Day 77 - relaxation time :)

So last I wrote we had just finished Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. Following that we jumped onto another bus and headed back to the capital, Phnom Penh – the central transport hub for the country. While there we stayed 2 nights and a day to have a look around. The first night we checked into the traveller part of town on the lake-side. A bustling street of guesthouses, hostels, bars and restaurants. I'd spotted a poker night tournament sign on our way through here the previous week, and luckily our return timed perfectly with the next match, so Lukas and I signed up.

The sun setting over the lake at our cheap-as-chips guesthouse.

The pub was British run – had a pool table (which was to be our poker table), darts, footie – the works, and most of the people playing were British too! After a few hours I was knocked out, and the two tables of 19 people (total) merged for the last showdown of the final 8 survivors, of which Lukas was still one. He almost got wiped out at one point but recovered from practically nothing, and ended up winning the game (well after 45mins with the final chap, they were 50/50 on chips and split 1st & 2nd place between them and called it a draw) – trained the boy well ;) Following that Lukas and I spent most the morning recovering from the booze we drank, while Petr visited tourist attractions around the city. Once the haze had passed, Lukas and I joined him in town for a final few sights, then back for a nice meal and to bed, as the next morning we were on the move again to Sihanoukville on the coast.

Central market in the city centre.
 

Our plan in Sihanoukville was to get to an island straight away, and start the winding-down part of the journey. There's only one boat a day that we'd missed by the time we arrived, so got accommodated and hit the beach for the afternoon. It's like a European holiday destination here – Brits everywhere! (most of which look like they belong in Ibiza), but it's still enjoyable.

Playing pool in a beach bar.

Next morning and we packed again to get on-board the boat and get to our relaxing destination – Bamboo island. The boat we needed to board was 20m off-shore, and not thinking it through I decided to wade into the sea fully clothed, forgetting I had my mobile in my pocket, which ended up being submerged in the water for a minute or two. Suffice to say it no longer works, so I can't reply to any calls, voicemail or text messages, until I get back and sort out a new one... email only for a while :) Updated visual journey progress map.

View from the beach as we landed on Bamboo island.

An hour later we'd arrived and checked into our bungalow on the beach. Warm, clear ocean, sandy beaches, palms, hot hot weather, hammocks and beer, what more could we ask for? We stayed 3 days and 2 nights, and did little more than hit the beach, swim, snorkel, read our books, eat and drink. It was a really nice break from all the travelling around and constant activities we'd been doing for the last 2.5 months, and sorely needed! This is a holiday after all :)

Our row of bungalows on the palm covered beach.

We met some nice people there, found a second, more secluded beach, on the other side of the island, and Petr and I went for a few hours boat trip where you watch the sunset over the ocean, and fished over the side using some hand reels. Didn't catch a bean, but others on-board had more luck, one girl from Quebec proved to be a pro catching two, and herself plus her friend proved to be nice dinner company too. We all enjoyed relaxing very much, and we're all a bit orange-er as a result :D

View of the sun setting from the boat.

Today we got the evening boat back to the mainland, where we intend to bum about on the beach one more day, then I've roped the boys into doing a scuba discovery 1-day course with me on Wednesday, that I'm really looking forward to. There's only a few dive sights here that are any good – it used to be different, once sharing comparable coral reefs to Thailand with abundant sea life, but the locals used to do a lot of fishing with dynamite that has destroyed nearly all the reefs in their entire section of the Gulf of Thailand. But we've been assured they have some decent sites, and fingers crossed it will be good... After that we are still thinking what to do, Peter is keen to return to Vietnam for the Mekong-delta and spend some more time in Ho Chi Minh city (where we will eventually fly home from in 2 weeks time), while I'm thinking of continuing scuba diving to complete my PADI qualification (here if it's good, Thailand if it looks better?), and Lukas isn't sure...? We all want to get different things done in our time remaining, so parting ways might be best for everyone, and meet up again in Ho Chi Minh once more for the final few days before flying home :( But nothing is decided yet, so lets see...

More pictures from Lukas as usual.