Please Don't Go (Here) (01-03/01/09)

THURSDAY 1ST JANUARY (NEW YEARS DAY)

Louise felt a bit better around 13:00p.m, after being not at all well due to the gone off pate, we both made it out of our room together for the first time in 2 days. She wasn't feeling all that well so we only ventured as far as an English bar about 100yrds from our guesthouse. It turned out to be a bit of a false dawn as we had to go back to the room an hour or so later. We did though still manage to have pork chops for dinner, which was nice. Due to the fact that all Khmer businesses have cable tv it didn't turn out all that bad. Louise however still ended up staying in bed most the evening. We did go out again later to find a travel agent that could get us to Kampot tomorrow, it is after all only an hour up the road, Louise was fed up being in bed by the beach when she was unable to get there. Then went for some tea at what can only be described as a sleazy sex bar, patronised by old westerners with young Khmer girlfriends.

FRIDAY 2ND JANUARY

We arrived in Kampot expecting to find a nice quaint little south-coast town where not a lot happens. What we found was a quaint south-coast town where nothing happens. No matter where we went or what we wanted to do, it was impossible to find anything to do other than eat expensive food. There weren't even any pubs or bars of any sort, and the only attraction was the river (which is pushing the meaning of attraction a little far.) or the Vietnam-Cambodia friendship monument, which looks a bit like the market cross in my hometown of Grantham, Lincs. I'm glad we came here.
In the evening we planned our escape. This involved us getting on the bus to Kep, 20 miles up the road. Also saw a rat as big as a Jack Russell; the dog breed, not the former Gloucestershire and England wicketkeeper (non-cricket fans wikipedia him), although many, including me, would say there's not a lot of difference.

SATURDAY 3RD JANUARY

Our departure to Kep began at 12:30p.m, we weren't really that rushed, it was a steady enough drive. Kep is described in the lonely planet (I use this as a guide, I don't follow it to the letter as many people do.) as .............."a seaside town still harbouring the remnants of civil." and " (King Sihanouk's) ritzy playground." It's not that glamourous. Now I know why people only go here for the day its crap. To me it's a place where boring people go to look at nothing. Even the nearby 'Rabbit Island' and 'Snake Island' have nothing to do other than sit around on. We thought we would still try and get somewhere to stay, even if it was just so we could watch Macclesfield v Everton in the F.A Cup (Louise is from Macc originally.). More chance of plaiting fog. The only place in the entire area that had cable was $25 a night. With this in mind, and after much deliberating we decided to do the only thing we could and return to Kampot.
What a mistaker to maker! We arrived back in Kampot after dark, having sat and read in a restaurant by the beach for 3 hours having carried our things around all day for nothing. We went back to the hotel we'd stayed at the previous night to be told they had no rooms left, so we just went to the nearest one which cost $15. With what it had cost us to go to Kep, what we spent there and the cost of the hotel back in Kampot, we should of stayed in Kep. Even though our hotel in Kampot had cable and the advertised game all week had been Macc v Everton, we managed to get the Newcastle v Hull game and it was 0-0. Not happy at all.