(Minus myself) we sported bandanas and all.

When I arrived yesterday our dorm room had me and another person, later that night these wonderful people packed it out completely. They are a group of British people and a token Canadian, all travelling alone or in pairs who at different points in South East Asia have met and the group has expanded, creating their own little family. They invited me along to their big dinner last night ( they had just had thousands of dollars worth of money and valuables stolen on Koh Rong island off Siahnoukville and were all in need or some cheering up) and just like that Kampot became fabulous!

River front lounging…. I also forgot to mention. On the bus here I met this awesome couple, I mainly spoke to the girl (who’s name I already forget) for the entire 2 hour trip as we were crammed up against each other in the mini van carting an illegal amount of people. She is Brazilian and he is Polish and they met in London, she is 30 and he is 38 and they have just decided to up and leave and travel the world, with not a single plan or ounce of research behind them. They’ve been travelling for 3 months now, and they figured they would do this and decide where in the world they want to live and settle down eventually, or maybe start a business, or they don’t know. They’re headed for Australia later to make some money and keep going, and it was just so cool to hear there story and that this is what they’ve decided to do, and they had some crazy stories!

I saw this place on one of the people I met in Europe’s photo stream two days ago. I was super down about all these bites and the weather making what I had hoped to be an amazing week of sunshine an absolute nightmare. Starting to feel very homesick, I decided I needed to keep moving, and when I saw and looked into this place it was exactly what I needed. After almost having my rain jacket lost at the laundromat (not my fault, and entirely a necessary thing right now!) and the mini van breaking down multiple times on the trip here, I decided Sihanoukville this time for me is cursed. I arrived in Kampot and all my worries are gone again. It’s like a rainforest version of Pursat. A small town, barely any cars, lots of bikes and then this hostel. WOW! Where do I start, it’s tropical paradise for 3 dollars a night. If I had company I’d be staying in either their floating bungalow (yes floating on the river) or roof top bungalow which boasts amazing sunrises. The bar is suspended out over the water, and you just take a step down onto a platform and jump in. Friday nights are famous around here for all the people working in Cambodia to come, party, listen to live music and chill out at the bar here (they even have a music recording studio!) An absolute gem of a find. If you need me I’ll be living off coconuts and this salad for the next who knows…

Life for the last too many days, never thought it were possible to complain about down time in bamboo chairs, but being trapped to the confines of your hostel and the only girl amongst 4 other travellers I’m itching for some exploring and sunshine.I’ve finished 1 and a half books, and begun Shantaram and indulged in many a glass of (cold?) red wine.

A cutie pie girl hanging out at my hostel yesterday whom I played with on the bamboo swings.

The beginning stages of my bed bugs break out (and this does no amount of justice)…today is a bad day. I’m currently covered almost head to toe in stingoes and using every ounce of will power not to itch the clusters of hundreds of bites covering very close to my entire body. I’m totally willing to take all the “I told you staying in hostels in South East Asia was a bad idea” comments. Sihanoukville is just bring out a mountain of bad luck now isn’t it…

Today it rained heavily for the first half of the day so besides the early morning antics which later I was thankful for at least 45 minutes of frolicking outdoors, I was coped up indoors whilst winds howled outside at about 40km/hr and we watched the trees scarily sway in the wind. The rain has finally died down, and the winds about half as strong. It’s hard to know what’s happening each website says something totally different. Unfortunately my bed and safety box was place right under the one window that was effected the most by incoming rain, water had started to seep into where all my things were stored (luckily I caught it earlier enough so just mainly clothes on too were effected) and I had to move beds and boxes. Somehow safely our 4 English friends got back to dry land (hardly dry however) on a boat from Koh Rong island so we all met up for an early dinner before they left for Vietnam (lucky things!). **NB; the reason I’m still in this town whist the weather is so horrendous is because my visa for Vietnam doesn’t start till this time next week, and it’s raining everywhere else along the coast.

We went to an an NGO run restaurant called Sandan which gets street kids and trains them up to work as waitresses, waiters and cooks. Though “pricey” for Cambodian restaurants, fortunately we got there during happy hour so for 2 cocktails, a starter (essential a meal of a salad anyway!), a half size main and a disgusting shot if honey flavours red rice wine I paid $7.50. It was really awesome to see my friends again and also such an awesome concept with absolutely delicious food and fantastic service.

There is no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard
No song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart
Our dreams, and they are made out of real things
Like a, shoebox of photographs
With sepia-toned loving
Love is the answer,
At least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it’s so hard?
It’s not always easy and
Sometimes life can be deceiving
I’ll tell you one thing, it’s always better when we’re together

Mmm, it’s always better when we’re together
Yeah, we’ll look at the stars when we’re together
Well, it’s always better when we’re together
Yeah, it’s always better when we’re together

Jack Johnson– Better together

First bowl of muesli for the season, fresh mango, banana, dragon fruit and a papaya included. Eating out for 3 dollars, I like it!