My journey back down to Sihanouk Ville was much quicker because I had booked a mini bus. It took only four hours and so I arrived at the beach capital of Cambodia around lunchtime.
I knew better than to get a tuk-tuk from the drivers waiting for us at the bus station. I walked for five minutes down towards Led Zephyr and Monkey Republic. I walked up to a young man slouched on his mo-ped. I got a lift out to Otres 2 for $3. It was further down from where Blair and I had stayed earlier on; far quieter and less crowded!
I arrived at Elephant Garden. I had walked passed the bungalows on my day alone exploring the deserted beaches during our last stay. They had raised platforms covered by gazebos and cushions scattered for you to lie on. They had cushioned longers and towels for you to use. They played relaxing music and I smelt the delicious foods from the kitchen! I met the owner who was German and the manager: Mark and Tamika. They checked me into bungalow two. I had my own hammock style chairs in the front that looked over the pristine beach. I had a four poster double bed with a mosquito net. The en-suite was simple but had everything I needed and it was clean. I changed into my bikini and dozed on the beach for the rest of the day. I ate fresh seafood and fruit platters; it was my first night of paradise!
The third day we went on a boat trip. This was a tour the 'Elephant Garden' had only started recently. We paid a fee of $15. A huge breakfast buffet was laid out for us, and we munched away on fresh fruit, eggs, cheese, spring rolls and breads. We walked towards the fishing boat which I learnt was built by the German men on the road beside the resort. Huge coolers were brought on board filled with drinks and food.
It was overcast when we first left but it didn't take long for the sun to burn through the clouds.
We passed by many small islands that lay only a few kilometres away from the shore. We first stopped off at the island that Mark is contemplating on buying and building bungalows on stilts amongst the trees. We walked around and explored the island which already had a small family living there, in complete isolation and in little more than a bamboo hut with a thatched roof.
I was pulled up onto the boat and even in the water I could feel my heel pulsating. I cleaned the blood away and sure enough a long dark spike was embedded into my heel.
Luckily Rachel, the Swiss lady was a nurse. She fashioned a needle out of a fishing hook and sterilised it with vodka and iodine. She dabbed my heel with iodine and began prodding away. Mark and Tamika were concerned and felt bad, I assured them I was fine. Tamika began pouring an incredibly strong cocktail and ordered it to be passed straight to me. Bacardi and pineapple juice really isn't a drink I like, and drinking a strong cocktail in the heat didn't really appeal, but the polite side of me willed me to sip slowly, at least until the ice melted and dilute the two-thirds Bacardi concoction.
We concluded I had stepped on an incredibly long-spiked sea urchin, although Rachel had been unable to remove the splinter. There was a fair sized opening in my foot now so we decided to leave it and try again later.
We continued with the tour of the islands, stopping off at secluded beaches on the way. The coolers slowly but surely emptied and as the bottom of a cooler appeared Tamika would pull out another from beneath the seats. She had endless supplies. It turned out to be a beautiful day and the sun was strong. The women all sat at the boats bow and the men sought the shelter and kept the beer coolers close by.
On the way back to the resort we were feeling the effects of a days sun exposure and wind burn. We asked Mark to stop the boat and we jumped into the deep blue sea. We were surrounded by small islands, it was truly beautiful!
That evening we all had dinner together, drank wine and sat on the beach and watched the sun set. We exchanged tales of our travels and recommendations. It was a fantastic day out!
I rented a mo-ped through Tamika for the following few days so I could venture into the city and explore the country side a little.
One of the waiters that worked there was a graduate from Leeds, who was working and travelling through South East Asia while he waited for his Australian work visa to be granted.
We bonded over Ricky Gervais and Office quotes which he could reel off like a true fan. We shared the same humour and it was comforting to be my slightly eccentric self with!
He had the afternoon off, and as he was deciding a way to get into town I offered a lift on my newly hired bike.
We spent the afternoon in the central market and showed off our haggling skills constantly trying to out-do the other. I won hands down: Two dresses and a north face backpack for $18, while he handed over $19 for one shirt for a girl he was dating.
