The whole stretch of beach is filled with bars boasting day chairs available for use after purchase. I had set up camp just near this one and a little Cambodian lady ran over and said that I can use the chairs… But I was happy on the sand not having to pay, she told me I was going to have to pay even if I laid on the sand cause she is “making business” so I took up the offer and bought the cheapest thing on the menu a 1.50 big bottle of water. So I lounged here on this relatively secluded stretch of the beach for a few hours (I even managed to sunscreen my own entire back which is a down side of travelling alone), though the anti-malarials that I’m on worked their magic and I’m still a tinge of red.

I was one of less than 10 people swimming on this 6km stretch of beach this morning. The water is deliciously warm (I even think you’d coupe mum) and there aren’t swarms of tourists which is heavenly. Though being the low season and people cottoning onto this beauty, there is a lot of construction and maintenance of new and old bars and bungalows going on. Plenty of beach to choose from, and though I was still hassled to buy sunglasses and pedicures, no where near as much as I thought.

My first cup of tea this morning in 5 weeks because it was finally cold enough, complimented with brown sugar (eeeep!)

I had even organised my running clothes so I could be up bright and early and jogging along the beach when I woke up to the sounds of howling winds and rain coming in my window. It wasn’t until 9:30 (after my first heavenly breakfast of eggs since arriving) that the sun began to peer out from behind the clouds… I thought it was my tea making me feel over heated, but it was in fact starting to shape up to be an okay morning. I couldn’t have left the hostel fast enough if I tried. How I have missed sand between my toes and salt in my hair.

N.B the hideous thong than that seem to grow daily

Markets are a backpackers best and worst nightmare; a chance to pick up cheap goods to replace ruined clothing or for souvenirs but also a place to realise how much stuff you would absolutely love to purchase and take home but realistically and practically speaking you just absolutely cannot. It happened all through Europe and it’s happening again. Everything that is not disgustingly touristy that I want to purchase is breakable or too heavy to carry around for another 2 months. I’ve already got a souvenir bag going which I plan to post as soon as I leave Cambodia (they have a very unreliable and expensive postal system). These tea pots and Buddha statues are just a few of the things I’m lusting over.

A quick zip back to the past, saying farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Leng. I will definitely not miss the suspicious food and mountains of rice, nor the chickens, but i will miss their hospitality, a never ending supply of hazelnut spread and free washing as well as all the perks that came with living there-meeting Socheat, being bought mushroom noodle soup for breakfast, and fruit, their next door neighbour, my little shadow and free medical advice. I, again have promised a return trip 😀

I’ve been blessed with the weather since first getting here, truly I have for the worst months of the wet season. It’s just unfortunate that it’s taken a turn for the worse this week whilst I sit beach side on our hostel balcony and admire the ocean only 30 meters away. The upside of this is my skin will be thanking me and I get to spend my entire day lounging in these and reading. You win some you lose some.

Staying outside the main area so as to stay on a nicer stretch of beach and more cheaply. Like most of the accommodation here it’s bungalow shacks, by the beach, some more luxurious than others. Tonight mine is surprisingly cool because of the rain and the multiple fans installed, but I imagine this is not always the case. The mosquitos are bad here, I’ve already been bitten multiple times eating dinner (WHICH DID NOT INVOLVE RICE thank goodness!) as well as by some strange large wasp type bug that literally flew into me as if it had no sense of direction and was gone in an instant, but enough time to produce a nasty bite, so I’m über thankful for this mosquito net despite having to tie knots where there were a few holes (serves me right for paying $4 a night for a bed).

The downside of travelling in the wet season, afternoon clouds and storms. Lucky this girls sleeping patterns have been altered by chickens and she now rises at 6am, when the sun has been peeping its head out here (apparently). That said, I have made to the beach, and it’s meters from my door step, I overheard someone saying the water is delicious, my hostel has an abundance of big bamboo chairs and swings for reading, so come storm time I’m absolutely set

Never did I think I’d see the day where my backpacks and I mounted a motorbike for starters and then rode 20km in the pouring rain and almost cyclonic winds to my hostel. But there is a first time for everything.