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Published: November 9th 2005
With Monday the 31st a public holiday, Romy, Julie and I decided to get out of Phnom Penh for the weekend and head for the ocean.
Julie is a colleague of Romy's, and has been travelling as an Australian Business Volunteer (ABV) or on assignments with Australian Volunteers International (AVI) for 20 years, working with organisations to improve their management and financial systems. She told me that on her last update form for ABVs, it stated that people we not allowed to volunteer once over the age of 80. She plans to get her last volunteer position at the age of 79 years, 364 days....
So, the three of us piled on the 8am bus from Phnom Penh on Saturday morning, and made the 4 hour trip to the coast. The bus ride is an interesting experience, with either karaoke or khmer comedies blaring from the video player the whole way, and people sitting on plastic chairs down the middle isle of the bus. No space is wasted when travelling in Cambodia. It is also possible for locals to flag down the bus and hitch a ride for a few hundred riels. So, after several stops along the way,
Julie and Romy
Julie and Romy 'shopping'we made it to Sihanoukville.
I managed to get sunburnt on the 5 minute moto ride from the bus stop to the guest house - typical Rhianna - white to red in 05 minutes! This made me even more conscious of my ghostly anglo white skin, and I was, as usual, cursing my ancestors for not coming from Sweden, or Spain, or Cambodia, or anywhere where people have evolved to live in the sun! So, I was feeling particularly self conscious when we arrived on the beach, when all of a sudden I had about five girls around me telling me how beautiful my skin was, and that they wanted to look like me - the grass is always greener - or redder in my case! They then went on to point out every hair on my legs that the waxer in Phnom Penh missed, and offered to 'string' my legs to get rid of it.... not totally beautiful the way I am it would appear....
Such was the start to our weekend. We spent the two days moving between the guest house, the lounge chairs on the beach, the water, and restaurants. The water was lovely -
Dinner on the Beach
Julie, me and Romy - having a Pina Colada while waiting for our BBQ Seafood clear blue and gentle, and as usual, eased the stress and worries I was carrying with me. Only when I see the ocean am I reminded just how 'Australian' I am - there is something about being at the beach that feels like coming home.
We were continually surrounded by children selling fruit, prawns, bracelets, manicures and a range of other things. This can become annoying, but most of the children were well humoured and friendly. One even said to me 'if you buy something now, I will stop hassling you for the rest of the day'!! Gotta love someone with honesty! We quickly built a good rapport with some of the children, and they stuck with us for the next few days. This helped make the situation more relaxing, as they were happy to sit down and play, and then the other sellers on the beach left us alone. Sara was a particular favourite. He was 17, outrageously camp, and a great guy. He walked the beach with a basket of fantastic fruit on his head. Julie taught him who Carmen Miranda was... We would buy three bags of fruit for $6 each morning, which gave him the
Squid anyone?
Fresh squid, baby octopus, fish, king prawns and shrimps - marinated in red wine, salt, pepper, lime and soup stock. Served with lime and pepper dipping sauce. One of the best meals of my life! luxury to sit with us for a few hours, not needing to walk up and down the beach trying to make a sale. He had a few women and children that usually stayed with him, I think they loved watching him; he was quite the hilarious entertainer and joker.
I became friends with two girls, Nari and Sung, who asked a thousand questions about me and my life in Australia, and were lovely kind children. They spent a lot of time sitting with me, examining all my things, and enjoying the chance to play and make mischievous. They made some bracelets for my brothers in Olinda and a fantastic anklet for me. They also convinced me to get a manicure - something I have never done in my whole life. I thought the best place for my first manicure was a beach in Cambodia!
I think the best thing about Sihanoukville is the sea food. We found a fantastic restaurant on our first night, it was the very last place on Serendipity Beach before the point, and had tables right on the edge of the water. You could sit having a cocktail, with the beach stretched out to
Chef de BBQ
The manager of the restaurant cooks our seafood at the table - very fresh! your left, and dozens of lights from the squid boats on the horizon catching tomorrow’s lunch, listening to the waves and the drift of khmer music. I am not underestimating when I say this was one of the best meals of my life, and most definitely the best seafood I have ever eaten. For $10 the three of us feasted on fresh marinated squid, king prawns, shrimp, baby octopus and thick fish fillets. All the seafood was marinated in red wine, soup stock, pepper and limes. It was barbequed right at the table, then served with vegetables and a divine pepper and lime sauce. It was just amazing.
