Entries about food

I arrived in Jacksonville, NC and waited for my friend to pick me up from the tiniest airport I’ve ever been to!
When the plane touched down on the tarmac, and everyone started to leave the plane, I hadn’t even realised that we were not connected to the airport (you know how there is usually a tube-walkway thing from the plane door to the airport?).
I stepped off the plane and watched as everyone who knew what they were doing just began walking across the tarmac to the terminal building that looked no bigger than a large community centre.
I wasn’t really sure what the protocol was, so without any personnel that I could see to guide me, I followed suit and walked to the terminal building.
It looked almost like an office building inside; one floor, one bathroom, and at the end of the building, there was a single, maybe 10ft conveyer belt slowly bringing in the luggage.
After successfully collecting my baggage, I went outside (only a few feet away from the conveyer belt!) and waited for my friend who eventually arrived looking fashionable as usual and off we went.

To go from New York to Jacksonville, NC was quite a change in not only pace but environment as well.
I was surrounded by green and big open fields, just what I needed after a busy 2 weeks in NYC.

My friend took me for Carolina BBQ and hush puppies which is basically shredded chicken, vinegar and coleslaw in a bun and deep-fried corn cake things.
Anyway, it was yummy!
It rained for the next 2 days so we basically just ate tasty food and I bought some much needed additions to my wardrobe…!
The hotel I stayed in (Extended Stay America) was actually really good and the staff were great, would definitely recommend.

My flight to New Orleans wasn’t until 12:45 so I checked out at 11 and my friend took me to the airport. Standard security, standard flights, although at one point, I felt like Sandra Bullock in the Proposal when she goes to Sitka in the tiny plane - it felt like I was in a glider, not a real plane at all! I had to change at Charlotte and luckily the next plane was bigger!

~ New Orleans ~

My hostel was in the Garden District, about 15 blocks west of the French Quarter, and full of beautiful, typically southern country homes.

To be completely honest, the hostel (the Atlas House) didn’t look massively fancy from the outside, but the inside was lovely and clean and the staff were really welcoming. I stayed in a 6-bed dorm which was spacious and even had a little balcony off the back.
Very cute, and cool too thanks to the giant fan and air conditioning!

I didn’t arrive in New Orleans until the evening so after making my bed and organising my things, I made the 30-45 minute walk to the French Quarter for dinner.

After sweating off about 40lbs(!) I started talking to a guy on Bourbon Street who suggested that I got a Po-Boy… I was intrigued so went up some stairs to a little restaurant and ordered a Shrimp Po-Boy and an iced tea.

Best. Shrimp. Ever.

I was presented with a toasted sandwich stuffed with lots of fat shrimp, lettuce and tomato, some fries and my own little pot of lemon mayonnaise – perfection!
I thought it would be strange eating alone, but I actually sort of enjoyed the quiet reflection time… and people watching, naturally.

Bourbon Street really is bar central and if your trip to New Orleans doesn’t require a street of neon signs and drunken gargoyles staggering around, it’s probably not somewhere you want to be at night…!

I walked up and down different streets, but the French Quarter is basically a massive grid and after a while I felt like a pawn in a game of chess!
Eventually I got to Jackson Square and saw all the horse-drawn buggies and Café du Monde – home of the beignets!

One of my missions for New Orleans was to enjoy the French pastry-doughnut that is the beignet and as good luck would have it, I stumbled upon the most famous place to get them from!
3 beignets for $2.25 and a kilogram of powdered sugar later and I scuttled to a dark corner to avoid onlookers observing my ritualistic devouring of those powdered treats only to discover that my chosen scoffing-place was generally use as a beignets eating area, given the copious amounts of powdered sugar dusting all over the floor..!
YUM!

For some reason, I couldn’t sleep (probably all that sugar!) so I was chatting to my students for a while before eventually admitting defeat around 2am.
I then woke up at 8am for no reason at all, so decided to head to Lafayette Cemetery to take some photos.
It was so peaceful and beautiful.

A little light rain meant a quick lunch stop was necessary and then I went back to the hostel for a nap!
I woke up around 5pm and headed to the French Quarter again, had scrummy Creole Rabbit at Oliviers then walked around the French Quarter, stopping at Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo to satiate my mystique ways!