We went to lunch at Holy Cow where Blair had eaten while I was doubled over the toiled with food poisoning. He told me all about his travels and how he was hoping to get a job in radio in Australia.
We drove to ANA travel agents to collect my passport with my newly granted Vietnamese visa. As we hopped off the mo-ped we looked across the street. There was a burnt out hole where Monkey Republic used to be. Apparently an air-conditioning unit in one of their bungalows had over heated and began a fire. The guesthouses on either side were also mainly wooden structures and had thatched roofs. All in all five businesses had been completely gutted, including Mick and Craig's where Blair and I had eaten. Nobody had been injured, and apparently staff were seen piling tourists' backpacks out until the very last minute. Onlookers watched as one building after another went up in flames, it had taken a while for the emergency services to react and apparently had run out of water mid blaze. Local guesthouses had offered free accommodation to the guests and staff of Monkey Republic.
When we arrived back at the resort, Chris was back to work. I had just finished Skyping Blair Bear when I walked up to the bar. Chris was chatting away to an American girl and introduced us. Her name was Lana and she ran her own dress stall at Otres market as well as working at Mushroom Point. She had moved to the area three weeks ago which explained why Blair and I hadn't met her at the Point before. We chatted for a while and arranged to have dinner later on, after she had run a few errands.
Lana returned at 19:30, we ordered glasses of wine and tapas. She told me about her travelling experience with her sister which had proven to be a bit of a nightmare. They had argued constantly through Vietnam and now that they had settled in Otres for a while they had even designated their own parts of the beach. Otres 1 was Lana's territory and Otres 2 was her younger sisters'.
Whilst in Vietnam she had visited the cloth market in Hoi An and purchased metres of beautiful chiffon fabrics and sought out a tailor to make hundreds of dresses she had designed herself. She had invested the majority of her money but was now making a roaring trade at Otres Market every Saturday. I asked to see a few of her dresses, she smiled and pulled out a few from her bag. She always carried a few of her best sellers around with her and found that was one of the best ways of advertising and promoting herself. I tried a few on and they were beautiful. She left six items with me in all and told me to hold on to them until I decided.
I spent the last few days relaxing and spending time with Chris and Lana. We would meet up whenever they got off work and would either squeeze on to my moped to go into town or chill out on the beach or a bar on Otres 1.
Lana and I were waiting for Chris one afternoon at the bar in Elephant Garden. We were about to leave when I stood to pop to the toilet. As I stood up, the larger of Tamika's dogs growled and went straight for my ankle. I shrieked, he went to bite the other. Mark appeared out of nowhere and picked him up by the scruff of the neck and threw him into Tamika's room. Lana and Chris just sat there gobsmacked. I was just in plain shock. I stood there for a few seconds and just ran straight to my hut, locked the door and burst out in tears, for all of five seconds before I realised how ridiculous I was being. I love dogs and had never been attacked before. Red scratches wrapped around both of my ankles. I just prayed he hadn't drawn blood: he hadn't.
A knock came at the door. It was Mark. He felt terrible and asked if my ankles were OK, I told them they were fine and just told him I was in shock more than anything, my crying was just an impulsive reaction. He explained that dogs were generally maltreated by the Khmers who usually kick the dogs. The dogs become nervous around lifted feet. I told him I understood but wanted to be alone to calm down, what he told me wasn't helpful.
After I sat on my bed I just burst out laughing, I can't believe I'd reacted so badly.
The only downside to my week at Otres 2 was that it became unbearably hot and humid. It was nearing the end of the dry season when Cambodia was notorious for hitting its highest temperatures.
The sea was no longer refreshing, it was like stepping into a bath or a soup. I'm sure it was warmer in the sea than it was walking along the beach. Sunbathing was a big no no. Also the sea was far out the last few days and so the shore was strewn with rubbish. I spotted beer cans, plastic cups, fruit skins, dead fish, the odd flip-flop or shoe.
