The trip was pretty smooth. As agreed, I crawled down the stairs to reception before 7am to await the share taxi. He arrived around 15 minutes later and I was told to take one of the back seats. “Three people, back seat”. No problem. We then drove around Battambong to pick up those three people, and one more for the front seat – a businessman with a laptop who’d paid extra to be the only non-sardine other than the driver. Yeah, when they said “three”, I thought they’d meant three including me.

We made it to the border in good time, and our driver obviously knew what he was doing. If ever there was a hint of a police presence at the roadside, he’d wait for a bus to overtake then sit very close behind it. By the time the police saw the taxi, we were way past them. Not that the driver was dong anything wrong but the police in Cambodia can be somewhat… “inventive” with the offences they charge fines for.

I was dropped right at the border point at Poipet around 10:10 – much better than catching the bus which wouldn’t even leave Battambang until after midday. If I could get a seat.

Getting stamped out of Cambodia and into Thailand was a cinch. Join a queue at one side to exit Cambodia. Pass through the “no man’s land” using the left-hand path and into immigration. Grab a form sat on counter number 6, fill it in, go through the routine passport check and exit from the other side. Doddle.

Once in Aranyaprathet, a short walk leads to a sign telling all tourists and foreigners to turn right. Within 20m of this point, I’d already has one person approach me with an offer of a bus ticket to Bangkok. As it worked out, it was a good deal. 300 baht, double decker, air-con, express (4 hours), free water and leaving soon. As a bonus, it would stop opposite Hualamphong saving me getting there from Mo Chit.

There are cheaper, indirect, buses from the station in town but by the time I’d have paid for a motorcycle to get there it simply wouldn’t have been worth it. There is also a train for around 70 baht, but it’s 6 hours and there are only two a day. If you’re looking, the company is the first on the left after you pass the baggage check area.

As an aside, the toasties from the sandwich stand aren’t bad (and are cheap) and the large bank on the corner does a good exchange rate.

A little over four hours later – just after 3pm, and I was disembarking at the central train station. As the advance ticket office closes at 4pm and certain routes book up early, I had to be here to ensure I could organise my ticket for the first leg to Kuala Lumpur so I knew I’d be able to get down there once I got back from Myanmar.

The helpful staff at the information desk escorted me to the right queue and ensured I booked the ticket correctly. 1120 baht gets me from Bangkok to Butterworth, overnight in an air-con bunk with meals (I think – I’ll check that!). For 90 baht more you can have a lower bunk which I think just gives you a little more space.

All sorted, I got the MRT to Silom and walked down the road. Lunch in McDs and then into the Duke of Wellington to use the free wi-fi. I’m sat here now, typing this up. On my 2-and-a-half’th Tiger and with some very good potato skins with cheese and bacon in my belly. Frankly, I’m stuffed. The “free” wi-fi has cost me about a tenner, but I’ve caught up on a lot and the live music’s superb.

And with that, I shall sign off. I’m intending to catch the 10pm-ish airport express. I’ll sleep at the airport itself as my check-in is at 5:15am. The first bus from Bangkok leaves at 5am so there’s no point in even trying to catch that.

There may be a delay in posts as I gather that the internet in Myanmar is not that good. Normal posting will be resumed once I get to Kuala Lumpur around the 24th or 25th!

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Back (again!) to Bangkok

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Guarding a wat

No, this isn’t that rude. It just describes my back end after many hours on the back of a motorbike along the rather bumpy local roads. I met up with my driver, who’s name sounds like “Cheers” and I couldn’t write it in Khmer anyway, at the hotel at 8:30. Before I start, I’d recommend him completely. I had a great day. Just find the Royal Hotel and ask for “Cheers”, the guide/guy with motorbike. He charged me $12 for the whole day – 8:30 till around 17:00. I gave him $13 and bought his drinks while we were out.

Ideally, I wanted to go to Wat Ek Phnom, Phnom Sampeu and Wat Banan. However, the latter two are off to the south west and the first 13 km from the town in the north east. As a result, it’s a lot of driving and would mean missing out on some of the sidetracking we did.

I smeared on some suncream, mounted up and we buzzed off in the direction of Phnom Sampeu. On the way we stopped at a small wat with a curious collection of plaster animals around it. Curious as none of them are native to Cambodia – giraffe, kangaroo and so forth. Very strange.