So, after two days of this lifestyle, we were all very relaxed and enjoying life. On Sunday night I fell asleep early, full and content, despite the horridly uncomfortable bed. This lovely sleep was interrupted at 4am by a cry from Romy's room next to mine. As I pulled myself from my dreams, I wondered if she had slipped over, or was maybe having a nightmare. I tiptoed to my window, and peered through the curtains (being the big wimp I am), as I looked a bit more, I noticed my
Learning Khmer BBQ
my mum should be proud! window was wide open 'hmm, that's strange, I'm sure I shut that' and my bag was on the desk beside the window ledge 'hmm, that's strange, I'm sure I put my bag on the chair'...... tick tick, give my brain a chance, I was asleep one minute ago... tick, tick..... 'OHOH, I think I know why Romy just screamed'.........
A young boy had opened my locked window, climbed into my room, picked up and looked through my bags, knocked my towel and bathers off my chair, found my wallet, climbed out of my window, climbed into Romy's room, taken her digital camera off her bedside table, her bag from the desk, then knocked some clothes off a chair, bent down to pick them up, woken her up, (scream from Romy), untangled himself from the blanket she threw at him, and leapt out the window into the night...
So, with Romy quite shaken and counting her losses, and me marvelling about the fact I remembered to put my camera and iPod under the pillow next to me before I went to sleep, and hide my credit card and most of my money in my pack, I kept Romy company
Bon Appetite
Yuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmm in my room until sunrise (she was not going back to sleep!!). We were talking over events when I suddenly went 'oh yikes' - you see, it was really hot during the night, and the best way to stay cool is to sleep with as little as possible on, under the fan, in your private, locked room..... Poor burglar, he probably got more of a fright seeing me than Romy did seeing him! At least some of my modesty was protected by some very skimpy bonds - thanks RMIT International!!!
So, at 6am Romy and I woke up Julie and told her the night’s events. She laughed that she slept through it all, and that he started with my room, as she had $80 and a bag full of goodies just sitting on her desk.... We made the most of being up early, and went to the beach for a swim and breakfast before Romy and I tried to tackle the local Police.
The law enforcement officers here are notorious for many of the wrong reasons, and although highly amusing, I will not go into the details of our battle for a police report. The only thing I
Good Morning!
Early morning swim before a coconut shake and fresh fruit - it's a hard knock life! will say is that getting robbed was a much more bearable process than dealing with eight bullying, arrogant and tedious policemen. To everyone’s amazement here, I managed to be a tough enough bitch and get a police report in two hours, without paying any 'facilitation money' and without going to the main station (where the price for a report would have surely increased). I know avoiding corruption in this country is difficult, but I am going to do my best to stand my ground. I understand the economic reasons the police push so hard for this (if you were paid $20 a month, would you do anything for free..) but I fundamentally disagree with supporting these processes in a country struggling with issues of governance and equality. We'll see how I go.....
So, after a wonderful weekend, with a little interruption, we unenthusiastically made our way to the bus stop. As Romy and I had bought our tickets separately in Phnom Penh, we had not seen where each other were sitting - which was apparently to be on top of each other. We had both been given seat 17. The very unhelpful bus employee looked at me flatly and
Sara
Sara became our permanent friend on the beach. We would all buy bags of fresh fruit from him, and then he would hang out with us for hours. He claimed Julie as his 'Australian Mum' said 'you cannot take the bus'. The three of us then became very angry, bossy, western women. After fifteen minutes of us trying to come up with a solution, and the bus employee taking no notice of us and simply refusing me entry to the bus (the last to Phnom Penh for the day), a very nice Khmer woman alerted us that her friend was not travelling with her anymore, and that I could have the only spare seat on the bus. This was a relief - as the plastic chair was becoming the only option....
So, once again, karaoke and tedious comedy actors blaring, we trundled back to Phnom Penh.
My first experience outside of Phnom Penh - wonderful, tedious and confronting, a mixture of feelings I suspect I will come across again as I travel this country.
So, Rhianna, minus one Indiska wallet and $15, but a little more tanned (if you can call it that) and intrigued by this place.
(Also - I have have cut and pasted most of my address book into the subscriber list of this site. If you would prefer not to get automatic update emails, please feel free
Cheeky!
I shared my fruit with this girl at breakfast - she was a little cheeky monkey! to go to the 'message' section of this site and delete your name from the email list - cheers)
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Stina
non-member comment
beauty
hello gorgeous! I löööve the nails=).... its like paradise in the sunset, I'm looking at my breath on my jouerny to uni everyday, but I lööve that too=) hope work is great chicka and that you löööve it, my brain is overheated as you can tell, time to go home=) kramis stina