The Beach, Ortres

A hot four hour journey took five hours and we were glad to be off and in Sihanoukville; just a short distance to Ortres Beach to conquer so after knocking the outrageous prices being suggested we got a tuk there and had to walk the last km or so, which was nice and gave us an early chance to see what was there. We booked into one place though this could only be for one night, so dumping our bags we headed out and booked our next two nights at a place we'd seen on the way.. Once sorted we headed to the only place you could feeling that hot.. To the sea!! Ortres is a beautiful 4km long beach and is still relatively quiet - especially so compared to other local beaches apparently..
We ate at the hotel that night, and though nice it was a bit bland to.. Our room was basic - by that I mean that it was a square seperated by wood panels and no ceiling - so next morning when a sudden rustling was followed by a thud we had no idea what to expect until the hotel cat Ninja appeared through bleary eyes.
We moved over hotels and killed another day, that night finding a wonderful place to eat, with lit tables actually on the beach and really good food to match. With the addition of a pool table (complete with local whizz kid) then a keyboard behind the bar this was my kind of place.. We'd noticed a few flashes while eating, and soon after finishing it began to rain, hard. Apparently it hadn't rained once in January the previous year so we attributed this to our presence, of course.
Next day we rented a 2 person open top canoe and took off for the closest island in sight - NAME - which took just over half hour to reach going against the current, not easy!! We'd heard you could snorkel on the left side, though not seeing where we carried on around the whole thing before stopping at the patch of sand in front.. Big enough for our canoe and one other. Sadly it had been ruined by building there, waste from construction and various articles washed up making a pretty undesirable patch.. Plus apparently the area for snorkelling consisted of urchins and rocks, so we passed up and collected shells instead - also watching a large sea eagle swooping down for its lunch. We headed back and snorkelled just around the beach, finding some small hermit crabs and also a bright green urchin with purple spines being washed up.. It was still alive so we got a few pictures before throwing it out as far as possible.
That night we ate in the same place, this time however things didn't work out so well - some under cooked prawns made their presence known and meant we couldn't leave as early as originally planned - two days later we started feeling a bit better having refueled with soups then breads. I hadn't felt so bad the first day so had headed into town to get money, riding on the back of a moped to travel the 5 or so miles. This was pretty fun, being about the third time i've ever been carrion on a bike I put all fears to the back of my mind (just) and took in the scenery as we went.
The area was apparently given to an Army retiree as part of his pension, since then locals and expats have opened a multitude of bars, restaurants and other businesses with the obligatory tuk drivers filling the streets.. As you enter you go through a 'fence' of metal sheet panels, giving the feel of a bizarre enclosure.. The beach also has the full array of transportable goods, from bracelets and fruit to hair threading, nail clipping and even fortunes - apparently I possess a literate face ;)