Our next stop was a fuel station where I got talking to a couple – I think Dutch. You could tell it was their first time on bikes in such conditions as they were clinging tightly to the backs of their respective bike seats. Around the corner from fuel stop was another temple, this one very beautifully painted. Unfortunately, as is common round here, the interiors are locked. Too many Buddha statues have been stolen for them to leave the buildings open at all time.

Kim Bunleang and one of his classrooms

I got talking to a monk while I was there – Kim Bunleang. He is the branch director of the Sochiveak Thor Organisation based at the temple. They have a school there, in a hand-built building, in which they teach around 150 children. Class sizes are large and facilities rather rough and ready. They’re also short of teachers, but their current big target is to get a roof onto a second building to expand the number of classrooms.

Of course, he was after donations but I do tend to put all my efforts towards the Blue Dragon charity in Hanoi. However, I was really impressed with what they were doing and quite satisfied that this is genuine endeavour. I don’t mean any disrespect to him, but there are many dodgy “charities” in Cambodia. I don’t believe this is one.

As such, I’ve offered to help him spread the word about the school. Money’s not the only thing they’re after. If you can spend a couple of months teaching English – any native speaker is welcome to apply – then get in touch with him. I’m sure he’d be happy to split some class sizes down!

His telephone number is +855 (0) 12 73 98 89 and if you want to donate some cash their way, then they have an account with the ANZ Royal Bank:

Sochiveak Thor Organisation 784324

I gave him my card so hopefully I will be able to get some more information to you later.

"Hello!"

OK, on to the next sight – Phnom Sampeau. This is a tall hill sticking out of the surrounding jungle. This being southeast Asia, it means that stupa and other religious buildings have been constructed on the summit. Cheers told me to walk further down the road and do the walk “backwards” which I did. 100m or so from the main steps is a road leading up. The view on the ascent is fantastic with jungle one one side and plains on the other.

Partway up there are some caved and a small monastic residence with an enormous Buddha outside. As you ascend, more buildings (and more Buddha) can be seen until you reach the summit where there are two temples – one Hindu and one Buddhist. There are other structures as well, including one that’s undergoing repairs or construction. Apparently the Khmer Rouge used caves here for torture and imprisonment, but I couldn’t find these – I could have done with a guide, but there were none at the bottom volunteering.

One thing I noticed as I walk walking around was that weddings are very loud in Cambodia. I could hear the music from at least two even though I was all the way up there. Also that Cambodian dogs need to be neutered – there are far too many swollen females walking around.

Hmm. Loud, annoying music and a pregnant bitch. Sounds like my old chav scum neighbour and his girlfriend.

A good walk, though. It took me about ninety minutes including all the photo-taking and video-ing. Back at the bottom, I talked to an English chap over lunch and very much enjoyed the cheapest Coke I think I’ve seen in ages – 2000 riel (50c, 35p). The locals here haven’t figured out how to rip off tourists, either, as most of the dishes were a bargain $1.50.

So many steps!

I did get guides at the Wat Banan, though – originally one and then somehow a second joined us. At the bottom a couple of young girls approaches me offering their services as guides. I picked the first who’d approached and we “haggled” a price of 3000 riel. There are over 300 steps up to the small temple complex on the top and I raced my young guide up the last 50 or so. I won! Mind, she was only 10.

Another little girl started following us around at the top, and between the two of them they pointed out a few things. To be honest, there’s no real need for a guide at this site, but the kids were cute and very eager. They swapped words in English and Khmer and whenever I stopped for more than a couple of seconds, they began to fan me! Back at the bottom I gave my original guide a dollar and the other girl around 2500 reil – most of my small change, really.

I sat and talked with Cheers for some time. He was really good company and the time flew before we left for a trip around the Battambang countryside. We passed rivers, villages, bridges, trees full of bats and lots and lots of children who loved to wave and shout “hello!”.

Bamboo train

We stopped at the bamboo railway which has become a tourist favourite. It’s basically some small, flat “cars” that run on the old railway system. The current cargo trains only plough up and down 1-2 days a week, so the rest of the time the folk here use the rails to collect firewood and the like from around 15km away. And charge tourists $6 or so for a ride along the line.

