14th May - And then there was one - Matt's solo journey from Battambang to Kampot

Today is the day that Anji has to start her journey to Bangkok so that she can get her flight home early in the morning of the 15th. I've also got my bus booked to Kampot for a similar time so we both get up fairly early and do a final check of our bags before heading to the bus station.

Unfortunately our buses leave from different stations. Fortunately they are fairly close together, so despite the fact that our buses leave at the same time, we get some time together at the nearest bus station to say our difficult goodbyes. This is much harder that I imagined it to be.

My bus arrived a little late and I set off on my journey to Kampot via Phnom Penh. The journey to Phnom Penh was fairly uneventful, at least other than a lorry deciding to perform a three point turn in the road as we barrelled towards it. Fortunately our bus driver reacted quickly and we came to a fairly well controlled stop on the grass next to the road. Even the Cambodians were screaming so I guess it wasn't a run of the mill event. After we got back onto the road the bus driver boxed the lorry driver in so everyone could stare at him through the bus windows. I'm not sure if this affected him at all, maybe it will make him remove all the stickers from his side window so he can see oncoming traffic in his mirror, or maybe he'll just carry on pulling out without looking.

We arrived in Phnom Penh on time which gave around 20mins to wait for the bus to Kampot. I just had enough time to find a stall selling food (a Khmer Sandwich which was meant to be pate but tasted like some kind of canned meat) before being bundled on to the bus.

The journey was longer than expected and was uneventful until we reached Kep. Everyone leaving the bus at Kep got off and the luggage started to be unloaded, after a while the annoying TV went off which was a blessing, the the lights flickered and left us in darkness.  After a while those of us on the bus noticed everyone start to back away from the bus. It seemed odd but we all sat in our seats until someone noticed smoke pouring out from the sides. We got off and were told that the bus was on fire due to an electrical fault which was nice to know.

After the small fire was extinguished we were told that another bus would be sent to Kampot which would take around 30mins so people started to disperse to various food stalls and restaurants. I sat with a guy I recognised from the bus and started chatting, 30 mins went by, then another 30mins so we decided to have a beer; at which point the bus arrived.

After 30 mins on the bus we arrived in Kampot to the usual swarm of Tuk Tuk drivers. Whilst Anji and I would normally wander around to find a guesthouse, at this point I was knackered and jumped in a Tuk Tuk with the guy I'd been chatting with (I finally remebered to ask his name at this point - Alfred)  and set off to find a Hostel. This turned out to be something of a challenge as we'd arrived in the middle of the holiday for the king's birthday and it appears to be something the Cambodian's really like to celebrate so every hotel and guesthouse we tried was full until we reached Cozy Elephant which had $2.50 dorm beds available.
I was ready to lumber into bed but Alfred suggested a wander so we walked the strangely empty streets of Kampot until we found an open bar and had a few beers.

It turned out Alfred had a really interesting life. He'd spent the last few years working in various African and South American countries for Medicines San Frontiers and also for the UN attempting to combat corruption in African governments.

At around midnight I'd had enough and returned to the Cozy Elephant for a well deserved sleep.