Beaches and Shit - Sihanoukville - Cambodia's South Coast

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It was a horrible horrible bus ride to Cambodia's South Coast ... 154 km from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville on the coast and it only took us 6 hours by bus .... do the math.

As with each blog, make sure you scroll all the way down past the ads to see all the pictures or double click on any picture to see them all.

Once we got over the bus thing, Annice and I (yup, me Peter doing a blog) found an amazing beachside resort right on the beach called 'Coasters', I mean right on the beach in the sand and the view from our room with a private balcony was fabulous. Most people don't know that Cambodia has a sea coast so it's a bit of a secret and in it's own specail way is a bit of a gem.

Once we arrived at Coasters and checked in, we sat down with a pint of Angkor draught beer at a beach side table and the waves were lapping over some rocks, it was sunny and hot and the air was filled with salt and ... and ... well a bit like salt and sewage ... Mmmmm, it did not make the beer any better ... well this little gem of a beach resort town is really first class except for the litter and trickle of sewer water along the beach of the most pristine soft and white ... well often moslty white sand.

If you have spent any time in Bangkok it is something you kinda get used to and come to expect and we did get the hang of walking around or jumping over the shit and to find wonderful spots away from it and down wind from the smell. The beaches were lined with bars right on the beach and at night local kids sold fireworks to the tourists and the night sky lit up from them.

Sadly, these same kids are on the beach during the day when they should be in school but instead are on the beach selling "stuff" to the tourists. Tourists are discouraged by the bars and resorts from buying stuff from them as they should be in school which is free and readily avaialble to them. The kids range in age from about eight to late teens and are very charming and some at times a bit agressive.

One very sweet little girl tried to sell me a bracelet but showing her a bracelet on my wrist I said: "I already have one" and she said: "Buy one for a friend" and I said: "I don't have any friends" and she replied: "I can be your friend and you can give it back to me." Later that same day a little eight year old boy tried to sell me something and giving him a lame excuse for not buying it he looked up at me with his big big eyes and said; "You can lie to me but not to yourself".

This town really grew on me even if I never did learn how to pronounce "Sihanoukville" and I came to accept if for all it's inperfections no matter what the smell ... it is South East Asia after all.

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