12th April 2009

As we had booked the Apsara minivan to take us back to Phnom Penh, we were picked up at our hotel by a tuk tuk. Sure enough, bang in time Shukry pulled up, he said that he had seen the hotel pick up list and thought it would be us! This was great as it gave us a last chance to say goodbye to him and also give him a gift to celebrate the Khmer New Year. As we pulled away we both felt a little emotional knowing that we would not see him again, but we do have his email address so hopefully we can keep in touch.

After a slow journey we once again arrived in Phnom Penh. As we made our way to the hotel we both laughed that we were always commenting on why anyone would turn up in Phnom Penh, not only with no accomodation booked, but also at night! We were doing exactly that same thing, and in one of the most dangerous cities in Asia!!

Pulling into the road where our hotel was, we passed the 2 owners of the Blue Dolphin restaurant, who shouted and waved, then as we pulled up to the HRH hotel we were greeted in the very same way! It's amazing how you can visit the same places over and over again in the UK and not even get a smile, yet in Cambodia you are treated like a long lost friend. The people are so open and honest here and not afraid to say that theyvare happy to see you. Even the tuk tuk driver commented, saying "alot of people know you"!!

As we arrived late we checked into our room, which appeared to be pretty nice! We then headed straight over to the Blue Dolphin, it was well past beer o'clock already and we were pretty hungry!

After another good evening in the Blue Dolphin we headed to our hotel. We had arrived too late to book our bus to Sihanoukville, so we had to get up early in the morning to ensure we could book our seats.

After what was another bad night due to air con smells, we got up early and booked 2 seats on the bus to Sihanoukville. It was coming up to the Khmer NewYear so the early bus was completely full, but luckily for us we managed to get seats on the 12.45pm bus. It seems that many Khmers leave Phnom Penh over the New Year and head to the beaches if Sihanoukville, so let's just hope wecarecabke to get ourselves a room!!