not more beaches....!

We left the homestay all looking forward to some beach time, particularly as every morning had been far too early and the guide seemed to like getting us up. Coupled with the amount of bus work we had been doing I think it was well deserved. We arrived in Sihanoukville after about 4/5 hours on the road and as soon as we had the keys to our rooms we got changed and raced down to the beach! We weren't disappointed, the water wasn't as clear as it had been in Koh Tao and Koh Samui but was equally as warm and enjoyable. We set up camp on some loungers next to the shore and again...immediately set upon by a small lad called nick.



He was a local and was giving us some tips on how to not get our stuff stolen by some of the local kids. In a way we were trying to get rid of him as just didn't want to be hassled but he was a really good lad. He asked me my favourite colour and while i went into the water he made me a friendship bracelet which was cool. But ultimately his goal was for me to buy some of his other necklaces and bracelets. Being the fact he was so cool I obliged him and we saw him periodically throughout the day. We did get badgered alot by other kids and people trying to sell their wares which was mildly annoying, but the weather and beach was so nice it really didn't matter.

That evening we had a group meal and the food was excellent. One of the dishes which happened to be a local dish 'Amok'was served in a coconut and was basically like a creamy curry type dish. Gorgeous. After this most of us were going to head down to the beach to try out a few of the bars and music but the heavens opened and it absolutely tipped it down with rain. We thought this would be the end to our night but after about 30mins it stopped as quickly as it had started. So instead of heading to the beach, which we were told wouldn't be that great because of the rain we headed to a club called Utopia.






To my delight they were playing some old skool jungle, drum and bass and a bit of reggae. We indulged in a few drinks and later went down to the beach just to see what it was like. It turned out to be very busy, almost everybar was still open and loads of people, many travelling just like us so there was lots to talk about with lots of randoms. It was areally funny night...I ended up going back to the hotel at stupid o clock with someone while Neil and Sasha(the scouse) went for a nightime/early morning swim, climbed into a boat and watched the sunrise. I only found this out at 7.30am when I was woken by a knock at the door. It was Neil and Sasha still feeling the effects of the drink dragging me out to the beach, I found it hilarious and was still half cut myself so we hit the beach again and all got a massage and a beer!





The rest of the day was just as funny. Neil and I decided to beat the local kids at their own game and went down the beach trying to sell all of the necklaces and bracelets I stupidly bought from the all to cute kids and it was so funny, we almost had a few sales but maybe the people were just humouring us, I believe their is some video evidence of this somewhere! The rest of the day carried on in the same vein.







That evening our guide took us to a restaurant where we all tried some Porcupine, Wild boar, Black duck and Iguana. All very interesting but some not as nice as others. The biggest problem was all the small bones but was worth trying out.

The next day we were all up early again and feeling slightly worse for wear. We were to head out on a boat trip with some snorkelling, fishing and island hopping. The water happened to be very cloudy and the snorkelling equipment had seen better days so I only stayed in the water for about 2 mins and decided fishing would be a better option. The fishing involved a fishing line attached to a small empty water bottle, a hook, weight and a bit of squid for bait. Easy times!!! I was the first to catch a fish which was awesome, not very big but still successful. Unfortunately Mark and Neil didn't manage to catch anything, which was a shame as they would be cooked up for us to eat at lunch. The fish, not Mark and Neil!







After about an hour we moved on and headed for a secluded beach on another island. It was really nice, clear blue water and golden white sand. We all just crashed out when we got onto the beach, played with a football for a bit and then had BBQ for lunch and ate the few fish we caught....very tasty. We stayed for a few more hours in the afternoon. A storm was starting to come in and was about time we left anyway so we set sail back to the mainland. The sea was a lot choppier this time round but made for a more interesting voyage back. After getting back to the mainland we just found a lounger on the beach, got a drink and relaxed as it would be our last day on the beach before heading back to Phenom Penh.