Saturday 1 August Koh Rong Huba Huba

It's the wet season. When it rains, you get a warning. The wind suddenly gets up and about 5 minutes later the rain comes, then it comes torrential then after an hour in subsides and the humidity lifts and it's really very pleasant. The by product is that at this time of year everything is damp. The bd is a bit damp, the chairs are a bit damp, and quite quickly all your luggage is a bit damp...... Added to the fact that there are mice, no electricity (except from 5pm - 10pm)  some adjustment for the kids to equate this to paradise!

However they enjoyed the sea. We put our snorkels to good use, and just by swimming form the beach could observe clams, tropical fish etc. it was distressing how much bits of plastic and fishing line was trapped in the coral.

In the afternoon E and K decided to sun bathe and ignored our warning about timings and applying more us cream - ending up like lobsters a lesson learned the hard way. The rest of us finished our books. 

In the evening we played bananagrams  and cards and were joined by Naris a international school teacher teaching in Burma who like Nic enjoyed yoga, meditating etc - the kids thought they should get married!

Friday 31 to Koh Rong

Friday 31st

Up early and ready to get the 9am ferry to Koh Rong Saloem. It absolutely poured with torrential rain for a couple of hours overnight and stupidly Jim had left his sandals out on the porch of the hotel room overnight so they were as sodden as if they had been chucked in a swimming pool.

The ferry ticket included a hotel pick up at 8am. We left the majority of our stuff at the hotel as our plan was to walk over the island of Koh Tong Samolem to a tidy paradise beach which had a total of 14 huts so therefore a maximum of 30 people sharing an entire 1km long beach. However as the rain beat down we started to wonder if we may instead find accommodation at the slightly busier (but still quiet white sand Saracen Bay)

The hotel pick up minibus arrived at 8.30. Our boat was going from a different pier because of the weather conditions. We  dropped most people off at  Serendipity  pier as they were going to the larger and more developed Koh Rong (including full moon parties and trying to be the Cambodian equivalent of Thailand's Koh Samui Island)

After various stops for no discernible reason we arrived at a chaotic pier and found our boat. Getting on was not for the faint hearted, grabbing two rails and swinging into a boat 5 foot lower. We managed to get our bags and Joseph in without sacrificing him to water.

Fortunately by this time it had stopped raining. The ferry took around 45 minutes, we saw loads and loads of fishing boats on the way before it arrived in sweltering heat at the white sand Koh Rong Samolem Saracen Beach. The beach was swelled (but still very quiet) by day trippers from the mainland.

As the weather was good we decided we would hike the 45 mins across the island to Sunset beach and found the jungle path. Quite a good path, but we were soaked with sweat by the time we arrived at the other side. In the main the path was dry, the steeper parts were a bit slippery needing us to hold onto trees as they went past.

There are 2 places offering huts Robinsons and Huba Huba both run by French people who are making their living over here. We chose Huba Huba. Despite being the low season it was full with us taking the last 2 huts - it would have been a nightmare if we had to trek back across the island for something to sleep.

It was as predicted an excellent beach with almost no one else on it. A bit more debris washed up on the beach (bottles fishing debris) than for our liking but still excellent and the sea was lovely and warm too. e and K a bit sceptical about the very basic huts consisting of a bed with a mossie net. The family room did have an ensuing toilet and a trickle of a shower, but the toilet cisterns and filled up by hand with a bucket. Lots of signs around about conserving water in the dry season. The huts are open to the elements, so we shared with a few mice, loads of geckos and a few mossies. We also saw black tree squirrels, a snake and monkeys. Best of all were the jungle sounds of crickets, frogs etc.

The accommodation was a bit more pricey we paid 30 U.S. Dollars for each of the 2 huts and food was a bit more than the mainland but not extortionate.

The rest of the day was "hitting the deserted paradise beach". In the evening we swim again in the dark because of phosphorus phytoplankton. As you swim you see stars from the electrical impulses in the sea

Thursday Sihanoukville in the rainy season

Had  breakfast then just as we were planning to go out it rained. And how it rained. Apparently it has been dry here for the last week so I guess there was some making up to do!

It finally stopped rain g around 12.30 (several bananagram games later) so we set out on errands - booking a ferry to Ko Rong Sanloem, visiting an ATM, booking accommodation back in PP. Post rain at least it has been a bit cooler and less humid.

Like true backpackers we will arrive on the island and find a hut.

It will, we hope be a simple beach hut. From what I understand there is no or limited wifi, and only 2 or 3 hours electricity a day. So no fans or air conditioning as we have had.

We plan to return from the island on Wednesday so that may be the next update......

Wednesday: Sihanoukville (Updated)

Up earlier than we intended. I set an alarm on my phone for 7.30 but had neglected to change the time from Malaysian time to Cambodian time so in effect we jumped out of bed at 6.30 and it was not worth going back to bed when the mistake had been discovered.

We had booked a minibus taxi to Sihanouville on the coast (the advantage of travelling in a large group is that this comes an option that only costs a pound or two more that if we had all jumped on the bus, and of course gives us door to door travel)

We left around 9.30, getting the driver to stop off at a money change shop (Nics ATM card is not working out here so he needed to change some money) and an ATM for Jim. We are off to an Island for 5 days where the economy is cash only, no ATMs and there is a limit on how much can be withdrawn daily.

Getting out of PP was time consuming due to heavy traffic,, then the usual long straight road inhabited by bikes, motorbikes, Tuk Tuks, cars (etc). On this road there was considerably more lorries, especially petrol tankers coming in from the ports. There were also several stops for cows and buffalo sauntering across the road.