Way back when, the carriages were “powered” by two guys with poles. Kind of like punting on rails. Nowadays they’ve attached motors to them which gives them a top speed of 60 km/h. Much more fun for the paying punters than the powering ones. I didn’t bother with a shot as I didn’t want to spend that much, and the whole trip is around an hour to the Sunset Bridge and back.

Instead we put-putted into a nearby village to see one of the historic houses there. I saw more than one sign, but Cheers took me to a particular one so I guess he knows the owner. It was very reminiscent of the Tan Ky House Leah and I walked around in Hoi An. Similarly, the owner asked for a small donation when I had finished – I gave her around $2 in small change and signed the visitor book.

She was the first person in Cambodia who I’ve conversed with in French. I always thought the language would be more pervasive given the country’s history but English is now by far and away the most popular second language. She told me the ages of parts of the house and how their furniture was lucky to survive the Khmer Rouge – most classical and non-Khmer pieces were seized and smashed. She has pieces over 100 years old.

And finally, back to the hotel. I’d have struggled to find most of the sights had I been on the bike by myself. It’s easy enough to get to the main monuments, but there is a wealth of stuff to see down the maze of country roads. Given how little it costs to hire a guide for a day out, I’d heartily recommend it – and get “Cheers” is you can!

Not a PlayStation in sight

Back at the hotel, I showered (the water was red with the dust) then sorted a share taxi to the border in the morning at $8. With luck, I can make it to Hualamphong in Bangkok before 4pm so I can book my train ticket for later this month. If not, then I will have to stay overnight – so I still can’t book my Yangon flight.

I checked out the Riverside Balcony Bar for dinner as it’s recommended for western food and it lives up to the reputation. At least the “Miami” toasted baguette (spiced chicken, bacon and mayo) was very tasty indeed. Not cheap, though, and not busy for what Lonely Planet claims is the “best bar” in the area. Directly over the street is the bar I mentioned yesterday which was again heaving with locals enthralled with the kickboxing. Had I more time, I’d have popped in and joined them – but I have botty problems of a non-motorcycle related fashion so I preferred to be near a lavatory I know and trust.

For internet I had to pop down to a neighbouring hotel, The Star. It’s a dollar an hour, the most expensive I’ve seen since I got here, and one of the PCs is just riddled with viruses. The other just wasn’t that great. To add insult, there’s a half-full fountain or something just behind them so when darkness falls there are hordes of mosquitoes flying in your face while you try to check your email.

Hence why this blog update finally appears when it appears and not on the evening of the day in question. Sorry about that.

This was a great day with a ton of good snaps, and a video. So here’s a gallery, and the embedded YouTube video:

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Well-massaged bottom

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Around Battambang – the video

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Wat Damrey Sar

Battambang is pronounced Battambong. The way the locals say it, it’s more like “butterball”, in fact. Amazingly, it’s the second-largest city in Cambodia. I say “amazing” as you can walk from end to end in around twenty minutes.

The bus trip was fairly uneventful – around five hours with one toilet break in a layby and a lunch stop roughly three hours into the journey. The aircon was on “chill” but at least that was keeping the mosquitoes in check.

I’d pre-booked a $4 room at the Chaaya Hotel and they’d even offered to send me a motorbike to take me there when I arrived. However, the bike wasn’t there. I waited a while then walked to the hotel… where I was told the cheapest room was $8. Then $6. Then $5. Sorry, I don’t “do” being screwed around by hotels so I walked out and tried one of the others recommended in Lonely Planet.

Royal Hotel could only go as low as $7, but their sister hotel around the corner – Hotel Asia – had one for $5. Yes, I know I could have got this from the first place but they’d promised and failed to deliver once, then tried to diddle me. Their loss.

Wat Kampheng

After settling in, I decided to take a walk around the town. Which wouldn’t take long. I did a circuit taking in the five Wats (Damrey Sar, Kampheng, Sangker, Kandal and Phiphetaram), the Governor’s Residence and the riverside. I also passed an outdoor sports area that was teaming with volleyball players and spectators; and a bar filled to the rafters with screaming Cambodians gambling on the boxing.

The temples are in varous states, two of them definitely having some work done. They’re all similar in appearance with different decor – close to the Thai style which isn’t surprising given the proximity to the border.

For lunch I checked out the White Rose, as recommended by LP. he fruit shake I tried – banana and orange – certainly lived up to the press, but is 1000 riel more expensive now. Mind, the book is about 2-3 years out of date. No real faulting the rice, chicken and peppercorn either. Pretty tasty for $2.50.

