Christmas, that usually means snow (or most of the time: rain) and -5°C. This year we had sunshine and +30°C… really quite an unusual christmas for the two of us. As we already extended our vietnamese visa and our 2nd one was only valid until the 25th of December, we already knew, that the 24th will be our last day in Freedomland. The days before we’ve been very lazy and didn’t see much of the island so we decided to take a motorbike (that was actually provided by Michael and Eva for us) and went on a trip together with Phil and Linda, a couple from Sweden/Austria/Australia/South Africa/Germany (I think even they don’t know 
where they actually are really from), better known as Phillinda, to the north of the island. We ended up at a lonely and very picturesque beach, from were Cambodia was already in sight and just spent the whole afternoon there. The water was as warm as in a tube and turquoise green, just as you would dream about it. We separated us a little bit from Phillinda and relaxed in the ocean and were happy about the fact, that it really was christmas and we’ve had got the possibility to go swimming in a tropical paradise. When we came back to Phillinda, phil was on building a huge sandcastle and Annika joined him. I went to the next village to organise some drinks and snacks. In the village I wasn’t unseen for a long time and catched the attention from some kids who now accompanied me back to the beach. The kids were really cute and we were amazed by their skills in climbing coconut palm trees to bring us some really fresh coconut juice. And they were amazed by Phils and Annikas sand castle. It really was a nice afternoon. The roads in Phu Quoc are actually unsealed and very shitty, with a lot of potholes, stones and dirt. And Annika didn’t really feel very comfortable on the back of the bike so we didn’t make it as far as actually planned (another reason for that was that we spent way to much time on this beach) and headed back directly to the capital, while Phillinda continued to complete the northern circle. We had to go to the main city to get some money to pay our bill (this time the ATM didn’t swallow a card of us) before we went back to Freedomland where the preparations for the christmas eve we’re already going on. Peter promised us the best Freedomland dinner in history (even if it was hard to imagine how some dinners could get any better) and he shouldn’t dissapoint us. They prepared a huge buffet with maybe 10 different side dishes (the most of them could have easily been a main dish, too) like pasta, steamed and fried potatoes, some kind of spanish quiche, soups, spring rolls, a big variety of vegetables, brown and white rice, salads etc. and for the main dish they had half a dozen of barbeques where you could choose if you either want to grill some stuff by yourself or if one of Peter’s little helpers should look for your picks. For the omnivores they served several kinds of fish and we had a huge selection of marinated tofu, pineapples, mushrooms, aubergines and so on… the dinner is not really to describe, it was sooo delicious and one of the best christmas meals I ever had.
After this feast the action slowly moved to the bonfire where some guests played some instruments while others just laid around 
and had some beers and wines and chatted the night away. We had to get up early the next morning to catch our ferry to the mainland and to leave the country, but that didn’t really bother us – we finally were one of the last persons that went to bed.
We slept just two hours before we had to get up again to say good bye to Freedomland and to Phu Quoc. It was an amazing time there that most of all was so because of the great people we met there. I can’t mention all, but special greetings and thanks to Peter and his crew, Phillinda, Pierre-Henrie, Louise and Michael and Eva.
We were tired, really tired but fortunately we packed our stuff already the day before, so it was not so much work to leave. We shared a taxi together with Tristan, a french guy who went to the airport before we went on to the ferry pier to catch our 7:30am ferry to Ha Tien. Already before our departure we met Aaron, an australian guy, who we had to help out of trouble a little bit later at the Vietnamese-Cambodian border. From Ha Tien we hired motorbike drivers to bring us to Kampot, one of the first cities in Cambodia. The border crossing was not very complicated for us, it even was a little bit funny as it seemed that the cambodian custom officers like it to joke around with their clients (”Where are you from?” – “Germany” – “Ah, OK, I thought Papua New Guinea!”). For the Australian guy it was a little bit more complicated as he maybe got ripped off by his motorbike drivers who tricked some money out of him while he gave him his change. Now Aaron was not able to pay his Cambodian visa anymore (they accept only US$) and the next ATM was everything but close by. So we just borrowed him 50$ and got back it back later in the day in Kampot, plus some extra beers 
The cambodian side of the border looked totally different than the vietnamese side. The crossing was comparable to the China/Laos crossing, on one side paved roads, proper buildings and real customs, on the other just a dirt road, border huts, not one eletrical machine to check anything (anyway, as if they would care…).
The next 60km to Kampot, on the bag of the motorbike, were exhausting, but our drivers were cool and drove safely. In Kampot it didn’t took a long time until we found a cheap guesthouse. After a lunch we immidiatly went to bed for some hours and in the evening we met up with Aron again for a city walk and some beers. Kampot seems to be quite a nice city, that’s maybe worth to visit for a little bit longer (especially the surroundings with some mountains are quite nice), but unfortunately we had not enough time. I had to organise my Myanmar visa there directly on the 27th but that’s already another story. Anyway, after a breakfast the next morning in a Café that supports the deaf community of Kampot, we took a shared taxi to Phnom Penh. Shared taxis are usually as cheap as buses and much faster, but harder to organise (but that varies from city to city).