After Kampot i moved down to the well known area of Sihanoukville by the coast. The place was created by bull dozing through the jungle to make a new town by the sea by the French. The town grew as a resort for the wealthy French and Cambodian until the Khmyer Rouge shot it to pieces during their reign. It was rebuilt with the birth of backpacking and became full of bars and hostels.

Its a very touristy place but as its the beginning of the rainy season it isn’t packed with people. The beach front is full of timber shack bars which are apparantly are on short term leases as some shady deal has just been struck with the government and property developers to develop the whole beach front.

After a few days in Sihanoukville mixing with the ex pats and watching the last few games of the world cup i thought it was time to move on again.

Being the start of the rainy season the weather was a bit hit and miss, it could absolutely tip it down at a moments notice but might only last half an hour or it could rain all night. There are some nearby islands off the coast but what with the unpredictable weather i hadn’t given it much thought about trying to see them. Just before i was about to leave i checked the weather forecast and it showed a break in the weather, i found a dive place that had a few bungalows on Koh Rong Saloem island. It was about an hour offshore by fast boat there were only a few places to rent accomodation and the dive operator had its own private beach. The bungalows were simple affairs but a lot better than others i had seen, double bed, hammock on the verandah, ocean view, all for 15 dollars a night.