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Published: February 28th 2006
Tonight may be a shorter entry, as it is nearly 10pm, and I have been awake since 6am (that actually sounds pathetic, but I am really really tired).
We arrived by bus at Sihanoukville, on the Southern Coast, around 11am today, after a good 4hr trip (in a/c) on a coach from Phnom Penh. A tuk-tuk picked us up from the guesthouse at 7am, and drove us with backpacks in tow, to the bus terminal. We boarded the bus to the sound of some beautiful Khmer karaoke, blerring out of the DVD played at the front of the bus. The locals seem to enjoy awakeningly loud karaoke music early in the mornings, as you can be testament to if you stay in our room at the OK Guesthouse, third floor, any day of the year, I am sure.
Anyway, lets get to the crunch... We rolled into Sihanoukville around lunchtime, and as the Lonely Planet suggested, we had trouble getting a reasonable price for a moto or taxi. The increased tourism in the last few years to the area has resulted in spoilt and greedy drivers, sellers, etc., much like in the tourist centre of Cambodia, Siem Reap and the Angkor Temples. We finally agreed to 2000 riel per person per moto (US$0.50), and the drivers, down here on brand new scooters unlike in Phnom Penh, headed off towards Seredipity Beach (thanks Marty and Fiona), where we got a room at the Nap House for US$9 per night. On the way to the guesthouse, my moto driver got rather snotty several time, once when he stopped at another guesthouse from which he received commission to get us to stay there. I politely said 'no thankyou', and he sped off down the dirt road (in poor repair) towards the Nap House. For the first time, I actually felt unsafe on the roads, as the guy was driving way too fast, probably to scare me. Luckily, the trip was short, and we vowed to avoid motos as much as possible at the beaches.
We checked into the last available room (of four rooms), which was rather dirty unfortunately, and headed out to the beach bar where we joined the rest of the bikini-ed tourists for a cocktail. We were swarmed instantly by kids with bracelets, books, fruit, etc., three of which made us promise to be their friends and buy only off them. We soon worked out the they ALL have the same lines...
The vibe at the beach was funny, to say the least. Helyna compared it to the movie, The Beach, and I think she was on the money. Lots of spaced out tourists with lots of flesh showing, and very little time for the many Khmers around. Most of the Westerners were off in their own little worlds, which we later worked out was due to the fact that most of them were drinking happy shakes or eating happy pizza, followed by a few Cambodian or Thai made panadol.
The drugs were everywhere, and I think you would struggle to find one of the restaurants or bars along the beach who didn't serve it concealed in one of their dishes or drinks. One even sold happy cigarettes!
It took me a while to catch on, as I am so naive to all this sort of stuff, but after a while, it bacame so obvious that nearly everyone was here just for a good, forgettable time! Eva wasn't so surprised, as she said a lot of her friends had gone to the Thai coastline to find the same thing, only much more of it.
The three of us talked alot about the whole 'drug thing' over dinner, and I think the general concensus was that people take drugs for all sorts of reasons - fun, something to do, or perhaps escaping reality, which I think is the overwhelming reason in the third world, especially for those Westerners who are expats and live in these countries. We met one expat before on the beach who invited us to the full moon party. He said he had just moved to Sihanoukville from Phnom Penh, as he had gotten too scared living in the city. Reckoned that even the Khmers were scared of living there. This really surprised me, as we had seen nothing but positive in PP. Obviously, it totally depends on the circles you get around in. Actually, come to think of it, Kirk had mentioned the other day that he went to a party in the hills around Phnom Penh, and two guys had been shot. Apparently the Prince of Cambodia was there, so no questions were asked about the shottings. But it just goes to show what a dangerous, scarry place this could become if you got caught up in cheap narcotics. Hmmm.
Thankfully, we were joined at dinner by a few of the best guests we could have hoped for - Lak, Phea, Poeu and a few of their other little friends. The kids initially tried to sell us some bracelets, but decided to camp down and chat. They are so cheeky, just like the adult Khmers, and try to pull your leg at every chance they get, just to have a laugh. They asked us questions about Australia, and we shot back questions about Cambodia and their lives. Poeu, the poor little darling, was falling asleep in the chair, but all three of them had to tough it out until 10pm, when their parents apparently come to pick them up. We all wondered whether this was true, but I gues we will never know. Some argue that buying things off these kids is just supporting child labour. By the looks of their health, though, these kids were getting SOME sort of financial benefit from being out here at all sorts of hours, and at least they are being fed sufficiently to keep they out of extreme poverty. And they are learning English from the foreigners. It just all balances on a fine line between heaven and hell. Another hmmm.
xoxo Maz
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Gabi K.
non-member comment
First thing this morning, I got up, switched the kettle on and looked in my mail, and TWO BLOGS!So, I have now read one and keep numero due for a little later.The beach experience reminds me of a Greek island (with Manfred in the early 80's, fully in tourists' hands, didn't matter which country you were in, drugs and world peace people who were, we were sure, driving hand-painted VW combis at home and wearing t-shirts with Che Guevara on them.Good thing you left, wasted time, but also good to have experienced,the "bad" influences of tourism,attitudes and expectations ofdiff. tourists etc. Imagine you guys would only have booked a holiday to that destination and how diff. your entire impression on Camb. would then be .I think the plight of the street selling kids can only be overcome by helping the parents and by a stronger economy (if they have any parents at all), all oyu can do is help out for the day, and I agree with you there. O.K., more rain today and more time to do my PAPERWORK. Thanks and viele Kuesschen und Gruesse an H., Eure Mutter