Tuesday morning we were up early to catch the bus to Sihanoukville, the notoriously sleezy party capital of Cambodia (although Siem Reap does offer it some competition). We were a little nervous about our stay there, for we had read many stories about muggings and drug abuse. As it turned out however, our prayers were answered and nothing bad befell us at all. The worst part of the entire journey and stay there was probably our bus trip to the town - a speed junkie that seemed to enjoy zigzagging through the potholes was our driver for the morning!

Our stay in the town was actually not that eventful, for the first day we arrived it poured with rain for six hours straight; two days later I had a tummy bug; and the last day we suffered a decent hangover from the night before. In-between these unfortunate happenings we did get to explore the busy backpackers' side of town in which we stayed; and we did frolic on the beaches as often as we could. The first night we had beers at The Led Zephyr, a really cool old-school pub that welcomed live music and pool games. It became our watering hole whenever we wanted a more pleasant and vibey drinking scene.

Sihanoukville has many, many beaches. We only got to see two of them - the very commercial Occheutal beach lined with too many restaurants and pubs; and the very quiet, gorgeous Sokha beach. Occheutal beach is really the main party beach, and the one which we stayed within walking distance of. We enjoyed a night out here on Thursday, where we went pub hopping first, met a fellow South African, and then danced on the beach till the early hours of the morning. Sokha beach was an absolute treat, for after walking kilometres in the hot summer sun and exploring Sihanoukville, we relaxed on this beautiful quiet beach with its turquoise-green waters.

Other than having beers in the afternoon or going for walks, we enjoyed another Cambodian activity: fresh barbecues. One orders the meats one wants, and then they cook it on the coals right on front of you and serve it with salads and potatoes. Hmm mmm, braai! Sihanoukville also had a great variety of delicious hamburgers and pizza, something we had missed quite a bit lately.

Saturday morning we went for a refreshing run, before packing up our bags and hopping onto the bus for Phnom Penh. The bus ride was much longer than anticipated, and we were exhausted by the time we reached the capital again.