6th May 2009

Arriving back in Phnom Penh always starts off a bit hectic, the bus pulls into a small office and the bags are off loaded. Before we have had time to locate our bags, we are surrounded by tuk tuk and moto drivers, all promising to give us the best price. Luckily this was our third visit, so we were unfazed by this chaos. We quickly grabbed our bags, jumped on a tuk tuk for a $3 ride and checked in at The Super Star Hotel.

We were pretty hungry, so we set off to The Blue Dolphin for our favourite steak and onion baguettes! We have become regulars here and we were welcomed like old friends. They even remembered that it was Clares birthday in a couple of days.

That afternoon we booked our minivan to take us to Siem Reap the following morning. We had used this company before and knew that if we wanted a comfortable journey, we had to get seats towards the front of the van. Sure enough, we managed to get seats 1 & 2! It was going to be an early start, so we used the afternoon to relax.

That evening we once again chose to eat at The Blue Dolphin, the food is great here, it's a good price and the owners are really friendly. As we sat enjoying a beer, it was clear that the owners were up to something. After Clare was asked how old she would be on Wednesday, it was obvious that they had bought her a cake. The funny part being that they thought she was turning 38, so they quickly disappeared on their moped to change the number candles that they had already got! We both had yet another great meal, but after our food they dimmed the lights, bought over the cake and all sang 'happy birthday'. It was fantastic, and the cake was so beautifully decorated, it even had Clares name and birthday date iced onto it. Adam dutifully played mother, slicing up the birthday cake and shared it our with everyone at the restaurant. We even got bought beers from 2 American girls! The kindness and generosity that the Khmers showed us will never be forgotten.

After too much cake and a few beers, we headed back to our hotel to try and get a good sleep ready for our journey to Siem Reap.