To continue the theme, I sat with a lady near Jackson Square who did a tarot reading for me.
She told me I’m going through a solitary phase and doing more things for myself than constantly doing things to help others, she said all of my cards point to education, knowledge and wisdom and that I’d be an excellent teacher…
I’m taking that as a high five from the universe.
She also said that there would be a change this time next year that would see me venturing out on my own again which coincides with my new job next school year.
She was lovely and very down to earth, we had a great chat and I really enjoyed listening to her.
When in New Orleans!

I took the advice of my lonely planet guide and did my own walking tour of the French Quarter – before my tour could begin however, I stopped to appreciate the musical stylings of a jazz band who had set up in Jackson Square.

Whilst listening to their amazing music, I got chatting to a local guy which was nice – you forget what it’s like to talk to other people when you travel alone.
I like my own company but even so, the occasional conversation is welcomed.
I grabbed a quick bite before heading out into the 80% humidity and began my walk around the French Quarter.
Some of the buildings are really quite exquisite and I half expected people in 1920’s outfits to be exiting through the double doors under the looming balconies above.
Alas, this never came to pass but there was a cute trio of acapella singers in matching suits, complete with bow ties and wicker hats.
Very dapper!

I ended up in an old pharmacy with bottles and potions for everyday ailments and an interesting birthing suite, needless to say, I’m glad for the feats of modern medicine!

I had a relatively early night, not for sleep, but for relaxing at the hostel.
I just chilled out in the courtyard with a cute Canadian-French couple for a while then watched a movie with one of the guys who worked in the hostel (Freddie).
Some girls from the UK moved into my dorm and we got chatting and decided to go for a drink just up the road.
I left them to get some food as I was starving but only managed a salad and a quarter Philly cheesesteak sandwich which found a new home in the fridge.
I also bought a homeless guy a shrimp sandwich and a bottle of water before heading back to the hostel;
everybody deserves food.

I booked a haunted tour with Witches Brews Tours for Wednesday evening so I knew I didn’t want to do a lot of walking during the day.
I got on a bus near the hostel to Canal St then hopped on the tram up to St Louis Cemetery No. 1 to visit Marie Laveau!

I met a lovely guy in Cambodia in January this year who told me to look him up in New Orleans so when I stumbled across his gallery, it seemed fated for us to meet up.
We had a good chat and arranged dinner and drinks for the following evening as I was walking with the spirits that evening!

So after chilling out with my little hostel family, I jumped on a bus into the French Quarter and arrived early enough to grab a quick bowl of gumbo at an Oyster bar on Royal Street where upon I informed my waiter/bar tender that I’d never had an oyster before when one ceremoniously appeared before me with crackers and hot sauce.
Now, I’d sat at the bar (as advised by my friends for travelling solo!) so I was surrounded by other people, all somewhat more accustomed to oyster-eating and yet upon receiving instructions on how to eat my (free) oyster and doing so successfully, I received a round of applause from my bar constituents!
I wish every ‘first’ in my life was applauded!

After my oyster experience (which far outdid my first gumbo experience!) I walked across the street to meet with my tour group for the Voodoo, Witches, Vampires and Ghosts tour around the French Quarter.
It was really interesting and definitely worth doing, even if I was sweating buckets by the end of it.
Even between 8 – 10pm it is crazy humid.

Even got to see the Delphine LaLaurie house...!

Our guide was great, the right amount of funny and knowledgeable - a definite must for anyone visiting New Orleans and wanting a more in depth lesson on the darker history.

When I got back to the hostel, everyone was outside having drinks for Inci’s leaving do (a girl who worked at the hostel) so I joined the festivities including flip-cup and charades until I thought it best to go to bed, given that I had to be up at 8am the following day.

I really loved my stay at the Atlas House hostel and would 100% recommend it to anyone who wants a real family of travellers and the guys who run the hostel are the best, great to just chill and talk to about anything.

The following morning, I was up and ready to go around 8.30am, went to buy cheap (for the USA) cigarettes and waited at the hostel for my tour bus to arrive.
Around a 30 minutes drive later, we arrived at the Louisiana Swamps and climbed aboard our airboats for the next 2 hours.
Today was alligator day :D

The journey out to ‘gator territory was relatively slow until we hit open water and then our ‘captain’ cranked up the speed and I instantly understood why they’re called airboats – we barely touched the water!

