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Published: March 6th 2009
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Polly:
After a rather arduous (and slightly hungover) twelve hour bus trip from Siem Reap, via Phnom Penh, we arrived at the centre of Sihanoukville just after dark. By now we were prepared for the familiar hordes of tuk-tuk drivers and hotel touts, so we got our luggage, and then selected one tuk-tuk driver to deal with. We were still followed by another ten or so, vying for business, until we were firmly seated in the back with our rucksacks propped up in front of us.
A Cambodian waiter in Siem Reap had recommended that we head to Occheuteal Beach, as it's just away from the main backpacker spot, but still fairly cheap. When we got there, however, there were no available rooms anywhere! Eventually we got out and decided to have a walk round ourselves, but were then picked up again by our tuk-tuk driver, who had since found us a room within our budget. We booked into the Holiday Hotel for 10US$ a night. Unfortunately, for that price they disconnected the air-conditioning, but it was otherwise perfect. When Ross had a look in the bathroom he grimaced and told me that I wasn't going to like it,
but he was just winding me up as it was the best bathroom ever, and it had a BATH! I took no time in running it and having a soak, whilst Ross checked out the channels on our cable TV.
We went for a late dinner at a local Khmer restaurant and had a nice meal of beef lok lak and fish amok. Despite having ordered amok three times, it was always totally different! This time the fish was great, barracuda I think, as result of our seaside location, and the sauce was creamy and coconut flavoured. Compared to Laos, where the food was often bland, or just plain dodgy, every meal has been a pleasant surprise so far in Cambodia.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel and collapsed. I was quite relieved to be near the seaside and away from the hustle and bustle of Siem Reap.
Saturday was purely a leisurely day, we had no plans, no tourist attractions to visit, just a beach to sprawl out on. The beach was quite nice, and the water was clean. As long as you bought a drink or two from one of the many beach
bars, the sunbeds and umbrellas were free. The only downside was the Russian men who plonked themselves down next us and lapped up the attention of all the fruit and jewellery sellers, particularly those under fourteen. Hmmmm...
Whilst on the beach we got chatting to a guy who worked on a boat, and booked a day-trip for the following day out to some snorkelling locations. We caught some rays (sun, not fish), read some of our books, and tried to ignore the annoying Russians.
Lying in the sun doing nothing can actually make you work up quite an appetite, so we went out for a Thali at an Indian restaurant that evening. It was outstanding.
The next morning we got up early, and caught a tuk-tuk to Victory Beach, where our boat departed from. As we drove there we passed five star hotels situated next to slums. The contrast was strange, but I imagine the people who live in the slums are contracted to work on the many new developments in Sihanoukville. Many Thai businessmen have started to make the short trip across the Cham Yeam border to spend money in the casinos here, so there is
a big boom in resort development.
We boarded our vessel, the newly built Motoryacht Sun, and found a spot on the upper deck to lie down. Shortly after we set off we were served with coffee and cake, just before the bar opened. We cruised past Koh Ta Kiev Island and stopped to snorkel at Bamboo Island. The boat was full of Scanda-hooligans who found it much more entertaining to do back flips off the top deck than any snorkelling. We swam out to the reef, but the visibility wasn't great, and much of the coral had been destroyed by dynamite fishing.
They served up a traditional Khmer lunch on board, which was great, and we got a few mojitos from the bar. It was pretty hard to get served as the aforementioned Scanda-hooligans had formed a big ring around it and were downing drinks whilst screaming requests to the barman and the DJ.
The fifty or so passengers were an eclectic mix, but everyone found a space on one of the three decks, where the vibe suited them. It was a relaxing day out, and a great way to see a couple of the islands.
We spent Monday on Occheuteal Beach again, this time giving the Russians a wide berth. As we'd had quite a bit of sun the day before, we lay under umbrellas and read our books, with the sea breeze keeping us cool. I had a back massage which was lovely, and cheap as chips. We finished the day with a slap-up dinner at one of the BBQ restaurants near our hotel. Ross ordered a whole barbecued red snapper with salad and jacket potatoes, and I had garlic and peppered prawns (which were huge), with rice. It was probably the best meal we've eaten in a long time.
The following morning we packed up our stuff and caught a bus up to Phnom Penh. The elderly western guy behind us was just leaving his holiday 'sweetheart' and kept phoning her being all soppy. I know I have a habit at laughing at inappropriate moments, so when he said “kissy kissy, missy missy, not too much boom boom, OK?” I had to bite my lip very hard. You get a bit cynical after a while, and I'm sure some genuine romances do blossom, but some people we spoke to were very open
about what they were there for. As Cambodia has the highest HIV rate in Asia, I find this kind of tourism strange, and I don't think I'll ever really understand it.
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