Les Manguiers Kampot

... arms - slightly seedy) and spent most of their time in Cambodia with fleeting visits back to their home countries. One of them ran a guest house (The Dugout) which if I ever head back to Koh Kong I will definitely stay in.

So. Got the bus to Kampot. It didn't look quite like the glamorous bus in the picture on the board when I booked the ticket but hey ho. Getting my bag on was a challenge - they seemed very keen on me boarding while someone ...

... two miscellaneous green beverages, two lounge chairs and chowed down right on the beach. The crabs were in their original form so we had to bust in to them using fingers and teeth. We still need a bit more practice in the art of eating crab as we kept dropping the choice pieces in the sand.

<Danny writing now>
After washing off the cave grime in the +30 degree waters of the Gulf of Thailand, we went for a moto drive along the beach. As we ...

... reading and going for swims to cool down. Local women strolled by occasionally with fresh fruit which they would cut up for you using big machetes. For the bargain price of NZ$5 Cesca had a full body massage for an hour looking out to sea. By the end of the three nights we were now thoroughly relaxed and ready to head back on the tourist route north. To save ourselves the 10hr trip across the Delta to HCMC we bought some flights. Arriving at the airport at 9am ready ...

Waking up early we catch the 7.30 ferry out of Ha Tien for Phu Quoc. Getting on the ferry turns out to be fun, as we can only see the infamous slow boats (they sink..) and we've been promised a hydrofoil. Turns out that the ferry is hidden behind these boats and we have to clamber through them to get to it. This is no fun with our bags and I thwack my head, adding to the collection of bruises (things here are not designed with 6-foot people in mind...). The ferry turns out to ...

... down from $15), there isn't much to chose from here as it isn't a very touristy place. After some series hand waving, speaking to English friends on the phone and our phrasebook they kept our passports for security- they seem to do it everywhere in Vietnam for the police and had a receipt hopefully ensuring their safe return in the morning. The food wasn't great here, many places don't even have menues. We had some beers and went back to the hostel, me and the ants then went to bed ...

... interesting. All that was interesting was getting dirtier and dirtier from clouds of generated dust whipped up from the dirty road. I lost Johannes at one point, as he sped off ahead through clouds of dust, leaving me with motoring Cambodians for company.
Ahead, just led to nowhere. I did, however, pass what I think was a mosque, but that was all. Johannes doubled back:
'There's nothing whatever down here.'
Kampot, Cambodia supremacy

... was an indication of being offended, or was just it?
Anyway, he stopped doing what he was doing in some shrubbery with a bag, and paddled off in his narrow little boat; white cap donned, crouched, bare feet in the front, and looking quiet, untroubled from the world and as it is - and undisturbed.
We stopped off at a resting-cum-viewing hut and ordered a can of coke each from a guy.
'How long have you been in Cambodia?' he asked in ...

... the unique bins. I thought so, too, and followed suit.
After doing a 'run' of the place and finding an ATM, we found a motorbike-hiring cum-bus-booking store on another street and inquired within.
The proprietor was really helpful, laid-back and very friendly. We tried a few models out and settled on one that was most comfortable. We took them back to the Ta Eng, got changed, and headed for the beach. Nice change.
Yes, nice change lounging on the sands ...

... This is supposed to be a travelogue so I'd better move on.
We checked out of the hotel and hung around the streets after we left our bags at the store where we were due to get the minibus that would take us to the greater bus station to get our seats on the bigger bus that would take us to Kampot. I'd bought a cheap black and orange rucksack from a store in the town I was living near to in China for this Laos and Cambodian trip. 'Cheap' is ...

... is a 7th Century brick Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. The linga located inside is a natural stalactite. From here you have the option of retreating back to Kampot, or following the children further into the cave. Some of the passages are tight, and some of the scrambling results in fear and dirty clothes, but the children will show you where to put your feet and hands. You emerge, a short time later, at a lookout that has excellent views of the ...