We quickly got to the renowned Bayou and within seconds of turning off the motor, 3 or 4 crocs began sashaying towards the boat.
Thankfully, they weren’t people-eaters!
This happened pretty much every time we stopped, and our driver enticed them to the boat so we could get a closer look, and we even got to hold a baby gator!

I was the only person on the boat without noise-cancelling headphones so by the time I got back to the hostel, my ears were so sensitive I could hear my eyes blinking!

I had a nap and then went into town to meet Kirt (from Cambodia) and his lovely friend Gabriel for dinner and drinks which was an absolute blast!
I do love good company for dinner!
A theme which continued the following day with lunch and dinner with the girls from the hostel with a quick tour in between.

We went to listen to some live music on Frenchman Street and Andy and Dave from the hostel met us at the Spotted Cat Music Club.

My flight to Phoenix was at 5am the next day so I went back to the hostel at 9pm but got chatting to Freddie and then had to organise my life so I didn’t sleep until 11pm anyway!

Ah, New Orleans - you complete me.

Oh my night bus!
We booked a sleeper bus from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap (11.5 hrs) from 8pm at $19 each...
After some very poor (but stereotypically Asian) management, we found 2 "beds" together and nestled in for the night.

To describe our arrangement as slave-ship-like was not untoward.
It was like a human-traffickers wet-dream.
2 to a bed, approximately 24 beds (so 48 people) all lying down with an incline of the equivalent of two pillows jutting upwards at the head of the bed; aircon-circle-thingies pointing in every direction except where we wanted them; the smells of the onboard "luxury" toilet (which may as well have been a hole looking down to the erratically passing "tarmac") and peoples' foot odour kept wafting around; the gentlemen in front of me not fully comprehending the "sleep" concept of "sleeping" bus by using a torch to read a book - the type of torch used to find Rose on that door after the Titanic sank, a torch which lit up the bus like the 4th of July; and of course, the moth-eaten, damp and musty smelling blanket that provided less warmth than an ant's fart could provide wind.

However, contrary to popular Cambodian locals' belief, we in fact did not die in a firey, horrendous crash, so our blessings were truly counted.

We arrived in Siem Reap around 7:30am and were slightly perturbed to discover our driver from the Panda Guest House was in fact, not waiting for us, leaving us at the mercy of the piranha-esque shoals of tuk-tuk drivers, thirsty for their next fare.
We arrived in one piece but $6 lighter at our hostel and were pleasantly surprised.
A well-kept building with a healthy white exterior and pleasantly decorated interior, and helpful informative staff who supplied us with everything we could possibly need to get the most from our stay.
We even arrived a day early, and although they had no rooms available, they went out of their way to find us a room for the night nearby.

A lot of travellers complain about hostel-organised tours, but to be honest, it saves a lot of time and effort and you get above and beyond service.
It may be a few dollars above other places or going it alone, but I'd rather pay the extra and have some piece of mind that a jewellery or silk shop bombardment isn't lurking around the corner...!

Anyway, our room for one night was very nice and spacious with a large balcony and good views and only a stones throw away from the Panda Guest House.

We ventured into town for some lunch, and as Ricky had been craving Mexican food in Sihanoukville, when we saw a Mexican Restaurant, our decision was made for us!

It wasn't the best in the world but good enough.
We walked around for a while but it was quite hot and my legs hadn't quite recovered so we went into the covered market and spent ages bartering for various things.
Ricky sold me to one of the female stall owners at one point, she hugged me and said I was the best purchase ever and super skinny!
I liked her! haha!
After that, I dropped my dirty clothes off at a local laundry place and had a nap.

We went for dinner at The Sun where I had a Caesar Salad with chicken as my tummy wasn't very happy with me so I didn't want to overload it.
We then made our way round the corner to Pub Street.
Aptly named, given the vast expanse of pubs and drinking holes lining both sides of the street.
We went to the Triangle to enjoy some singing and Linga for a drag show before heading to Temple to enjoy a street party.
It felt like Mardi Gras!!

I left after that but once again, Ricky danced the night away. I think the 75 cents draft beer may have been having a bad influence on him!

The next day we checked out of our temporary accommodation and went across the road to Angkor Wonder for breakfast and to see Mr. Whynot - ask him anything, his response will probably be "Why not?!"
We had some food and were about to leave with all of our bags when Mr. Whynot asked if we'd like a free tuk-tuk to our other hostel as it was only down the road and we had all our stuff with us.
We asked if he was sure that was ok, and his reply?
Why not!
Such a nice man!

