Sihanoukville and beyond

To save me some time I'm going to copy and paste one of Sophie's group emails to explain some of the things we have been up to and then add some of my own:
(Sophie's words)
We've spent a few days in Phnom Penh doing all the tourist attractions and trying to navigate through the thousands of people on the streets. Phnom Penh is the busiest place i have ever been, it takes about 10 minutes to walk 200 metres because there is literally hundreds of people everywhere.
On Monday we went to the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields which were both very harrowing. The Toul Sleng Museum has pictures of 8000 prisioners including women and children and they all look expressionless which is very eerie. It also has the cells that the prisioners were kept in and the torture equipment very sad stuff. We then went on to the killing fields which was where the prisioners were taking after Toul Sleng. Its a field and lake in a beautiful seeting in the middle of nowhere with a huge monument and large holes in the ground. However when you go in the monument its full of skulls that they have dug up and you soon realise that the holes in the ground are mass graves. Its so difficult to believe how anyone could do such a horrible thing.
On Wednesday I bought a grapefruit which I didnt like so I gave it to a child on the street. His face absolutly lit up and he ran around holding it up in the air like it was the world cup, for all his friends to see before devouring the whole thing in less than a minute. All the chidren were trying to fight him for some and you could see that they really were starving. I had to try my hardest not to cry, its so moving that something that cost me 25p could mean so much to a child. The Cambodian children are all so lovely they constantly wave and run up to you to say hello, then when you say hello and wave back they are absolutly delighted. Lots of the adults are very friendly too and very polite, they always want to stop and chat.
Over the next few days we did the normal sightseeing things such as the Royal Palace, Temple and National Museum, (all fairly boring stuff but has to be done) before relaxing at a really lovely bar the Hope and Anchor, they sell beer for 40p and you get unlimited free peanuts as well as free pool (we'll definatly be going back there when we're next in Phnom Penh). We made the mistake of trying out a good 24 hour Australian Bar (according to the Rough Guide) but soon realised the rough guide author must be a single man. When we got there the drinks were very expensive and i was the only non-Cambodian woman there and me and Jamie were the only couple who hadn't met in the bar and didn't consist of a 20 year old scantily clad cambodian girl and 40 year old white man.
On Wednesday we went to the Russian market wich was great fun. As Cambodia make a lot of imported clothes there were loads of stalls selling GAP, Addidas, Nike, H&M, Abercrombie and Fitch, Topshop, Matalan and even Geroge from Asda. I bought myself a vest top and some silk scarves and Jamie treated himself his to a third Rolex. I also bought a few presents for a lucky few of you. On Thursday we moved on to Kampot so we could visit the Bokor National Park (Big Mistake). We booked on a disaster tour, they crammed 15 people into a pick up truck (after they said the maximum number on any trip is 8) and it meant that the truck had a puncture 4 times so we didnt get to see the waterfall or do the trek on the way back (well worth the 7 quid we paid especiaaly as we actualy spent 7 hours of the tour cramped in the pick up truck). I couldnt lie on my back last night as i have a huge bruise on my spine and its also painful to sit down. The final leg of the trip involved a sunset boat trip which was great considering we missed the sunset due to the break downs and it was actually a pitch black boat trip. To round off the day from hell off the tour guide coudnt get the boat to the river bank so we had to wade through a slimy river. We did however make friends with some great people so it wasnt all bad.
We left for Sihanoukville this morning and it was also a nightmare. The taxi tried to cram 6 people in as well as the driver, he wanted more, even talking about having someone else on the drivers seat with him! In the end he agreed to take 5 but I had to sit in the middle of the front where the gear stick and handbreak are as a french couple had paid for 3 seats so they could have more room. I have never been so frightened in my life especially when he started overtaking on bends. Cambodia is such a lovely place so its a real shame that greed seems to ruin it. They wont hesistate to lie and con you if it means an extra dollar or two for them.
(end of Sophie's bit)

So yeah, 4 flat tyres, unbelievable, we were stuck at one point cos we'd run out of spares but luckily another pickup truck came by and gave us one of theirs. Never book anything through Mealy Chenda.
Sihanoukville was a decent place, we stayed for 2 nights up on Victory Hill in a place called MASH, owned by a crazy Dutch lady. We spent some time on the beaches that were nearby and went out for a few drinks in the evening. A few of the bars... well let's just say the girls aren't shy there! For some reason Sophie didn't like all the semi naked girls and so we moved to a different part of the island, staying in Mick and Craig's Sanctuary which was fairly basic and I kept banging my head on the bathroom doorframe as everything in Asia is designed for midgets.
We went on a snorkel tour around some of the nearby islands, Sophie managed to get spiked by a sea urchin, which has left her in some pain, hopefully it'll be fine soon. Incredibly, I met a guy from Malvern (Poolbrook) on this trip, didn't know him though. When we were talking about where we lived, another guy chimed up saying he was from Worcester, it's a small world.
We had a few beers and cocktails on the beach, Sophie suggested I get a "Happy Pizza" because the book says they are good and she had heard lots of people talking about them. Bless her, you can guess why they are called that, she didn't realise. I just went for the Fried Rice and Chicken.
We're in Phnom Penh again at the moment, going to Kratie tomorrow to hopefully see some dolphins. We are heading for Vietnam on Saturday or Sunday.
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