fan room for $7. Not only was it cheap, it had views to die for and at the end of the patio was the beginning of the sea! It was a shame we were only going to be staying for one night before heading to Koh Tonsay AKA Rabbit Island (as the locals believe it is shaped like a bunny).

In need of an ATM and a razor for Kies ridiculously long beard and Movember commitments, we hired another tuk tuk to take us to the market and onto Kampot - 25km away, and the nearest cash point!! The drive was lovely through the Cambodian countryside and we got to see the local children who, as in their usual fashion, all waved, smiled and shouted "HELLO" in their excitement to have seen two Westerners! Once we'd had our unintentional tour of the province, we returned to our guesthouse where we spent the evening chilling and catching up on the internet ready for an early morning.

The next day we boarded a boat to Koh Tonsay which took about 20 minutes through very rough waters, on a few occasions we thought the boat was going over!!! When we finally arrived at the only beach on the island we were ushered towards a set of bungalows called Yeay Meng. We looked around 'Bungalow 2' (a basic room just big enough for the double bed with an adjoining squat toilet without a shower, set back approximately 25m from the beach) and as we were in the midday sun decided we would spend a night there and explore for a better place early the next morning. Thank God we did not commit to more than the first night; on better inspection of the room we found that we were joined by two massive spiders and a blue and red lizard which was about 18 inches from head to tail. We spent the day sunbathing and swimming in the sea before retiring to our balcony, just in time to watch the tropical storm close in. At 5.40pm the whirring of the generator sounded and the flickering of the bungalow lights began. Once the generator had powered up we were able to charge our batteries and read our books on the balcony.

During sporadic rainfall we hopped across to the nearest restaurant to have some food, where we spent the evening speaking to a French man with many interesting stories and tips for our travels. We headed back to our bungalow to watch a film on the laptop just before the electricity turned off at 10pm. As neither of the spiders had moved all day we assumed they were dead and we went to sleep peacefully in this knowledge. However, when we awoke with the locals at the crack of dawn, after a terrible nights sleep, both of the spiders had disappeared!! NOT GOOD!!!

Not wanting to spend another night with the bugs, we quickly packed up our things and headed down the beach to find another set of bungalows which looked newer and smarter. We found Yeay Orm a nice place which had been built bigger and sturdier and also included a shower (which we later found out didn't work! b*****!). Kie immediately jumped into the hammock and Sophie curled up on the bed and we were both away with the fairies within minutes! After a few hours shut eye we went for lunch and spent the day chilling in the sun.

We had an evening much like the previous one, only this time under mosquito nets which protected us from all the creepy crawlies. After a great nights sleep, we woke up refreshed and hit the beach for a few hours before heading back to Kep later that afternoon. The boat ride back to Kep was more entertaining than the one we'd experienced a few days earlier; we climbed aboard and took our seats, Kie sat opposite Sophie, who was sat facing the direction of travel. As the waves picked up, the boat became rockier and the splashes started. Sophie got absolutely drenched while Kie somehow managed to miss the waves and remained bone dry. Naturally Kie thought this was hilarious, while Sophie spat out salt water and tried to wipe her eyes clean before the next wave. Once we'd reached dry land we jumped into a tuk tuk who took us back to Kep Seaside Guesthouse for another night before our bus to Sihanoukville in the morning. Now we're up-to-date!

Take care, lots of love Sophie and Kie xx