We got to the Panda Guest House (again!) and went up to our room - lovely.
2 large, comfy, twin beds, a desk, a fan, ensuite bathroom with a hot shower and really well decorated.
This place was perfect - quiet during the day and night but only a 10 minute walk to Pub Street and the markets, etc.
Very impressed.

Ricky wanted Indian food, so we set off out again and headed towards the restaurants.
Ricky, having worked in an Indian restaurant for a while, was not overly impressed, but I thought my food was quite nice...!

I'd been having toothache for a few days by this point and I didn't really want to wait until we got home to China to get it looked at, so I asked the hostel if they could recommend a place.
They didn't know anywhere at first, but with some research online and a quick phone call later, they found one and arranged a tuk-tuk to take me there.

You can imagine my fears and ideas about the hole in the wall, back-alley "dentist" I was unknowingly being taken to but actually, I think it was the nicest dentist I'd ever been to in the UK - It was clean and well-presented, the staff spoke English and didn't mind at all that I'd just dropped in without an appointment.
10 minutes or so of waiting and in I went - good sized room, clean, modern equipment, and a dentist (always good!).
Long story short, and only a little wimpering later, I had gained two fillings and lost only $20 for the priviledge.
Much better.
My dentist visit of course left me without my nap so after dinner of crocodile fritters and an unpleasant burger and Amok fish, I went back to the hostel.
Ricky came back around 5am.

The next day we didn't really do a lot, slept in, went for walk, got some lunch then went for drinks in the Triangle as they had double beds hanging from the ceiling with small tables in the middle for drinks and food to go on.
We stayed there for a good few hours before returning to our hostel to go to dinner and an Apsara Dance show.
It was a buffet-style meal and after 2 plates of various worldly cuisine, Ricky and I were both stuffed, so we waited for the show to begin.
It was pretty interesting; traditional clothes and a story or two told through the dances.

That finished around 8:30pm and we went straight back to the hostel as we had an early start the following day...

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Angkor Wat; the Temples, Flooded Forest and Floating Village

Our day started abruptly at 5am.
We got into the tuk-tuk with our driver for the day and still in the darkness of night, we made our way to Angkor Wat for sunrise.
We had to wait an hour or so and although not mind-blowing, the sun rising over this giant monument of a past civilisation was quite impressive.

As soon as the sun had risen, we made our way inside and the "don't get anyone in my photos" game began...

Our tuk-tuk driver dropped us off at each place and told us where he'd be waiting for us.
We explored the various nooks and crannies and even got duped into buying incense for "good luck" (a fact, that would later, become painfully ironic!)
We moved on from temple to temple, each time the temperature climbed higher and higher...

We arrived at Ta Prohm - The Jungle Temple, and I was suitably pleased with the surroundings;
giant trees rooting themselves into the crumbling ruins, piles of abandoned rubble and delapidated doorways.
It was quite a stunning sight to behold.

We had a break for lunch, having not been hungry enough for breakfast, and after feeding our driver, we made our long journey to the river boats to go to the Floating Village and Flooded Forest...

The cost for the boat trip alone was $25 each and in all honesty, wasn't worth it - especially considering all the tipping we had to do...
Now I know tipping is not compulsory, but when a very poor person is standing in front of you having just done you a service, you can't really refuse.
We went around the village before docking at a floating platform and changing into a much smaller, hand-paddled boat - our captain and first mate of this smaller vessel being a girl and boy both under the age of 12!

They dutifully paddled us into the floaded forest and around on a boat no bigger than a tic-tac but I think that was one of the most enjoyable parts.
After tipping the children and exploring the very well constructed jungle canopy walk way, we got into our original boat and continued up the river to a huge lake that looked more like an ocean.
Before long, 2 women on separate long boats pulled up alongside us with cold drinks and snacks.
We enjoyed the novelty so bought some drinks for us and our captain and 3 large multipack bags of snacks for the village children.

As we sailed back through the village, the children obviously knew what was happening and they started crowding the banks.
We tried to throw individual packets to them but it didn't really work.
In no time there were dozens of kids all around us when one boy ran off the edge and jumped into the water.
Soon half a dozen children were wildly swimming towards us as we showered them with snacks before continuing back to the "dock".