Lion guarding the Stung Sangker

While wandering, I checked one of the bus companies that Lonely Planet reckons does a direct bus to Bangkok for $10. They don’t any more. In fact, the chap there says that nobody does. The closest is one bus to Poipet and from there to the regular buses in Aranyaprathet. I was hoping to exit the country by the border near Pailin just so I could use a different chackpoint, but it’s looking more and more inconvenient.

I’ll check tomorrow on the time of the Poipet bus. Given the 4-hour journey from the border to Bangkok, I want to be setting off very early on Monday morning. I’ve been told by the hotel staff that there is indeed a direct bus to Bangkok, but it doesn’t leave until midday which would get me to the capital far too late to be of any use.

The third alternative is to head in one direction or the other using share taxis. And the issue there is cost and lack of regular services, plus the argie-bargie of haggling. Then there’s the fact that I have no Thai baht so I’m going to have to buy some – obviously at a bad rate – to ensure I can pay the bus fare.

All fun and games!

So I’m currently in my room with cold shower, western loo, two double beds and cable telly. Not bad for less than £4. Which is far less than Manchester City paid for Shay Given, who I am now watching debut for his new team.

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Bus trip to Battambang

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Preying on backpackers?

This one’s for people visiting Cambodia. ANZ, an Aussie/Kiwi bank, is by far the most pervasive here. There are more ATMs belonging to them, and they’re in more convenient locations, than any other bank. Thing is, of the ones which accept foreign cash cards they’re also the only ones that charge a fee on them.

$2 may not seem a lot. but think of the number of tourists going through here. ANZ are targetting YOU, the backpacker. My advice is simple – don’t use them.

I swear they’ve even taken over a few hole-in-the-wall locations that were home to other machines last time I visited. If at all possible, walk a little further and find a different bank. The vast majority of you will be paying your bank back home each time you withdraw. If you’re an ANZ customer you’ll be paying the greedy buggers TWICE. Save your cash, use someone else.

If every other bank in Cambodia can give you money without charging, what makes ANZ so special? Maybe they’re profiteering, maybe they’re teetering on the brink and need all the income they can get? If it’s the latter then ANZ customers may want to think about moving their accounts elsewhere for safety – or in protest.

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Tip: avoid ANZ cashpoints

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Monument from a distance

No problems with my Myanmar visa at all. I popped over to get it this afternoon and coughed up the very reasonable $20. I believe the government will just try to screw me for cash in other ways when I’m there, but $20 for a visa isn’t bad in Southeast Asia.

For my cash, I’ve got a 28-day visitation period beginning any time from yesterday until the 4th of May – in other words a 28-day window within a 3-month period, single entry. The only thing mentioned when I went in to collect my passport was that fact that I was clean-shaven (other than my chin) on Wednesday and I haven’t shaved since so I pretty much have a full beard – which threw the guy slightly!

The plan currently is to get to Battambang tomorrow, stay a full day over Sunday, bus to Bangkok on Monday and fly out on Tuesday. Flight prices still haven’t changed. Unusually for Air Asia, it looks like the prices are fixed with Saturdays costing a few Baht more than other days of the week.

I had a look around for some mefloquine / Larian but the cost here is pretty high. $75 for 8 tablets, which is how many I’d need. Ouch. I’ll check in Bangkok instead as I’m sure they were far cheaper there.

The monument close up

I walked for an age to find an ATM that didn’t charge (see following post) to withdraw as many dollars commission-free as possible. No point in withdrawing Baht and exchanging it or paying credit card fees at the airport when I can get the cash from a hole in the wall in Cambodia. Myanmar has no ATMs, at least none that take foreign cards, and cash advances on cards are usually at prohibitive rates – I’ve seen 16% to 37% quoted. Ow.

KFC for dinner again (hey, it’s $3) and back to the hostel to type this lot up, watch some Drawn Together and drink the 50c beers I bought from Pencil – the 6% abv awesomely-named “Klang” seems good value. Early bus tomorrow and don’t know the state of the internet access in Battambong so it may be a couple of days, or even weeks, till my next post if I don’t get online before I get to Myanmar.

