From Otres beach we moved onto one of the islands nearby. We had been given a recommendation by friends from our Africa trip of a Hotel called Lonely Beach. Given it was New Years in Cambodia we were very lucky to make a reservation. Once we did we received a long email from them giving us the ins and outs of the hotel to ensure that we were ok with the ‘setup’. Some of the highlights included the three hour boat ride from Otres and the bucket showers. Easy, I can do bucket showers, especially in the heat!

We arrived early in the morning to the pier and met some friendly Dutch people who were also waiting for the same boat. The area around was needless to say an extremely polluted village. The whole shoreline was covered in mounds of waste and plastic; we watched children and adults throwing everything into the sea from their tin hut houses that balanced perilously above the water. The whole of south east Asia has a massive problem with waste but this was one of the worst places we had seen it, and so close to the big shiny tourist hotspot. Here’s a recent article about the exact town we were in https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/mountains-and-mountains-of-plastic-life-on-cambodias-polluted-coast?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

After a bewildering hour at the pier we jumped aboard the hotels’ boat and were whisked away to Koh Rong. When we arrived we jumped into the sea for the final walk onto the beach. The place looked like something from a film. Coconuts, palm trees, white sand, crystal clear waters and no buildings in site,the hotel is set back in the jungle and so too was our little birds house room.

After 5 minutes we decided to stay an extra night! On our two days, we joined some fellow guests and took trip out snorkelling around a tiny island. A little perilous in places where the sea was shallow and there massive sea urchins underneath, but the coral around the area was beautiful, and the little fishes were very colourful. It reminded me of our time in Tanzania!

The second day we walked through the island to a small village port. People were still celebrating new year, so there were lots of people eating, drinking or sleeping in their hammocks ! We found the village school, which was two benches set out under a palm tree in the centre. We could see this was a very poor town, which struck me as even more sad given the number of tourists coming to the islands. We bought a little bottle of coconut oil from a local girl as some way of giving to this small community.

We later learnt that the hotel we stayed at, run by Europeans, continue to pay monthly bribes to local policemen to be allowed to operate there. How great it would be if that money could go to a real cause and helping the village.

Anyway... Sleeping in the jungle was an unforgettable experience. The noises through the night were incredible, and sometimes unnerving. Hearing something walking up the stairs to the room and sniffing around the door kept me awake for a good few hours!

We returned to civilisation on a rocky boat ride back. Both of us completely drenched from the thrashing waves, what a fun way to travel. Our hotel had organised for us to travel in a taxi back with a British couple to the capital. Coupled together we had a nice journey back hearing about their time living in Burma and their IVF story. Olly was blushing in the front of the car as the lady talked to me about her eggs on ice in Bangkok. A very nice couple indeed!

We returned to a rainy Phnom Penh and scoffed down some noodles before heading to bed early ready for a bus journey to our next stop Battambang.

We met some fellow travellers on our journey so arranged to meet in the evening for drinks and dinner. Before that we explored on foot, this pretty French colonial style city is the second biggest in Cambodia. In the effort to save money we walked a good kilometre to a local laundry place before winding through the streets. For lunch we had potentially the best bowl of noodles we had in Asia. Not sure what was in it but it tasted cracking! With food in mind we booked a cooking class for the next day before meeting friends for a good few beers and a mediocre dinner. The town shuts down at 10, which means everything switches off, including street lighting!

Our cooking class ended up being Olly and I. We were whisked off on a bike to a small village market where we picked up the ingredients and had a look around. I realised it was all women, apparently the women are fiercer shoppers and sellers and men rarely come to shop as they would not bargain with the women and get the best prices. This was the explanation is was given, and I am sure half of it is true.

The cooking class itself was great, we did it all from scratch including cracking a coconut and draining the insides to form coconut milk. We made the traditional fish amok (cooked in banana leaves over a steamer, lok lak ( beef cooked in spices) and lemon grass chicken with morning glory. We then started talking with the guy, who was telling us about the help he has had from volunteers to advertise online and build his business . I’m not sure how we then ended up talking about his back story, but we later learnt that him and his mum had fled in the 70’s when the Khmer Rouge took over, his father had stayed and been a chef for their army. When the war ended they returned to the city, where battles were still going on, and he was nearly shot. Over time the Khmer moved out and life started to return to normal. He hadn’t been able to go to school through all of his childhood but somehow had managed to learn English, and became one of the only in the town to do so. He has appeared on an Australian cooking programme and worked for a British journalist. He said this was the second time he nearly died. The journalist wanted to meet the remaining generals of the Khmer, so he was asked to be the translator. They journied to a remote town to meet them and finally did an interview. But the journalist asked him to ask the general ‘ how do you feel about killing so many people ‘, and the general took the gun from his pocket and put it on the table. He decided at that point to not translate the message question. He was obviously disgruntled with journalist for putting him in danger so didn’t return to do this type of work again; instead they set up a cooking school and restaurant. Incidentally, his father who had remained in Cambodia, found him and his mum 20 years later when he searched electoral registers for their names, and they were reunited! What a story!

On our second full day we took a tuk tuk out of town to visit the local ‘vineyard’, mini ankor wat and then onto the evening highlight of the bat caves, where 6 millions bats flight out of one cave at around dusk to go and get their dinner essentially. Because this is south east Asia, their were bars and small cafes set up around the area to cater to the tourists. After about 20 minutes of continual flow we jumped in our tuk tuk to follow them as they swirled around and crossed over a small town. As we drove back into town on our our driver stopped at a road side bbq to grab some bbq’d rats. Olly immediately jumped out and got one for the ride too, adding to his list of eaten animals he is keeping on the trip. I tried a bite, honestly it tasted like chicken, but did look like a bbq rat which was rather off putting!

From Battambang we headed by bus to our final stop, Siem Reap, for perhaps the most famous site in South East Asia, Angkor Wat.

For four days we woke early and cycled the massive complex to gawp in awe at the huge 1000 year old structures and grounds of the holy temples. The scale is difficult to describe but needless to say we cycled for hours to see three or four temple complexes a day! We took a day to head east, where tourists rarely go to see some of the older temples; rewarding us the opportunity to escape the crowds and see more of the village rural life only twenty minutes away from the hustle and bustle of Siem Reap. Ever so often children would run out to wave hello and then duck back into their gardens. Parents were sleeping in the midday sun under their houses and the school kids were cycling around during their lunch breaks. We also passed a massive wedding on the way back that was in full swing. Neither of us were in suitable attire to pop our heads in unfortunately! Here are a few photos from the days we spent exploring the temples.