We were once again asked to tip our captain, furthering our concern as to what exactly our $25 each paid for!?

On the journey back to the hostel, I couldn't help but think about how happy and content those villagers were with their lives, even though they barely had anything by Western standards.
They seemed to appreciate every little thing like it was the best in the world. It was refreshing to see.

It took an hour or so to get back to our hostel, where I showered and climbed into bed! It was only 6pm!

The next day, I was a little perplexed how nearly $500 of mine and Ricky's money had mysteriously escape from our private, locked room...
We spoke to the manager who said they'd had the same cleaner forever etc, etc and that we should have put our stuff in their tiny safe sticking out of a wall in reception...
However, my money was in a ziplock bag, in an inside, zipped-up pocket in my rucksack which was under a desk..... so someone had to have gone snooping around through my bags to find it..... peeved doesn't even cover it.
(So much for "good luck" incense....!)

We walked around for a bit, had some food, then decided to go to the Crocodile Farm...

As far as I could tell, it was a farm to produce leather, and the living conditions of the smaller crocs especially wasn't great - a lot of them had deformed spines due to the cramped conditions which was quite depressing.

The depression continued however when we asked to buy fish to feed the larger crocodiles with, only to be told there were none - only live ducks and chickens....
Now I know what you're thinking, how cruel is it to feed a live duck or chicken to a group of hungry crocodiles?
Crocodiles need to eat too, and if they didn't eat them, a human being would have eaten them anyway.
I was still mercifully apologising to the duck the entire time I was holding it though.

We had to wait around for our night bus to Vietnam so we went for an hour massage and drag show (for only $4) then we went to the bus office for 10:30pm and got on the bus around 10:40pm before setting off at 11pm.
We arrived in Phnom Penh around 6am where we waited for 2 hours for the bus to Ho Chi Minh City.
After a ferry crossing, a passport control stop and a different stop to scan our luggage, we entered Vietnam and arrived in HCMC around 3pm...

I personally didn't mind our location in Sihanoukville, (Don't Tell Mama's Hostel, Otres Beach) but I'm less of a nightbird than Ricky and being at the end of the quiet beach, put us 10 minutes away by tuk-tuk to civilisation (and bars).

Although we initially agree to change hostels closer to the town, we decided that we weren't really staying long enough for it to be an issue so just made do with the distance.

During the first actual day in Sihanoukville (given that we arrived at 6pm the evening before), we went to the beach.
The whole 40 or so steps it took to get there...!

We stayed by the beach for about 5 hours, bearing in mind that we didn't go there until 12pm!
We came back to our hut, had a nap, and then went to Serendipity Beach around 9:30/10pm for beach BBQ.
It was scrummy - BBQ Tuna steak, prawns, squid and pork with a gorgeous salad, rice and garlic bread... not bad for $5

Now in order to go to Vietnam, we needed to get a visa from Cambodia beforehand.
I had photocopies of our passports so was less afraid of leaving our actual passports with the nice man who got our visas for us for $65 each!
Phew! Pricey!
He told us to come back the next day around 5pm to collect our passports with the newly acquired Vietnamese visas in them.
Whilst sitting there getting all of this information, we saw a boat trip; 3 islands, 8 hours, breakfast and lunch included. $15 each.
Well obviously that had to be done.

I liberally applied sun cream to my face, chest and arms but somewhere in between ordering breakfast and passing the sun cream to Ricky, I forgot to apply any cream to my legs...

The first island we went to was for snorkelling, a hobby which, for anyone who knows me, knows I love very much, but sadly my mask leaked so I couldn't get a clean view but I did go for a swim anyway and there were so many fish swimming around me, I felt like a mermaid!
Ricky, given his previous encounter with the ocean on our trip to Thailand, decided he wasn't quite ready to get out of the boat into open (ish) water, so he stayed on the boat.

We stayed for an hour or so, then went to the next island for lunch.
A beautiful stretch of white sand and tropical water greeted us.
We had an hour before lunch so Ricky and I ventured down the beach where there were no other people at all.
It was like our own slice of paradise.
We had a quick swim, then sat on the beach to dry off.

We made our way back to the others for lunch; salad, a baguette and the most beautifully succulent barracuda steak.
I'd never had barracuda before, but after that, I'd highly recommend it!

