Sihanoukville

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Sihanoukville

Sihanoukville is located on the southwest coast of Cambodia and is a popular stop on the traveler route. The Serendipity area of Sihanoukville has a strong tourist influence and is similar to party strips in numerous other holiday destinations. There are copious amounts of casinos, bars and restaurants, playing Western music and serving Western food. After spending one night here we decided to move 5km south from Serendipity to Otres beach.
Although still aimed at tourists it has a quieter and more relaxed vibe. The majority of accommodation is located along either side of the dirt track road, which runs adjacent to the shoreline. There is a mixture of luxurious holiday resorts as well as some cheaper options for those on a budget, in the form of basic wooden huts. The overall price for accommodation was higher than what we had paid throughout the rest of Cambodia but the reason for this is the idyllic location, right on the seafront.

On our first night we saw some young boys using a large spear to catch fish whilst the tide was high, which seemed to take much skill in the dark. Fishing provides a major source of income to the area and many women hike up and down the beach in the daytime selling king prawns and other seafood not to mention the merciless sunglasses sellers who hold no qualms in attempting to sell their glasses to tourists already wearing them!

Over the four nights we stayed there was a very unpredictable weather pattern, quickly changing from burning sunshine to a down pour of torrential rain. Whilst eating lunch one afternoon (in the sunshine) a massive storm hit and the sky quickly filled with dark grey cloud, accompanied by piercing thunder and lightning. The restaurant was primarily outside and only covered in a thin plastic roof with open sides. The main road joining all the resorts is a basic dirt track. The numerous pot holes soon filled with water, creating large puddles and flooding large areas of the road. Although we weren't in the monsoon season, it gave me a real insight into what it would be like and how easily homes could become flooded.

Otres has a relaxed vibe, playing cool music and offering cheap drinks, as well as the odd poker and pool tournament. We spent lots of time taking advantage of the free pool tables in the bar, overlooking the beach and watching the sunset. It was nice to be back by the coast and have the opportunity to swim in the warm, bath like sea. Even when it rained, many people, including us, would stay swimming in the water. Twenty metres out to sea sat a hammock suspended on a wooden frame, which was very relaxing to sit in as we gently swayed with the sea's undulations.

We drove over to Victory beach, on the other side of Sihanoukville, which, alongside Serendipity and Otres, is the third main tourist developed area of town. As we drove across the city, much of it was very run down and dirty, very different from the Otres and Serendipity areas more like the other rural parts of Cambodia we'd already seen. We stopped at a local food market but were put off by the level of hygiene with fruit and vegetables being sold from the muddy water covered floor and some questionable smells in the air so decided to have a picnic on the beach instead. However whilst we were enjoying lunch in the sun, the weather changed sporadically and we ended up being completely soaked in the sudden down pour!



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