King (Koh) Kong

In Cambodia, it's easy to be swept along in the backpacking trail and head straight from the capital (Fernom, Fernay, as we affectionately call it after a wee mistake by our Irish buddy Mark - must be that accent?) to Siem Reap - all hail the mighty Angkor Wat.

But we wanted to go off the map and try our luck in the Cambodian wilds. So, with little planning and even less of a clue, we jumped on a bus with not a tourist in sight to head to the only town of the region, Koh Kong town.

We'll be honest here, there was nothing in this run down town and our 'off the map' adventure was looking a little down in the mouth.

But we pulled ourselves together and headed to breathtaking and, most importantly, non-touristy waterfalls (memories of falls in Vietnam still make me shudder) and mangrove forests on a motorbike.

Next, we hired a boat to take us to Koh Kong island for the day (the people of the Koh Kong region can't be credited for their imagination when it comes to the naming of places). This was heaven on earth. We spotted dolphins on the boat and then moored up at quiet, uninhabited paradise.

I had never seen sand so fine and white as icing sugar or water so crystaline turquoise. Wading out from the shore I could count every grain of sand caressing my toes and spot each little fish darting around me.

Our grinning guides provided us with snorkel gear and so we headed off to spot fish before tucking into a fire-cooked lunch of succulent barracuda, rice and spiced salad. A perfect day.