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Published: January 1st 2013
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We (mostly Øyvind) wanted to make sure we were somewhere touristy enough for Christmas in order to ensure some kind og liveliness and celebration.
We decided to extend our stay in Cambodia and spend Christmas by the beach in Sihanoukville. We stayed at a fancy place with a pool and a breakfast buffet, and did very little except lounge, besides making time to eat not one but two Christmas dinners (one on the 24th at the
Led Zephyr, where we were joined by a Norwegian couple we had met in Phnom Penh, and one on the 25th at
Mick and Craig's, just so we could celebrate Christmas with the rest of the mortals...).
We rented bicycles one day and went to Otres beach (we decided against motorcycles after we saw the police setting up shop and shamelessly pulling over foreigners to ask them for bribes), and had a wonderful chilled-out day on an almost empty stretch of sand that squeaked when we walked, and the clearest water we had seen on our trip so far.
At lunch by the water, Øyvind ordered a burger that came with all the fixings but no burger patty to speak of, and when we inquired
Lunch at the beach
We must admit, having a proper beer and burger lunch at the beach in a rare brake from the sun was a real treat about its absence, we were stared at as if we were asking them which way the beach was. This is just to illustrate the kind of things that happen, and that we just laugh about, and most of the time know are futile to try and remedy...
We ate cheap seafood BBQ on the beach at night, and four days went by in a flash. We needed and welcomed the break (even though there is always much to plan, and organize, and update).
Yes we (or mostly Sadie) felt we were doing Cambodia an injustice by only seeing its three most touristy towns. However, as we had originally decided to bite the bullet and only see Siem reap, we were seeing more than the bare minimum. And of course our big consolation prize was all the time we had spent in Vietnam and all the time we would have in Laos! And the bonus is, we were finally tan enough to look like we'd been travelling for some time 😉
- If you want to get to Otres beach: anyone giving you directions will tell you you can follow the road out of town along
A brake from the travel
Again, we managed to locate a quiet part of a beach where we could enjoy the emptiness, and a rather strange burger the beach, it then winds slightly away from the beach and reaches a hilltop at Queen Hill Resort. From here, the road should continue down to the beach and take you to the far end of it. Sadly, it is closed (and truthfully does not look like it ever was a road) and there is a staircase leading down to the beach from the hilltop. You can (as we did) carry your bikes down, but attempts to cycle on the shore were futile (even for steelthighed Øyvind) because of how soft the sand is. And the «natural» empty beach slated for development is rather dirty, and exposed, which for us was not worth the long walk in the sun past all th eguesthouses offering «happy» (weed-fortified) variations on their food... There is a road further inland, if you want to cycle all the way to the end of Otres, take that one.
- Runs on the beach in Sihanoukville: 2
- Øyvind's cold status: recuperated!
- Bug bit update: we use so much deet it's a miracle we aren't dead ourselves... the bugs stay away though...
- Malaria update: the plan was originally to
start taking Malarone when we hit the Mekong Delta, but as we are here in the dry season, mosquitoes have been few. So we are sticking to deet and long pants, and will revisit the issue if and when jungle trekking...
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mom
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love these pics!
what do you mean "weed-fortified"??? you mean the food has weeds in it??? hhhmmmmm....