On our last night in Trat we booked to leave on the 9am bus which was to take us over the border and down to SihanoukVille. We had met Claudia, a very happy German physiotherapist on our last night in our guesthouse and with a very funny Russian woman in a white cowboy hat with more bags than i've ever seen one person try and carry along with a French couple with terrible tattoo's we headed off to the border. Now, we had researched the border and had heard so many stories of scams, even by the officials, that we were a little on the cautious side. Sure enough as soon and we got off the mini bus our bags we place in a trolley (chargeable), fishing them out we headed quickly past the Thai exit and towards the infamous Cambodian border. Probably luckily for us we came by small mini bus so the queue was short and the officials less able to get away with much. The touts however having had a slow day were in overdrive, ignoring the bogus 'quarantine' tent where 20baht will get you absolutely nothing but give them more ways to part you with your money, we headed straight for passport checking with our visa's in hand this did not make the touts happy lingering behind us to see if they could try something else. Because we had come with e-visa's this took a little longer so we hung around and waited for Claudia so she wasn't left alone with the touts. This made them even angrier that we had not only not given them money for 'helping' but we dared to just stand around after! We were shouted at a full 3 times before they got in a huff and swanned off to find more people to fleece. Part of me wanted to go over to the the poor little sheep getting off the luxury tour bus that they were being scammed but if they were silly enough to fall for it they probably deserved it. The next leg of our journey took us on a coach that was mostly held together with stickyback plastic and glue, but it got us to where we needed to be in only triple the time it should have taken so not too bad. Eventually we changed again to a mini bus bound for SihanoukVille. Something you learn quickly in Cambodia is their obsession with putting as many people in one space as possible. So with this in mind an extra 6 people on a 14 person minibus by using plastic stools and steps as seats wasn't as bad as it could have been. We also made it to our destination in record time with only a handful of traumatised cows and children left in our wake. Cambodia is still officially a third world country but the wealth is growing, although for some more than others. In the rural areas its saddening to see the once lush hills bare from logging and dirty children playing in the huge amount of rubbish. I have to admit i didn't expect the cows though they wander pretty much everywhere unfazed by the heat and near accidents they cause. As we come into SihanoukVille the small houses start to fade away and are replaced by large shiny buildings, and the pull of tourism becomes more obvious. There's the usual girls with minimum clothes and guys showing off their new tattoo's, both boosting about the night before, the swam of older men here make it a strange mix. We check into one of the cheaper guesthouses with Claudia and head out to find some Khmer food, we found a local food market tucked away past the main street, much cheaper than the dozens of restaurants that line the streets. I had read about the beggars before we came but was entirely unprepared for them once they started. Small children with their big sad eyes and young mums in muddy pyjama's stand in front of you hands out, its the staring that i can't cope with and they have no intention of moving on until they are given something. Thankfully Kev and Claudia's resolve is much better than mine and i am glad that i am not sat alone. We escape back to the guesthouse for a much needed beer and vow to find somewhere else to go tomorrow.