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Visa’d up

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So my only mission was a quick trip to the post office to send those paintings home. At $13 I’d have been as well holding onto them and bringing them home in June, but there’s always the possibility that Australian immigration might have kicked off about them as they were painted on a wooden backboard.

Last night I got talking to a nice Israeli guy, Michael. He’s old for an Israeli backpacker – 32 – but enjoying himself a lot. Like me, he’s generally got no plan for anywhere until he arrives. I bumped into him again today, but I at first ignored his cries of “Hello! Hello!” as I thought he was one of the million moto drivers trying to get my attention!

Until this morning there was also a woman from the UK who’d cycled most of the way here, but was bussing out to Thailand as her visa was almost expired. In the past she’s cycled around most of India and has been put of Bhutan because of the price. I told her about the company that Hans and I went through and now she’s pencilling in a trip for next year.

The only other person in the dorm I’ve seen is an older gent, but I’m not sure where he’s from other than that English isn’t his first language and that he really, really, pretty please with sugar on top, shouldn’t sleep naked in the dorm. For the love of whatever deity you choose to worship. Unless you’re gorgeous and female (and don’t mind me taking photos), sleeping on top of the covers in a (shared, especially) dormitory is not really cool.

So I’m whiling the time away trying not to spend cash. This means buying grub (and insect repellant) from the supermarket and sitting around watching the final season of The Shield. Thankfully I’ve a load of films and TV shows on my laptop so I won’t run out.

A reminder to travellers to also shop around for stuff. In the supermarket alone, I found seven or eight different “manufacturers” of bottled water in the fridge. Prices varied from around $2 to 45c for 1.5l. Don’t pick up the first thing, especially in a new country when you don’t know what stuff should cost.

At least the weather’s good.

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No moto

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One of the three children's hospitals in Phonm Penh

Not a real lot to write about today, the first of three days’ forced residence here. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not a bad place. There’s just little for me to see and do having been here twice before. The city is changing, though. At the end of Ph 258, where my guest house is, a cinema is being built. I’ve not seen or heard of one in Phnom Penh before.

Supermarkets also seem to be more common, and there’s the KFC I mentioned yesterday – where I confess I headed for dinner again tonight. It’s one of the cheapest options around here that doesn’t include rice!

I am currently passportless as I handed said document in to the Myanmar embassy. The form-filling was easy enough (first time I’ve been asked for my hair colour, eye colour, height and “complexion” though), and not an eyebrow was raised when I left the “Address in Myanmar” field empty. They even told me to pay the $20 on Friday at 4pm when I go to collect it than immediately.

As ever, I carry photos around and it’s a good job as I needed three for this application. I’m running low so that may be one of my jobs tomorrow. Another contact sheet would be useful.

To give a better idea of how to find the embassy – locate the Independence Monument on its roundabout along Norodom Boulevard. Head south from there until you reach the Pre-School Teacher Training Center on the right. You can’t miss this – it’s very big and had playground equipment visible through the bars. The Myanmar Embassy is the very unassuming and almost anonymous building just past it, set about 15m back from the street.

It was really quiet. A couple of guards, one clerk and a cleaner. A far cry from the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok with its constant flow of tourists.

I’m working on the assumption that I will get the visa, but I’m not booking anything for definite until I have it in my hands. Checking AirAsia‘s flights from Bangkok, prices don’t seem to fluctuate as you get closer to the chosen date so there’s no harm in leaving it. At the current rates, I can get there and back for around £130 depending on when I fly in and out. This is by far the cheapest route in other than perhaps the southern land border. However, that entry requires a boat and/or air trip to get north to the main part of the country as the road is closed to foreigners.

Once back in Bangkok, I’ll get the train to Kuala Lumpur. I was part-planning on stopping to go to Koh Tao as I hear the diving there is both top class and very cheap… but it looks like I won’t have time. Depending on when I return to Asia (and what route I use) from Australia, I may look at it then.

I have booked my bus to Battambang ($4) on Saturday morning. From there I can get a bus direct to Bangkok for around $10 which I will do on the Monday. This gives me a day to get a tour around the area which I hear is worth a look.

My only other major task was donate a pint of the red fluid at the Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital nearby. This is my third donation (the last two in Siem Reap) and as ever the staff were very grateful. The nurse spotted my ratehr sore feet from re-breaking in my sandals and insisted on putting iodine on the wounds. I’d already put eucalyptus oil on them but you can’t be too careful.

