Bamboo Island

First I spend two nights at the north end of the tiny island. During the day some day trippers came from the mainland for a few hours. Thats when it got the wildest, which is still pretty laid back. Before and afterwards it would be close to boring if there wouldn't be the nice bay, a hammock, a book, the fisher and the local boys playing pool. The food was great even though slightly expensive for Cambodia. One day before I expected to see Freddy my brother showed in the morning. fucked up because of the 12 hours night bus and his equally fucked foot he was glad to go with the flow of the island. The next day we switched to the more rustic, more secluded and generally much nicer southern coast which hosts the second and last hotel on the Island. The bungalow I booked before hand was beautiful and very much functional. Hammocks on the porch offered perfect views of the sea.
For the next few days we had a project every day (because Swiss people cant cope with so much laziness). First day we built a castle with a seven meters diameter. We moved a lot of sand and "worked" all afternoon. Sadly the tide washed everything away the next night. The next day we made a huge face of Buddha into the sand. Then we tried to reach for the stars. Over a period of two days we built a windmill solely out of the materials which we could find on the long stretch of beach. We worked maybe 8 hours per day and were devastated when it didn't work the first time. We adjusted and replaced some of the parts and were delighted to see it turn round and round for the comming days. Who knows - maybe it is still turning.
During the daytime we sometimes went snorkeling for a bit of refreshment and to see the awesome corals and fish (especially on the way back).
In the evenings their was always a beach fire where the Aussies got drunk and invited everybody to join. The food was also very good. A nearly perfect place hidden in the sea in southern Cambodia. Bamboo Island - write it down!

Sihanoukville

Sihanoukville is close to the Thai border on the Gulf of Thailand. It might as well be an English colony because it's full of western tourists and western barkeepers who try to work a little to extend their vacation. When I arrived it was pitch black because the power was out. Sihanoukville lies on long stretch of white sand beach which is packed with bars and restaurants. I only spend one night there and in the morning fled to paradise.

Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh has been on my travel list before as well. So I knew where to go. We stayed at the Boeng Kak lake which almost doesn't have any water. But there is a small tourist area where you can eat spaghetti bolognese and so on. Indian food was abundant, the Africans are in charge of the prostitutes, the Tuktuk driver try to sell light drugs all the way up to cocaine and rats take care of what is falling down on the way. A mix which makes it a special place. In the hotel where we stayed the Cambodian family who was owning the place were eating all day, napping in front of the TV or laughing because one of the kids ate spicy peppers and later on touched his penis while peeing and because of that was in pain - the simple life. I was still treating the aftermath of Laos and ate little. because I have already seen Siam Reap my brother and me went on in different directions. I went south to find a relaxing beach spot and Freddy went all the way to Angkor Wat to stumble over ancient ruins with his bad foot.

Kep

We drove down to the Gulf of Thailand to a town called Kep. Once famous as a retreat for the French people during Indochina era, Kep these days caters some tourists. We checked into the best hotel I have had in my whole trip for a 15 USD. I had to organise my visa for Vietnam, but I didn't want to take a bus for 2 x 4 hours and the hassle with the embassy. So I went to the only "tourist agency" in town where I met a guy called Avud. Avud claimed he could take care of my problem. So I did what you should never do. I gave Avud 50 USD and my passport. And he promised to deliver a few days later.
Vicu and me enjoyed the beach in Kep and tried the to us unknown fruits. After two nights we went to Rabbit Island, which is 3 km of the coast of Kep. Rabbit Island is paradise: good food, jungle in the back, bungalows, beer, swimming and sun bathing.
Two days later we went back to Kep to get to Vietnam. But I still needed my passport. But neither Avud nore my passport was there. So a friend of him drove us to his home (20min). He apparently got drunk the night before and informed his friend where the passport was. So we drove back to Kep and finally picked it up. A long ride to Ho-Chi-Minh was next.

Phnom Phen

Phnom Phen is a city with a moving history - literally. During Pol Pots regime people were moved from the city to the land. That's why this city, which 2 million Cambodians call their home, had only 20'000 inhabitants at the end of the 70s. the red Khmer tried to change the system directly to Communism instead of taking the long way over Socialism. Pol Pots regime cost about 2 million lives in only 3 years. Killing fields are scattered all over Cambodia. One of these fields we visited - once again with the bicycles. The traffic to get out of the city was as dangerous as entertaining. Only a few basic rules apply and make it a cool experience. We visited 2 museums, which were OK. The riverfront of Phnom Phen is pretty chilled out and a nice place to watch Cambodians doing their daily thing.

Siam Reap

Siam Reap is probably a pretty average Cambodian rural city, if there wouldn't be the world famous Angkor Wat complex close enough to reach it with the bicycle (1 USD per day). That's exactly what we did. The Khmer started their rule in the 11th century by revolutionizing the irrigation system that allowed them to produce a lot of food and allowed them to expand their territories and build their truly amazing temples. Since 13th century the Khmer adopted Buddhism as their religion and stopped building any new temples. The Siamese people looted the whole area in the 15th century. Internal problems such as slashing all trees, climate change and bad harvests lead to the decline of the Khmer. Angkor Wat is so important for the Cambodian now a days- who have been battered by history over and over again - that the national flag has the main temple in the middle.
It is fun to ride through the partly reconstructed complex even though information is pretty scarce. In Siam Reap we stayed at a hotel which offers one dollar beds and enjoyed the local food. But if you have seen Angkor, there is really no reason to stay in Siam Reap. So we headed to Phnom Phen - the capitol.