The last few nights were not pleasant at all. I couldn't sleep for the heat. There was only one place on the entire stretch of Otres that had air-conditioning, other guesthouses sufficed with fans. However the electricity was cut every night. I found myself in the sea at 4am on a few occasions in a desperate bid to cool down.
The last night Lana and I went to a beach BBQ. We sat at the bar and chatted with the bar staff, contributed to the playlist, danced and were brought a mountain of food. We had barbequed shrimp, ribs, chicken thighs and wings, bread roles, potato salad and vegetables.
I said my goodbyes and once again was sad to leave, particularly because I was once again going to miss Otres market. Maybe I'll make it back there on my next adventure!
I knew I wasn't going to get to sleep that night, so I stretched out my packing process as long as possible. I was being picked up at 7am by a tuk-tuk and taken to the bus station. I had a 12 hour bus journey ahead of me back to Blair.
I sat outside the hut and watched the sun rise, I took a final walk along the Beach until it reached 7am.
I couldn't get hold of Blair because there was still no electricity and so no WiFi. Mark and Tamika wouldn't stop apologising. They made me a coffee and gave me breakfast. By the time I got hold of Blair I was annoyed, tired and I really missed him. Being the sweetheart he is, he calmed me down, cheered me up and solved the situation in ten minutes. He booked a hotel for me in Phnom Penh and told me to make my way there today and to arrange a bus the following day to Ho Chi Min. That way I could get a good night sleep. There was another reason behind prolonging the trip. I knew that Blair would not let me travel alone on a sleeper bus, once again he looked after me and made sure I was safe.
Mark ordered a tuk-tuk for me and I asked to be taken to the Giant Ibis bus offices in town. Blair had found the company online when we first arrived in Cambodia. They ran a great service with clean and air-conditioned buses, more importantly they had spacious seats, which meant Blair wasn't crammed to within an inch of his life.
We approached the Golden Lion roundabout but we took the wrong exit. I shouted out to the driver and informed him of his mistake. He reassured me that he knew where he was going. I sat back and doubted myself, naturally, he is the tuk-tuk driver after all!
We turned right into a yard. To the right of us were two or three men lying in hammocks and sitting in chairs under the trees. The driver stopped. Before I asked the driver where we were he had nodded at a few other men to our left. They formed a circle around me and simultaneously began offering me bus tickets to Phnom Penh. I held my head in my hands and again told the tuk-tuk driver my desired destination. He pointed at the men surrounding me suggesting they held the solution to my problem. I shook my head and asked the men to leave. Of course, they didn't listen. Eventually I had to feign a few tears and a scared look. This did enough to get the driver back on side and get the men to stop haggling at me. We drove on a few hards and he walked me to the official ticket office where I finally bought a ticket, not the one I wanted, but at least I had a ticket to Phnom Penh. The ticket officer was a kind elderly man who dismissed the tuk-tuk driver with a stern look and a wave of his hand. The men bothering me also received a scowl which melted away into a warm smile as he turned to me and offered me a seat in the shade.
The journey was made in a mini-van with mainly Westerners huddled in the small seats. Naturally, I was comfortable enough and would drift off to sleep until I would be thrown out of my seat and up in the air due to a crater-sized pot hole that we'd hit. By the third time my reaction became laughter. I also supplied the entertainment, the other passengers laughed, not only at the sight of me being thrown a foot in the air, but by the look of shock on my face as I woke up to find myself sitting mid air and falling back down.
Once I arrived I walked away from the expected huddle of tuk-tuk drivers. I found a mo-ped driver who was willing to give me a lift but spoke no English. He was trying to make sense out of my destination when I was tapped on the shoulder. Two passengers from the bus had followed me because I looked like I knew what I was doing and where I was going. They had no reservation so I suggested we share a tuk-tuk so they could try their luck at my accommodation.