I’m donor number 132 this year according to the counter on the wall. So I’m urging anyone visiting Cambodia… please, if you’re able to give blood then do so! You get a can of Coke and a t-shirt afterwards! Also a goodie-bag of other stuff. I was gifted with a can of condensed milk, some crackers, a bag of sugar and a bottle of water. I need to find someone for whom the milk and sugar will be of use…

Apart from that, the KFC for dinner and some more munchies purchased from Pencil (what a strange name for a department store). I’ve sat and chilled, chatted to a couple of the residents of the dorm and read my Conan Doyle book. The Lost World is certainly a cracking read!

It’s 21:10 as I type this up and no sign of the flying ants as yet. The lizards (eight of them that I can see) are gathering by the ceiling light so I think it’s only a matter of time…

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Bleeding (in) Phnom Penh

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Just off Serendipity Beach, Sihanoukville

I did opt for the Pnomh Penh bus, and booked it for 12:30. I had a few things to do around town before I headed off for the capital. First up was to walk to the Rainbow Foundation’s bookshop opposite Monkey Republic. This is one wing of a children’s charity and the small shop sells and part-exchanges second hand books amongst other things. It’s also “guarded” by one of the softest dogs I’ve ever met.

Catcher in the Rye and King of Torts gave way to Around the World in Eighty Days and a random crime novel. It’s a dollar to exchange a book, so I handed over 10,000 riel ($2.50). 50c makes no odds to me, but every little helps the charities around here – of which there are a substantial number.

Down nearer the beach I met up with Claire again for breakfast. We returned to the Sea View where I’d had a delicious – if tiny – crumble on our first night. This time I opted for the $3 muesli with fruit and yoghurt which was delicious and filling. The muesli was more like broken up cereal bars – very sticky in its own right. Definitely a good way to start the day.

Claire checked out their rooms for her sister arriving and wished she could book them as they were among the best we’d seen. However, it’s the only place in the area we know of that takes pre-bookings by internet so it’s pretty much filled up for a week in advance.

Next, and last errand, was a quick visit to the Cambodian Children’s Painting Project (www.artcambodia.org). First of all I dropped off all our empty plastic bottles. The charity, I assume, takes them for recycling which is a source of income.

The aim of this little place is simple – to get children off the beach selling things and instead sat down and learning, devloping useful skills. In this case their artistic talents. The resulting paintings are put up for sale at $4 each. When sold, half of the money goes to the child’s family and the other half to the charity.

I picked two paintings – one of the Cambodian flag and the other a beautiful little piece of a sunset by an obviously talented 14 year old. These will be in the post homeward-bound in the morning.

We both finished packing and checked out of Thida’s. My tuk-tuk was waiting, as was a French chap going the same way I was. I said my goodbyes to Claire. It was a real pleasure to spend time with her – and saved us both some cash to boot! I hope her sister and her fiancé enjoy Sihanoukville, and have better luck sorting accommodation!

The bus trip was fairly uneventful. Four hours almost on the nose and dropped off in Phnom Penh somewhere along the Russian Confederation Boulevard. Some walking and a lot of ignoring of tuk-tuk and moto drivers later I finally made it to the Okay Guest House.

Which was full.

Well, it was when I got there and two Dutch (I think) girls stepped out of a tuk-tuk. The guy on the desk offered to let us share a room with 4 beds between us for $5 each which was fine with me but, understandably perhaps, the girls weren’t too keen. Once they walked off I asked if there was anywhere else to stay nearby and was told “no”.

I was all ready to hoik my stuff all the way to the lakeside area when he then asked if a dorm was OK. A dorm was what I had been looking for in the first place. He sent someone with me to show me up and I took it. It’s very basic, but at $2 a night I don’t mind. I can last 3-4 nights in that if I have to.

Douglas Adams strikes again

The bed’s passably comfortable but doesn’t have any covers, just a slip and a pillow. There’s a stand-up fan at the foot which works, but no lights over the bed – I have my headlamp, though. Both power points work, so I can power the fan and my other stuff. My only quibble about the room itself is the lack of secure storage. I’ll just bury my laptop in the corner under my bed or carry it around all day.

