Get me excited about Cambodia!!

Obviously you'd want to see the temples etc of Siem Reap, but apart from that SR is a boring town. I'd advise two days there.
Phnom Penh is a great city. Plenty of night life and food and a few interesting tourist spots as well, all at a more laid back pace than you'd be used to in any other capital city. Sihanoukville is your best option for beach life and is a growing town with new accommodation and restaurants popping up everywhere. Google image search Ochheuteal and Otres beaches for a look.
Cambodia also has the other advantage of being ridiculously cheap- for everything.

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<hr>BTW - "snooky" is Pattaya blow-in talk for Sihanoukville. Its a term thats just come about since the thai visa laws have changed and the Khmer would not know what the hell your talking about (Sihanoukville or Kampong Som)<hr></blockquote>The term Snooky has been used for years by most expats and tourists that I know.

Germuno...

I always though Jaco Costa Rica had a good representation of bad ex pats, but they dont treat the locals poorly, they just chase their sisters and mothers...

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<hr>BTW - "snooky" is Pattaya blow-in talk for Sihanoukville. Its a term thats just come about since the thai visa laws have changed and the Khmer would not know what the hell your talking about (Sihanoukville or Kampong Som) <hr></blockquote>
As Battambanghelper correctly noted, they term 'snooky' has been around for more than a few years. The Bayon Pearnik has been running the Snooky-ville Snippets column for at least 4 years and people were using the term before that.

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<hr>...the biggest loser though is gary...the nite bar keeper at sokal bungalows...he looks down on the kymers & yells at them like they are pieces of shit...if they had one tenth of the opportunity this brit had they'd be ten times the person he is..

..at least some of the losers in snooky have a small government check to pay for their existence...they had to be contributors at one time or another...gary has nothing but his $5 a day paycheck, a room & money transfers from mommy<hr></blockquote>
If you hang out in sewers you're bound to meet a few rats. I've managed to miss this kind of low life expat/regular visitor soap opera stuff here, but then again, I don't hang out at $4/night guesthouses. That aside, I do agree that Sihanoukville is less than the ideal beach town and that nobody should come to Cambodia just to go to Sihanoukville. There are far better beaches in other SEA countries. But if you are already here, it's not so bad. The beaches are OK enough. Of all the bars in Sihanoukville, everybody should be able to find at least one that suits their taste. The town has some of the better food in Cambodia, far better than Siem Reap's tourist glop and faux Khmer food. Some of the smaller foreigner places have good home-cooked food and Chinese places like Treasure Island serve brilliant seafood.

Funny, I have lived in Sihanoukville several times over the past 4 years and its onyly been the last year I have heard the term. BTW it won't do you any favours using it amongst Khmer - they actually respect and are proud of the ex king and his name.

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<hr>Funny, I have lived in Sihanoukville several times over the past 4 years and its onyly been the last year I have heard the term.<hr></blockquote>
See, there is a good reason to read the Pearnik.

Actually, I think they prefer 'Kampong Som.'

BTW, what are you doing up so late?

late? late is before midnight - early is after, sleeps not my strong point.

pray tell foolsprogress where do hang out in sihanoukville where you don't find any lowlife...i'm not judging lowlife...as long as it's not of the pedophile grouping...just can only take so much of them...get a a kick out of it for a while & then time to move on...snooky is like that for me.

..sort of like going back to the states & listening to the right wing talk shows like limbaugh, hannity & o'reilly...listen for a while & say to myself...yep...they're still out there

..& i wouldn't be too quick to judge the folks who stay in the cheapies...i find them much more fun than the crowds at the multi star hotels they're as much fun adventurous & interesting as cruise ship travellers

...tightass...the motodrops get a kick out of it when you insert snooky into the snoopy song from a couple of gernerations ago

The term Snooky has been around for at least 8 years, and Id agree that many Khmers prefer to call it Kampong Som.

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<hr>Other solo female travlers I ran into said they were equally appalled by some of the 'bottom feeders' they met-<hr></blockquote>

its pretty funny hearing all these descriptions of bald, fat old men hanging out with teenagers, that description is way off what me and most of my friends are like. I guess you wouldn't recognise us even if you came across us, but we'll probably be avoiding talking to clueless judgemental tourists anyway.