The lift began to go badly when first of all we were taken to the wrong district and the driver pulled in front of a hotel who's name bared no resemblance to where I wanted to go. A short argument ensued. I was tired and cranky. I knew that tuk-tuk drivers would push their luck farther with women, but I wasn't backing down. Our voices weren't raised but there was a tone of animosity that began attracting attention. The driver turned and began driving in the correct direction. We dropped the Australian couple off. The street my hotel was on was full of guesthouses. I knew the number of my hotel, it was low, and I knew we had already passed it. The driver seemed to have forgotten I had told him several times that I had a hotel reservation, because he began driving away from the street. I yelled at him to stop. I told him to turn around. He told me he would take me to 'nice accommodation, very cheap'. I reminded him I already had a reservation. He still wasn't listening. I stood up in the tuk-tuk as he began to drive even further away from the street. By now I was well and truly pissed off. I know that displays of heightened emotions are against Khmer custom. I didn't care at this point. I shouted at him to stop. He braked sharply. I had anticipated this reaction and had already grabbed hold of the bars. He looked worried, and people from all directions were looking. I told him again that I had a reservation and that it was in the opposite direction and that to deliberately drive someone the wrong way, particularly a woman wasn't the cleverest of moves. To make it worse I didn't have change, I only had a large note. I told him to wait while I got change, but he insisted on driving me back and apologised continuously. We passed the hotel again. He repeated he knew of good accommodation. I grabbed both bags, threw the heavier one and jumped out with the lighter. The driver braked and turned back after me. I ignored him and walked through the glass doors of the hotel and asked for change. The receptionist was on the phone and the driver was standing the another side of the doors staring at me. And every now and again he would knock. I must have looked either scared or upset because the receptionist put the call on hold. The young receptionist sorted out the change and he asked me if everything was OK. The driver was still waiting and popping his head around the door and calling for me, "hey, lady! Lady!". I told him to wait outside. The receptionist sensed what had happened and told me to sit down, he asked me how much I owed and asked the porter to deal with it. He finally left.
The receptionist brought me a cold drink and apologised for the drivers behaviour. He said that behaviour like that was not to be tolerated and rarely happened, it gave tuk-tuk drivers and Cambodian men a bad name.
I was checked in quickly and escorted to my bedroom. It is the nicest room I have ever seen. It was huge, with two big double beds, towels shaped as swans, flat-screen TV's, a big walk-in glass shower with marble floors. Breakfast was included.
I showered, put the air con on full and skyped Blair to thank him for the beautiful reservation. We arranged to meet at his hostel, as the bus would drop me off a short walk away from Blair's accommodation.
I went for dinner but could barely keep my eyes open. After a few sleepless nights I was more than ready for a good night air conditioned sleep.
I had three helpings of breakfast this morning. Eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, cereal and toast.
I was collected by the bus at 10:00 and was on my way into Vietnam!
The border crossing was fairly straight forward. We departed the bus and carried our luggage with us. We went through the Cambodian exit and into a building where our Vietnamese visas were checked followed by a security check.
As soon as we entered Vietnam the visible differences were incredible. The condition of the buildings, the roads and the transportation; there wasn't a single tuk-tuk in sight.
I brought up Google maps on my phone and tracked our journey until we had reached Ho Chi Min and again followed our route until we reached district one. What struck me most of all were the number of mo-peds. I saw thousands on my way into the city. They drove along the roads in giant swarms, I'd never seen anything like it. Huge sky scrapers and illuminated restaurants and shops and bars lit the night sky. Well maintained parks were green and had playing areas and exercise stations. It was a complete change in standards of living and wealth.
I almost ran off the bus and quickly collected my luggage. I had spotted the small alleyway where Blair's guesthouse was and headed straight for it. I stopped however when I felt my bum being squeezed. I smiled even before I turned around. I dropped my bags and gave Blair the biggest hug. He laughed at my reaction. "Surprise! Hello" he whispered in my ear.
It had been lovely to have a week alone. I met some wonderful people and had a great time, but I was glad I was back with Blair and excited to begin our adventure again touring a new country
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