Most inconvenient, though, is the location of the toilet. Downstairs, outside, round the back through a corridor where the staff sleep, into a courtyard and along to the end. Definitely not convenient at 3am when you’ve had a few beers too many. Which means I’ll save some dosh by not drinking too much. It’s also home to the cold shower and is shared by quite a few people which could get awkward.

I dropped my stuff and set off to find the Myanmar embassy so I’d know what time it opened in the morning. For those looking for it, it’s on Norodom Boulevard, but far to the south. It’s locaton is roughly correct in the 14th edition Lonely Planet Southeast Asia on a Shoestring – but on the other side of the road from that indicated. You need to look at the full city map, not the central area one.

Annoyinglyu it is at number 181 as I’d discovered online. However, the numbers down the Boulevard are not sequential! On the way down I passed numbers 269, 161 and 189 – in that order – before reaching 181. It’s also set back about 10m from the roadside so at night you can’t read the small sign to know what it is.

Either way, it opens at 8am Monday to Friday so I’ll aim to get there early in the morning and see how quickly they can turn a visa around in.

Dinner. Astoundingly despite this being my third visit to Cambodia it’s the first time I’ve seen a KFC! So – according to tradition – I strolled right in and picked a meal from the menu. This must rate as the cheapest KFC I’ve yet found at $3 for a burger meal (no large size available). I opted for the Special Meal – a lump of chicken, one of the bite-size burgers, chips and a drink – for $2.30. Chickeny bargain.

For those with a hankering, it’s also on Norodom Boulevard, somewhere near the junction with Ph 214. It’s built onto a “Pencil” supermarket which I visited. Groceries are also very cheap in Phnom Penh…

Back to the hostel for an internet check. I was going to have a beer in the bar but it was jammed with people watching The Killing Fields. Instead, I walked to a nearby sports bar and had a quick beer and a read of my book. Then back to my dorm to type this lot up on the balcony while beginning to feel very homocidal towards flying ants. I’ve not seen to many since I was in Laos. Stupid creatures.

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Packing up for Pnomh Penh

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What are you looking at?

We didn’t get a chance to grab breakfast as Simon was already waiting for us when we rose at 8:00. We hopped onto the awaiting tuk-tuk and sped off towards the dock on the far side of town.

Well, when I say “sped” I mean “crawled”. Simon reckoned he’d got the only slow driver in all of Sihanoukville. The 15-minute journey took us close to 25, but we munched oranges and waved at schoolchildren as we ambled past them. Or they ambled past us.

The dock’s in a much poorer part of town than where we’re staying. All of the houses are wooden, the streets dirty, the people… smiling, happy and busy with life. The streets here pretty much sum up what I love about areas like this in Asia. People are happier with what they have than many westerners who have consumer goods flowing out of their ears.

At the dock, we hopped on board the Aqua Age and set off on the two-hour journey to Koh Rung Samleom where Simon now lives. The journey wasn’t too bad as the sea was calm and the boat not too fast. We had some breakfast (more fresh fruit, a cuppa and – for Claire – some fresh boiled eggs) then settled down on the roof to catch up on sleep. I don’t think I slept as such, just dozed on and off as I was too tired to read. The sun wasn’t too strong so I don’t think I managed to add to my existing sunburn.

I'm outta here...

The only real thing of note we passed on the way was a small island crowded with what looked like Thai buildings. It (and two other as yet undeveloped islands nearby) have been bought by Russians and are used as “holiday homes”. At $800 per night. At the cheap up. The top rooms are $3000. Bear in mind there are no beaches or anything on these islands and you have to wonder why anyone would pay those sums to stay in a country known for being cheap. Can anyone say “money laundering“?

We pulled into the crystal clear waters of the jetty at the other end of our journey. The rickety wooden walkway took us onto the beach where children were being washed by a water pump. A short walk away was the House That Simon (and Martin) Built. One of the locals (imaginatively christened “One-Hand” by Simon – I’ll let you guess why) gave us a hand… erm… helped us with the stuff we had to carry. At the house we were introduced to “Cook” who… look, you can guess.

It’s an impressive building. The open forecourt is destined to be a restaurant but currently just houses a few hammocks and a basic chair/table setup. There’s a bar built, but which doesn’t have any beer at it as yet. Instead, the air compressor is situated there until they find a better home for it. The dive kit is stored in the outdoor loo as it’s the only lockable structure they currently have! Nice loo, though. Western style but with a manual flush (i.e. you throw a pan of water down it).

