Day 43, according to Lauren 
  
Sarah had vague plans to go to a yoga class in the morning but we both drifted awake at 6.30am and definitely needed more sleep. We snoozed for another couple of hours and then packed up our bags in prep for our departure to Phnom Penh. We booked a tuk tuk to take us to the bus station and then lugged all our things down to wait for it. I had a much needed tea and Sarah tried unsuccessfully again to send videos to her mum. The tuk tuk finally arrived 10 minutes late (Asian time) and took us on the bumpiest ride to the bus station. The driver favoured the back roads (dirt & stone alleys) presumably to save time as our bus was leaving in 20 minutes. We arrived at a dilapidated old bus station with distinctly no buses. This wasn’t hopeful. The driver showed some other locals our ticket and established that we were at the wrong station. So off we went back the way we came and got to another one where there were a few coaches waiting. We found the correct one, loaded on our luggage and climbed on board. It was pretty empty given that it was Khmer new year and so we had the pick of seats. We reclined them back and settled into 6 hours of incessant horn beeping and moto/cattle swerving. We stopped half way for a refreshment break in what looked more like a rubbish dump than anything else.

We spent 5 minutes sitting in amongst the dirt, flies and old food for some ‘fresh’ air before deciding it was actually more pleasant on the bus. We hopped back on and waited for the driver and other passengers. 3 hours later and were dropped in Phnom Penh at the side of the road where a load of tuk tuk drivers awaited. I had had a look earlier on the map for the bus station of the company we were travelling with and it was only a 7 minute walk to our hotel. Perfect. I got my phone out (assuming we were at said bus station) to plan the route and it showed our location no way near the bus station. Classic Asia, they drop you in the middle of nowhere so that you have to pay for a tuk tuk to your hotel. So we reluctantly agreed a price and went on our way. We drove straight past our hotel so had to shout at our driver to turn around and direct him to where it was. It looked pretty swish but I was aware we had booked a budget room so we weren’t expecting anything great. We checked in at reception and were informed that as they had filled all their budget rooms, we were being upgraded to a deluxe twin for free. Woohoo! Sometimes arriving later in the day works out for the better.  

We had a little lay down in our super soft almost double beds and then decided to find somewhere for dinner. We had seen an advert for ‘Cadillac’ restaurant in the hotel as it was run by the same people and it said we got a 20% discount there. Sarah looked at what was on offer – it was super western and even featured bangers and mash on the menu! We thought we may as well go and check it out as it was very close, so got changed and headed out. We found it on a street opposite the river alongside a load of other restaurants and had a look at the menu outside. The food was pretty expensive and it was filled with middle aged men, so we decided to look for something else. We didn’t have to walk far to find a nice enough looking Cambodian restaurant with dishes for about half the price of Cadillac. Much better. We went for a chicken Penang curry (one of our faves) with a side of veggies. It was delicious and by the end we were stuffed.

Needing a lie down, we headed back to the hotel, stopping off at the supermarket on the way for carrot cake (Sarah’s craving) and other essentials. We each enjoyed a luxurious shower and then watched some tv in bed before going to sleep.