After about 6 days in Phnom Penh we decided to head down to Sihanoukville on the southern coast of Cambodia to enjoy some beach time. Sihanoukville was pretty nice but the highlight for me was the side trips we made to Kampot, Kep and the ghost town of Bokor (as seen in City of Ghosts)......

The night before we left Phnom Penh I got a couple of good pictures of one of the many markets and also the Hotel that I think was in the movie "City of Ghosts".

The hotel from city of Ghosts (I think)

The trip down to Sihanoukville wasn't too bad except that for the 2nd time in a row, a person sitting in the seat behind us started to throw up! Sihanoukville is a pretty nice beach town and the closest thing Cambodia has to a resort town. It is small and full of very unusual characters (mostly foregners). The beaches aren't nearly as nice as Thailand but they are still pretty deserted and some you could probably have all to yourself. Unfortunately we didn't get to enjoy the beach very much because I was an idiot .......

..... One of the first days I arrived in Sihanoukville I was getting on the back of a scooter taxi and didn't realize that there was another scooter parked right behind mine. As I swung my leg over the seat to get on, I scrapped it really hard on the bumber of the other moto. I didn't really think anything of it so I didn't even look down to see if it was ok. Kate got on behind me (we always squeezed both of us on on moto taxi because it was cheaper) and we road off to the beach for the first time. As we were riding down the street I noticed that my foot started to burn and really hurt. Another bike passed us and pointed down at my foot as they passed. I knew that most likely my foot was bleeding but didn't think it was probably going to be too bad. Once we got to the beach I got off the bike and noticed that my foot was covered in blood! We quickly went back to the hotel and cleaned it up. After closer inspection we realized that the cut was much larger and deeper then we originally thought. To make a long story short, I went to a clinic and had to get 2 stitches and unfortunately they didn't want to give me anestetics so I had to take it like a man. :) The 2 stitches, the antibiotics and the pain killers only came out to $13! Of course it had to get it done in a clinic with mold growing on the walls but all in all it wasn't that bad.

So the next day Kate and I decided to go to a beach even though I couldn't really go in the water. We were sitting on the beach (almost the only westerners there) and noticed some monks on vacation. They were taking turns taking pictures of each other on the beach. Very cute. Then to my surprise they circled around us and sat down. One of them was eager to practice his english so we "talked" for about 30 minutes. During which all of them took turns having a smoke. I guess monks need to live a little when on vacation too. I was very flattered when they wanted to take a picture of me talking with one of them. Here was my version of the picture.

After a couple days in Sihanoukville we were ready to explore Kampot and Kep. Two cities heavily under siege during the Khmer Rouge years, also known for their quaint charm and French colonial architecture. Please read my next blog for that!

Here is a nice sunset in Sihanoukville