We were also introduced to the two kittens – Tiger and TigerTwo. Neither had realised that Tiger was a boy cat… they thought they’d inherited two sisters. Both are cute as buttons, though, and really well behaved.

Blue and yellow

Martin was to be my guide for the day. He’s from Holland, but has been here for several weeks on his second visit. He’s helped Simon build the bungalows they rent out and the restaurant we were stood in. I’d not be able to help. As they have no working freezer or fridge, they can’t keep food fresh for long so they have to eat what’s local – which means fish five nights out of seven. Ick.

Talking of fish, time to go and see some. As ever, excuse my naff descriptions as I still need to learn how to identify more species. Both dives were to be off the coast of the nearby Koh Koun island. Much smaller than the main one and completely uninhabited. We swam out, fully kitted, to the boat and climbed aboard then set out for the first dive site. This was to be a drift dive – as it happened with a nice slow current.

There were plenty of fish on this dive, including a large group of oversized zebra-patterned angel fish. Very thin, but about the size of your head and not at all shy. We encountered around a dozen of them shortly after entering the water and despite traveling some distance in the hour we were under, still had one hovering near us until the point when we surfaced.

Martin pointed out many nudibranches and interesting coral formations as we drifted along. After an hour, we surfaced as we had to fit in lunch and a second dive before heading back to the mainland before dark. I’d taken my new underwater housing down with me (sans camera) and I’m glad to say it didn’t leak at all.

A view of the island

Lunch was a healthy pork and stir-fried veg (and fish for those who wanted it). The cats happily accepted anything they were offered, including rice. Claire staggered up to the house overjoyed at having dived for the first time. She didn’t think she’d be able to manage it, but it seems that Simon can be rather persuasive. She only went down to about 3m, but was more than happy with this achievement.

We left them to go on to our second dive, this one at a shallower depth within a bay to look at smaller things. Again, a short ride out and into the water. The visibility here wasn’t so good, but this wasn’t an issue as we were looking for small things fairly close up. With Martin’s help, I managed to spot a few more nudibranches (nothing to top the beautiful near-white one we’d seen in the morning though – a shame I didn’t have the camera then), some sea-horses, a crab, some huge starfish and the best of the lot… a small octopus hiding inside a discarded shell.

It took all the strength in Martin’s hands to prise the shell open so I could take some photos of the octopus. Eventually, it gave up, released the shell and jetted off leaving three “clouds” of ink in its wake. I was expecting the ink to be… well… inky. The image you get when someone describes it is of pen ink forming a cloud. It’s not. It’s stringy and clumpy. Regardless, I was very lucky to be pressing the shutter just as the octopus began its run for freedom and caught it just as it “inflated” its head. The picture should be around here somewhere.

I hasten to add that we didn’t damage anything down there. We found some beautiful smooth shells – which were placed back where we found them. Anything we lifted so we could see around or under it was replaced. And the octopus will find another shell, I’m sure.

After the hour mark, we again surfaced and our captain picked us up. Enough time for a quick kit wash at the house, and back on the boat for our journey home. Martin accompanied us – his first trip to the mainland for over a week. He had to run back to get shoes as he forgot he’d need them!

Look at those colours

I got some cracking shots of the sunset and we tuk-tuk’d back to the guest house for shortly before 19:00. I ran round to Scuba Nation to cancel my dives for tomorrow (and lost my deposit – hey-ho), had a shower and then we tootled off for dinner. Diving does give me an appetite and we decided to go for Monkey Republic again. After their promising show with the excellent breakfast, we reckoned their dinners would be OK. We weren’t wrong.

I had to finish Claire’s enormous chicken burger on top of my chicken strips and chips. And banana and chocolate shake. We each spent a paltry $5 including drinks on some ace grub. Two meals each, two full stomachs and two sets of taste buds saying “go to Monkey Republic if you’re in Sihanoukville and want superb food at a fantastic price”.

After some internet checkage, we went back to Thida’s where I checked on bus times. Think I’ll go direct to Phnom Penh tomorrow. If I’m really lucky I might make it there in time to get my Burmese visa application in early. Sooner the better. I’ve done Phnom Penh twice before so there’s not a lot there for me to see and do.

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Diving off Koh Koun

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