Being beach bums

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March 10th - March 16th

Any journey in South East Asia always seems to take much longer than we are led to believe. We now know to add at least two hours to any estimate given to us. The delays are usually due to the roads being so bad that anything over 40mph is impossible and the frequent stops to pick up extra fares. Not to mention slowing down to let cows cross or to dodge the many dogs that roam the streets.

The journey to Sihanoukville was interesting because we had entertainment (aside from the laughably bad Asian comedies on the TV) in the form of a quartet of diva-ish transvestites. I am very open-minded and have nothing against men who want to dress like women (we do have the best clothes after all) but these guys were rude. They barged on to the bus dressed like extras from Working Girl knocking children and elderly people out of the way. Unfortunately, unlike the majority of Cambodians, this group were built like wrestlers and by the end of the sweaty trip had a distinct man aroma and 5 o’clock shadows.

As usual the bus dropped off on the outskirts of town but as is the norm there were countless moto, tuk tuk and taxi drivers clamouring outside the bus doors for our custom. We eventually got to our accommodation and crashed out. Ocean Walk Inn on Serendipity Beach Road which cost $17 a night, was just a two minute stroll to the beach but we only managed two nights there before we had enough of the faulty air con, the cold water shower and having to leave the room to go to the bathroom. For an extra $3 a night we checked into the Beach Road Hotel which had excellent air con, ensuite with hot water and a pool. We’ve stayed at some really great places (and some complete dives) and it is amazing to see what we can get here for half the price of two dorm beds in Oz.

The beach in Sihanoukville is a long and curving palm tree-lined sliver of sand with an abundance of loungers to laze about on outside an assortment of bars. It’s not the best beach in the world as there is a lot of rubbish along the shore line (there doesn’t seem to be many bins in Cambodia and rubbish just gets piled up) but it was great to just chill out in the sun and thankfully there was a sea breeze because it was over 30 degrees every day.

There are tons of restaurants and bars in town and we enjoyed eating good food (including an amazing steak stuffed with prawns for £3) and partaking in one or two buckets of gin and tonic. We hung out a bit at Monkey Republic which has a great happy hour and does amazingly cheap food like homemade fish fingers and chips. Yummy. The most happening bar is called Utopia and even has free dorm rooms. We went there for the entertainment value of watching young western backpackers be picked up (completely unawares or course) by stunning Cambodian prostitutes. Never fails to amuse.

When the heat got too much we retreated to what is probably the second coolest cinema in the world (after the Cinema Paradiso in Wanaka) to watch Up in The Air. The Top Cat cinema has private screening booths with huge plasma TVs and comfy sofas which you can hire out for as long as you like to watch the new releases. Such a cool idea for a business.

So after a few days of chilling out, reading books, sunbathing, drinking and eating tasty food we were relaxed enough to get on another bus to head back to Phnom Penh for one night before enduring another epic bus journey to cross the border into Vietnam.

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