What in interesting town! It also borders Cambodia, and has many ethnicities and religions that make up its populace. After a very scenic bus trip from Ha Tien, we did a short hunt for our hotel. It was such a hot, blistering day that we had to make a refreshing pit stop halfway during the 2km walk! William ordered a coconut water, which is an almost frozen coconut with a hole drilled into it, so that the contents can be sipped leisurely. It was in fact a rather unpleasant drink.

Our hotel is right on the Bassac River, with little shacks all about. The views are great, and although the hotel is far from luxurious, the staff are really helpful and polite. It is lso located right next to the Chau Doc food market - a real mix of stalls with piles of crustaceans, fruit, veggies, red meats and other cooked foods. It's an incredibly messy and crowded market, so we normally march through quite quickly.

Our first day here was spent having a beer at our hotel, then strolling through the market and along the famous promenade with its bizarre sculptures, before reaching the Victoria Chau Doc hotel. This hotel is beautiful, with luxury and class radiating from it. We decided that it had to be done: we had to march right in and ask to be seated at the poolside for cocktails, despite our very dirty t-shirts and brown-stained flops. And it worked! We felt so silly and self-conscious, but at the same time pleased to be amongst the more finer things in life again. We continued to explore the town's main areas, before settling down for supper.

Chau Doc has two small 'park' areas near the centre, whihc at night is transformed into a massive street-food restaurant bizarre. There must be at least 30 stalls about. Every night we walk around these stalls, until settling on one that seems most appealing. It must be said however, that despite our many promises to avoid western food, we gave in on our first night in the town. So tired were we of rice and noodles, that the advertisement for a pizza drew us in like sugar does an ant. Nothing scrumptious when compared to a pizza back home, but at it satisfied the cheese craving.

On Wednesday morning we decided to dedicate the day to seeing and exploring the town itself. We woke up at 5:30 for a run, which turned into a very short one quickly. By 6:00 the air is hot and stuffy, with the strangest smells of food about. We were not only amazed at the humidity and temperature, but also at the fact that by 5:45, most street-food stalls were set up and filled with freshly cooked food.

After breakfast at our hotel, we headed out to roam the streets. We stopped frequently at little cafes to test their coffee and watch the locals perform their everyday lives. We visited a small temple, and then walk for many a kilometer. The town has some pretty side streets, colonial architecture and bustling markets.

Our poor leggies were dead tired after this, so we came back to the hotel and rested. One nice thing to do, is to order beers and play cards whilst watching the river scene from the hotels restaurant (which is a platform just shy of the river's banks. Supper was enjoyed at the street-food stalls in the park areas. We retired to our room for a series of BBC frozen planet documentaries.

Thursday morning was dedicated to exploring the Chau Doc surrounding area by scooter. What a trip! We first stopped at the base of Sam Mountain, where a very steep walk led us to beautiful views from the top. In the distance one can see Cambodia. All along the short steep hike is little family owned cafes, many many shrines and pagodas. At the base of Sam Mountain lies more suburbs and temples, which we visited. Still, nothing here compares to the architectures and designs of Europe.

The next item on the list was the Tra Su forest and bird sanctuary. We decided to be wise travelers and follow our own mapped route to the forest. Good heavens, what a road it was. From narrow, newly tarred roads between large expanses of rice fields, to tiny dirt tracks between more fields and the river, and the odd local's home, we finally saw the southern countryside in all its glory. The drive was a very lengthy one, where we even started to doubt that the forest would ever appear. But we found it, and were delighted at what it held.

One purchases a ticket for a 'tour', whereby a boat first propels one down a larger river segment, before dropping you off to climb into little canoes that take you for a short but fascinating trip between the mangroves. Onto the bigger boat one climbs again, before being transported further down the river, and then dropped off at the main bird-sighting tower and restaurant. It was such a welcome change and reprieve from the usual bustling town scenes.

We eventually made our long journey home. After enjoying a tiny pizza snack at a small restaurant, along with a very strange version of a cuppacino (imagine pink jelly cubes floating in milk and cream), we made it home. A shower has never felt to refreshing!

A short nap later, we were sitting at the hotel's restaurant having beers and playing card games. We then meandered acr