Back to reality
After a late night fighting off some monstrous cicadas in our room (which was hilarious and tense), we woke up mid-morning. As we’re getting the boat and bus back to Phnom Penh, we decided to have breakfast here. After going for the signature muesli and fruit breakfast, and talking to some of the folks here, we gathered our belongings. Thanks to our deft thinking, our hostel was right next to the pier. The boat back to Phnom Penh would dock here in the late morning, so we didn’t have to walk far. So we waited for some time with the others until the ferry arrived.
There were already many people on the ship, so we nabbed the seats that we could, and saddled in. I’m not usually bad on boats, but the high speed ferries do make me queasy. We arrived back in Sihanoukville, and was filled with ghastly sight of concrete and dust everywhere. What a stark contrast to the past week we’ve had. We waited in the stifling heat near the pier, the smell of sewage was nearby too. There was plenty of waiting around for our magical transport to whisk us away. Our bus back to Phnom Penh was supposed to arrive at 12:30pm, but of course, this doesn’t count for much haha.
Heading to the capital
When our chariot finally did arrive, we quickly swarmed to it and dove into the shade. To be honest, it wouldn’t surprise me if a horse and cart did turn up. That’d actually be pretty cool, but would take long as hell to get back to Phnom Penh. Not to mention our bums would be wrecked by the pot holes, if we were in a cart. In reality, it was a simple minivan which was actually nicer than most. As per usual, I went to sleep for the first hour to speed up the journey.
We only stopped once on the journey back to Phnom Penh, a couple more wouldn’t have gone amiss! When we did stop, I had another pineapple to eat, so tangy and refreshing! Mat and I noticed that our 4G didn’t actually work today when we were on the island. We assumed it was because of the distance to the mainland, but it still didn’t work. It appears we’ll have to have a trip to Metfone when we get back to Phnom Penh. The bus journey was supposed to be 5-5 1/2 hours long, but it was actually a couple of hours later than this. I shouldn’t have to stipulate this anymore. We, and you, should know that when time is involved, it never goes according to plan.
Back to base
Despite the long haul we had, the minivan had the generosity to drop us off at our hostel. We decided to stay at the Billabong Hostel once again. It was a great hostel, so we thought we may as well stay here again. For our previous visit in Phnom Penh, check it out here! Once we had checked in, bagsied our beds (I lost so was on top), we connected to the all-important Wi-Fi! I was surprised at how few messages I had received. For all they knew, I’d gone missing on an island!
Our first course of action was a hearty meal on a street corner. We’d not eaten since 9am (bar the pineapple), so noodles went down a treat! After our meal, we had a bit of a wander around the area. We stocked up on a few snacks at a shop nearby. Once back at the hostel, I called Elva for a while. That was nice as I hadn’t been able to video call any family or friends for over a week. As I’ve said before, after a length of time in rural areas, it’s nice to be in civilisation, if only for a couple of days. It’s good to chill, catch up with people or activities, and have that city interaction.
