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Published: February 6th 2010
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Sihanoukville After the rain and cool in Phnom Penh, we were glad to get south to Sihanoukville, Cambodia's lively beach town, where it was a steamy 32C. We opted to stay by Ochheuteal Beach and found a fab new American style motel within walking distance of everything. We went to the beach on the first afternoon and were a bit dissapointed because the beach was full of beach shack bars, tables, loungers and people we could hardly see the sand. It was a popular and colourful place but wasn't as relaxing an experience as we'd hoped. It reminded us a little of Goa, where we didn't get a minutes peace because of persistant food sellers, jewellery sellers, offers of massages and beggers constantly wanting our attention. There was also a 'litter on the beach' issue, which was different from what we'd gotten used to in Thailand.
Next day we hired a scooter and went to explore other beaches. We drove south along the dusty dirt track roads and found beautiful paradise Otres Beach, which was lined with a scattering of low key bamboo beach bars and cocohuts but apart from that, was absolutely deserted and clean. We quickly got
into the routine of visiting this beach everyday after breakfast, sunbathing and swimming in the hot sea, not seeing a sole until we were starving, going to The Sunshine Cafe for dinner and sunset football. We soon got to be regulars at this friendly place (owned by Cambodian/Polish couple) and the Khymer food and seafood was first class!
We went on a boat trip with them, snorkling and visiting nearby Bamboo Island and Koh Ta Kiev Island, more untouched tropical beaches. We had lunch at a tiny eco tree house resort on Koh Ta Kiev, with only 5 tree houses plus a brick bread oven and a sauna!! We would have loved to stay here but it was a little pricey. But Otres Beach would not be untouched for much longer though. The owner told us that he had just received an eviction letter from the Government as they wanted the land back to sell to big resorts and hotel chains. They would be compensated, of course, but he was sad that this beach would loose it's beauty and backpacker vibe. This was also the same for the islands. Bamboo Island had just been bought by a Chinese company
and there would be a huge resort built on it by next season. Glad we'd visited when we did! Business v.s Environment and in these poorer developing countries, business wins every time! .
We spent 6 days in total beached in Sihanoukville and apart from a 3am Manchester Derby that Dee had to watch in the local supermarket (only place open!) and the local laundry lady nearly loosing our washing (almost all our clothes!), it was a very quite and pleasant stay.
Kampot Two hour mini bus ride east to Kampot, a little sleepy town on the seafront surrounded by mountains famous for its salt and pepper. We hired a scooter here too to explore the town as the heat was brutal and we'd probably die trying to walk. We lunched at a pub called The Rusty Keyhole and ate the most amazing BBQ pork ribs - better than any we'd eaten in New York and Dee had his first cut-throat razor shave in the local barber shop! We visited the beautiful colourful local Wat, the nearby salt farms and Dee went for a dip in the Teuk Chhou river.
Kampot is overlooked by the Elephant
mountains and on a plateau in these hills is a colonial ghost town called Bokor. We went on 3 hour jungle hike to visit this deserted town as it is supposed to be a very eerie place. Not only because the place is empty, decaying and up in the cold mountain mist and clouds but also because it was used as a Khymer Rouge base and many innocent people were murdered here. There is an old casino, hotel and catholic church to name but a few of the old delics still standing. It was a strange place and did remind us of the film 'Silent Hill' at bit. The clouds were rolling up to and over the plateau so we didn't get a good view of Kampot at all but it was atmospheric. There is a 650 room 5 star hotel resort being built on this site so it won't be desolate for very much longer.
Kep and Rabbit Island After another gorgeous feed at the Rusty Keyhole (turns out it's owned by a Mancunian who lived over the playing field from Dee's Gran in Flixton and they sold PG Tips!) we got a bus to Kep,
another quaint seaside town famous for it's crab. We stayed in French owned Kukuluku Guest House (with it's own private beach) and tried out the local speciality of fried Kep crab with fresh green papper corns at the local sea front crab market....yum! We rented a moto so we could go and visit a pepper plantation and expolre the surrounding countryside, which we did and loved!
We decided to leave our big bags at Kukuluku and spend a couple of nights on nearby Tonsay Island (aka Rabbit Island). The island is beautiful and only has a scattering of bamboo bungalows and cafes. Some locals also live on the island and cultivate seaweed in the shallows. We got little hut with ensuite (hole in the ground and a bucket of water!) for a couple of quid. We spent the time relaxing on the beach and hiking around the island. Dee tried his survival fishing kit for the first time and caught his first fish with the help from a little local boy. We dined and drank with a cool couple from the US who were on their honeymoon (nice!).
Back to Kep for a well needed shower. Our Cambodian
visas were coming to an end so we booked ourselves on the bus to Vietnam. We were sad to leave Cambodia as we'd had the BEST time. The people are fantastic and their country is still undeveoped and magnificent. We will definately come back.
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