This time I manage to get the shared mini bus run by the Aussie outfit “G’Day Mate” ( advertised as “Western managed, no video or loud horns and careful drivers with no mad overtaking”) and arrive in Sihanoukville (“Snooky”) at lunchtime. The weather on the way was interesting – I think we must have been in a high area as we were driving through what, from a distance, looked like fog, but was actually torrential rain. The mini bus first stop was at Monkey Republic, and I recognised exactly where I was, just across the Golden Lions roundabout and a few metres from my old home, the Reef Resort. A bit like coming home as I stayed here last year. It’s still No 1 on Tripadvisor with good, clean rooms around a small pool, not far from the beach. My room is just by the pool. Lot’s of life around it – backpacker bars, backpacker hostels, travel stalls, laundry, internet and a little mini mart. And the sun is at least shining at the seaside, although the guy in the reception area who remembered me from last year tells me that there has been some unexpected rain here too. Things here look exactly the same as last year, the only significant change is that now I can buy hair conditioner and Diet Coke – both things I hunted high and low for in Cambodia last time with no success. That’s progress I guess!