The journey was slower than expected about 5 hours. After finding our guest house (Ropanha Boutique Hotel) we went off to find the beach. A bit disappointing at first at it was packed the steals and a few powerboats, but we walked a Km or so away from town and pretty well had the beach to ourselves. As it was so hot (albeit overcast) we wallowed in the sea for a good hour. Then got hot again walking home so jumped in the hotel pool before finding something to eat. It's low season (Rainey season) so there is a huge oversupply of eating choices and prices are therefore pretty competitive.

Tuesday Phnom Penh (Updated)

A nice spacious hotel room meant at we all had a good nights sleep (when we had overcome the kids unfairness protests that the adult 3 bed room was better than the children's 3 bed room) really there was no discernible difference!

Had breakfast listening to French - almost all staying in this particular hotel appear to be French and read the Phnom Pengh morning post (English language). I guess lots of French people visit because of historical connections, but English has taken over from French as the second language - probably because of the purge on intellectuals during the Kymer Rouge era.

Then we took a Tuk Tuk to the Russiam Market where we saw all sorts of things for sale from frogs, to motorbike spare parts to clothes to jewellery. We also visited the central market which is a lovely colonial old building.

For lunch we bought some delicious French bread (a legacy from the colonial era), some cheese, tomatoes and  exquisite pain au chocolat and a had a  lovely picnic by the hotel pool followed by a long swim as it was oppressively hot and humid.

Nic went out to meet his friends in the evening clutching avocados he had bought at the market. Jim was very impressed with his map reading skills, as the rest of us walked around a mile to a backpackers street where we had delicious food - Liz in particular scored a hit with her Bar Fish with ginger - and of course only for £1.50.

Of course this walk involved crossing a fairly main road twice, but somehow we managed it (the traffic volumes are pretty intense in P P and pedestrians are bottom of the pecking order!

Arrived safely in Phnom Pehn

up early. We wanted to breakfast at the foreign correspondents club, but Nic had a good place that he had visited yesterday (we thought it was rubbish)

Then we took the minibus that we had organised to Phnom Pehn. It all took around 4 hours, and was a pretty smooth trip.  The entire road (it feels like) from Battambang to Phnom Penh is lined with stalls selling everything under the sun. We compete for the road with bikes carrying school children, rotorvators, motor bikes (with all sorts of adaptations) horse and cart, vans, lorries buses (etc). Some are laden down with people or goods like a balancing act. Most worryingly, toddlers (the kids of the shop sellers) play by the side of the road. What is the fatality rate? From time to time we see the poshest Range Rover known to man - there are some very very rich Cambodians interspersed with the middle class and the 3 dollars a day class.

To be fair people drive quite considerately. There are NO rules whatsoever at junctions or rounder bouts. As the country gets richer gridlock will occur. But for now everyone just negotiates their path like a sophisticated dance.

The road got busier as we got close to Phnom Penh and we hit a bit of gridlock. Phnom Penh is, as you would expect very busy, loads and loads of cars (there were relatively few in Battambang - just motorbikes).

Found our way to The Billabong hotel.

We are due to meet a friend of Nics for an evening meal who works for a NGO out here tonight. Hopefully she can point us toward good beach for a couple of days time.

Sunday, epic bike ride! By Joseph

   Today, we had to get up quote early for a full day bike tour. We got a Tuk Tuk to the cafe and had breakfast there. Because of this, we started a little bit late. Although at that time the tour guide taught us a bit of Khmer.

First stop: we cycled for a while until we reached a family business of making rice paper. The family running the business had to leave the land during the war. But now they have returned and the business is up and running again.

 Second stop: the second stop was a place where they made dry banana. This is another family business, and the dry banana was very nice.

  Third stop: the third stop was a place where they make rice wine. We got to taste some of the rice  wine. But it didn't taste like what we were expecting! The family alos keep pigs which is more profitable that the rice wine sales. Apparently the alcohol infuded rice keeps the pigs docile, making them fatten quicker. Rice wine production kept going over the Kymer Rouge time

 Fourth stop: the fourth stop was a fish market, this was Jim's least favourite part. It stank there but they prepared fish very cleverly. Fish was very popular in Battambang and lots of people buy it, despite having to dry it for one whole day. The trouble was; the street to the fish market was blocked for a religious festival, therefor we had to take a massive Detore around rice fields. But it was nice cycling through the place.

Then finally we arrived home, had a drink of water, walked back to the hotel and flopped down on the bed for we were all tired from cycling nearly 40km.

  Today we had enjoyed the day including a delicious lunch, a sleep in a hammock, tasty snacks like bamboo sticky rice and rice paper, a ride on a bamboo train getting to a speed of 40km per hour and nice relaxes and breaks.

Addendum by Jim
The bike ride we decided was definitely our best day in Cambodia so far. The company is a social enterprise set up by ex pats but now handed over to locals as a sustainable concern. It is staffed by university students who all speak good English. Our guide, called Mony, is in charge of bike maintenance and was previously a teacher. He knew the history of every cottage industry we visited, and what happened to the families as they were all displaced during the Kymer Rouge time. The day was pricey, but they share their profits with the families we visit so we were pleased to do this. Having lunch in the home of a (admittedly fairly middle class by Cambodian standards) family was a real highlight. In particular our opportunity for a 30 minute post lunch siesta in a hammock. Wherever you go, you see Cambodians whiling away their time in hammocks - shop keepers, bus drivers, you name it. Probably a combination of the heat and underemployment, roadside sellers probably just get a few sales a day so plenty of hammock time.

In the evening one of the kids suggested pizza (to our regret) Nic loves a challenge so whipped out his sat nav as he recalled cycling past one the day before. Length wild goose chase ensued, although we did walk past a very rich Cambodian party (super expensive Range Rovers and trappings of extreme wealth). When found, the food was a bit non descript and very overpriced. But is was fun as we are the pizza in booths, designed for canoodling couples of which there were many , clearly it was the places for dates!