We got to stay for another 2 hours, so we found some hammocks and chilled out in the shade until our lunch had gone down.

It wasn't until we moved along the beach in the other direction and sat down for a while that I realised how hot my legs were getting so I went for another dip in the sea to cool down.

Of course, what I didn't acknowledge was that the damage was already done and by the time we'd gone to the last island for more swimming/snorkelling, my legs were the colour of the setting sun!

We got back to our beach and had some Lok Lak Beef (traditional Khmer food) and got accosted by a 12-year old girl (who I agreed to make some bracelets for me, she was quite the little business woman with excellent English), so we had a chat for a while and she gave me a free bracelet for Chinese New Year ^_^

We went to collect our passports with their new Vietnamese visas in and made our way back to our hut for a much needed cold shower.
Sleeping that night was uncomfortable to say the least.
I felt like I was on fire and my head was spinning - you'd think after nearly 26 years on this earth, I would remember how little the sun and I get on...!
(And mother, if you're reading this, no "I told you so", please!)

Well our plan for our last day was to go to the iBall Adventure Park that we'd read about, only to discover that it no longer exsists

So instead, we went to the Casino Fortuna where I spent about $7 in total and I won $35 off a $1 bet! Not bad for someone who's never played Roulette before, and by betting on my birth day! :D

After chilling by the beach until 6pm (in the shade, obviously!) we grabbed a quick dinner and went to collect our bags to get on the night bus to Siem Reap...

After lunch, we continued our day by going to the Royal Palace.

Gorgeous, elaborate buildings dotted the spotless grounds with large trees and topiaries providing natural beauty to compliment the elegant man-made structures.

A "few" lighthearted snaps and an unexpected introduction to a group of monkies climbing around a scaffolding site of reconstruction brightened our otherwise reflective day until we returned once again to our hostel, this time for a late afternoon siesta...

When we woke up around 6/6:30pm, the air was cooler and the night life began to start.
We went to Happy Herb Pizza for dinner; just your regular margherita pizza with cheese, onions and marijuana...!

That's right folks, "happy" preceeding any kind of food in Cambodia means that the oregano you thought you were enjoying was in fact weed.

And what better way to follow a weed pizza, than with a gay-friendly bar for a drag show?!

Of course, not a normal correlation of events, but after a few Baileys, it seemed to be the perfect combination...
Evidently, beautiful boys do not always make beautiful girls...

My night ended after that, but as usual, my darling Ricky made a friend and ventured out into Phnom Penh after dark to dance and drink the night away...!

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Central Market

I woke up around 11:30am and had banana pancakes for breakfast, did some writing and then woke Ricky up around 1pm.

We began walking to the Central Market, only to get far too hot and confused trying to read the map, so we jumped in a tuk-tuk and had the nice man take us there instead

I can see why they'd call it Central Market...
Everything you could possibly desire was for sale; beautiful silks and linens, watches, jewellery, sunglasses, shoes, bags, well you get the idea...!

After a good few hours we'd seen most of the market.
Ricky bought some Ray Bans that fold down to practically nothing, a pair of Berkenstocks, a watch and a bag.
I bought some earrings, a bag and some replacement flip flops!

I think after having lived in China for over 18 months now and having visited many places in Asia, Ricky and I have got this bartering thing down!
If they don't like your highest offer, the walk-away will seal the deal if they're really ok with the price! Winning!

Now the original plan was to get some food and then go to the Russian Market afterwards, however, we decided to go to Happy Herb Pizza again...
Instead of sharing a large pizza between us, we order one each and the happiness once again eluded us.... or so we thought...

We went back to our hostel for a drink and a quick nap...
I woke up at 11pm.... we got back to the hostel at 4pm.... I think I found my happy!
Ricky apparently found his too as he'd spent the entire time I was asleep watching videos of people falling over and willing his legs to move.... evidently, they did not!

So, it was 11pm, we both decided we were hungry, and it's only a vague recollection now, but I'm pretty sure we drove around for a while in a tuk-tuk until we found an open restaurant.
I think I had a cheeseburger...

We went to sleep and when we woke up, we checked out and waited for the bus to Sihanoukville.

5 hours and a brief pit-stop later, we arrived in the shabby main-town of Sihanoukville, got into a tuk-tuk and made out way to our hostel...