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Published: August 8th 2007
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Hill temple
The monks were in a hurry Some beach side action We were pretty much awake at the crack of dawn, not long after the family we were staying with started their working day by taking the Ox out. Feeling a little jaded from a lesser night of sleep at the homestay (Blog:
The Homestay), we were bound for the beach side city of Sihanoukville. We were all keen to arrive and have a shower. After another bumpy road (although nothing like Highway 6 from Poipet to Siem Reap), we eventually arrived just before lunchtime, so swifty headed to check out Occheuteal Beach and a beach side restaurant bar. Again, my visions of abject poverty everywhere were somewhat blown away; this city is well and truly set up for some beach side action with an impressive array of restaurants, bars and lodgings. In some ways this was disappointing as I expected something more untouched, however, Phuket this is not - commercialism has not yet taken over, although the touts pretty much have. There are very few Tuk Tuks here, so instead, if you try to walk anyway you will frequently hear the word "Moto?". This consists of a 'taxi' ride on the back of some random stranger's underpowered motorbike.
Doing it for the kids? As we ate at the Angkor Beach restaurant, we were greeted warmly by the owner with offers of free sunbeds and a Happy Hour later on. We soon saw through this as the child touts descended on us with all manner of sales techniques from sad looks to more sophisticated befriending methods. "Would you like to play a game of noughts and crosses...if you lose, you buy from me?", "Where you from?" were frequently heard hook lines. You had to admire the tenacity, charisma and excellent English skills. If I sound a little heartless, there's a good reason : some of them clearly put on an act and aren't as poorly off as they would have you believe. For example, the deaf and dumb boy that was later seen chatting away to his friends, the boy seen hiding his mobile phone, or the little girl with a beaming smile to her friends until she saw us walking wallets, then was the saddest child you've ever seen. Worst of all, the US$1 that the kids had to pay this generous bar owner for any sale made on his turf (sales he clearly encouraged) obviously subsidised
Fishing village
Packing the fish the kind offers of free sunbeds at the Angkor Beach bar/restaurant.
Don't get me wrong, it was hard not find these kids very cute, we just had serious concerns at how much of the money they earned was ending up with them and whether they were forced to go out earning by anyone else getting a cut. Also, it is too easy to overlook the clearly genuine amputees (from land mines) touting, just because they don't have the same cute factor of the kids.
Serendipity Beach, and meeting Jan Sunning ourselves on Serendipity Beach, away from the above bar/restaurant, we found we got a lot less hassle. The touts that did approach us didn't appear to be having to give money to the bars/restaurants that line the beach, which ever one we happened to be sunbathing in front. Here we had some enlightening conversations with them. One little girl in particular, calling herself Jan, spent over an hour and a half with us. She approached us trying to give us a bracelet (this is another classic sales ploy, they return later expecting big sales!). Sally chose a bracelet she had made but Jan didn't want any money for
it, saying that it was only a small bracelet, but she insisted on giving her a couple of dollars. We spoke to her at length about why she needs to do this and whether she got to keep all her sales income herself. Many of these kids earn the money to pay for English lessons that their parents can't afford; this was also Jan's reason. She had ambitions of becoming a Doctor, a profession Cambodia desperately needs to rebuild, although wasn't sure if she'd handle the blood! Her English was already superb, but we gave her an English lesson as we felt this was perhaps a more tangible contribution directly to her than just handing out dollar bills. In a land full of corruption and desperate means of making money, she seemed as genuine as they come, so we can only hope she fulfills her ambitions.
By this stage, we'd already fallen in love with this country and its people, but were only too aware of the corruption lining many pockets. Okay, perhaps we were less giving with our dollars to the touts than many, but we'd already decided we'd find another way to make our financial contribution to
Sally on guard and drying out
After a provoked water fight with a local. the rebuilding of this country when we return to employment, liking the water pump scheme and a number of other charitys that Intrepid support.
As for the beach itself, Serendipity rolls on into Occheuteal, with both well serviced. It's not a bad strip of beach at all. Dolphin Bar is particularly lively in the evenings (and into the following morning!), representing a fairly lively night life. However, you have to be wary of drug dealers and karaoke bars. The latter is a front for prostitution, something Karaoke mad Simon could so easily have walked straight into - he was heard to say "I just want to sing, not have sex!".
Most of the group went for the usual boat trip to an island plus snorkeling that are common place at the beach. We chose a day on the beach instead. This proved an inspired move, as many of those that went were sea sick...even Yong, our group leader was sick. After the Wetsundays (Blog:
Airlie Beach and the Wetsunday Islands), my instinct served me well; whilst many were spewing on the boat, I was having the best massage ever on the beach for US$6!
National Park? For our last day in Sihanoukville,
we thought we probably ought to haul ourselves off the beach and see some more of our surroundings. We took a trip via a dirty, smelly fishing village near Cambodia's main international port, then headed off into the countryside. I have to ashamedly admit, I'm not even sure where we went, but believe it to have been one of the National Parks. Perhaps with high standards set in Australia and New Zealand, it wasn't what I expected of a National Park. For a start, where was the wildlife?! We saw a few butterflies, but that was about it. The centre piece of our visit was a waterfall, which again, after those we'd seen earlier in this trip (in Australia and New Zealand) could only disappoint - and did. However, there was much to be said for escaping the noisey streets, playing in the water and watching the locals do likewise. Sally got a bit carried away though, giving the slightest of splashes to one little boy, who took it as an invitation for a full on water fight! The more Sally screamed, the more he soaked her - until she was drenched. Even in the heat of the day, it
took her quite some time to dry - and relax!
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