Snoopyville
Trip Start
Mar 01, 2011
1
72
92
Trip End
Ongoing
Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Sunday, October 16, 2011
We decided to spend our last 4 days of Cambodia in Sihanoukville. Its Cambodia’s answer to a seaside resort.
We got a bus down to the south coast which took 4 hours from Phnom Penh and arrived in a dusty car park greeted by some eager tuk-tuk drivers. Earlier we had decided to stay on Otres Beach which is supposed to be quieter then the others around Sihanoukville. The tuk-tuk drivers informed us it would cost $8 to get there due to it being so far away, 10 minutes later we were still trying to haggle and Boff had a crowd of tuk-tuk drivers glued to him. We were then led to a plastic board in the car park and printed on it was each beach and the cost to get there, sure enough it said $8 - so we gave up.
The journey to Otres Beach took about 20 minutes and ended on a terrible dirt road, we held on to our belongings and each other fearing we would fall out of the tuk-tuk or lose our worldly possessions. When we finally arrived at Mushroom-Point our tuk-tuk driver did a big circle around a huge puddle and dropped us off right outside the guesthouse (nice of him).
[Dan comment: I had to travel back down said terrible road on the back of a locals motorbike to use an ATM so we could pay for the accommodation. The man drove full speed and one handed through a herd of cows, I’ll just say that we got that close that one of the cows tail’s hit me in the face on the way through. Never again!]
Mushroom Point is a guesthouse just off Otres Beach. Its owned and ran by several Slovenians who opened the place last December. The bungalows look like big mushrooms with a base which is round and white, topped by a domed roof weaved out of leaves. The bed inside is also round and the bathroom is just outside your mushroom - its also shaped like a mushroom, just smaller. The best bit about the bathroom was the saloon style doors which you could see through when taking a shower or be seen through!
We spent the next few days reading, playing backgammon and strolling on the beach. The restaurant at Mushroom Point had great food so we ate there most days. At the end of the day when the sun was setting we would sit on the beach and marvel at the amazing sunsets, some of the best we’ve seen during our travels.
Mushroom Point was a lovely place filled with backpackers, quirky housing and good food. However, Otres Beach is not the nicest beach we have been to. The problem is when your travelling you generally visit lots of beaches and you begin to compare them, hands down Malaysia/Borneo still holds the best beach title. Otres Beach although the quietest in Sihanoukville is lined with guesthouses, restaurants and tuk-tuk drivers. The good news is we expected this based on what other people had told us so we enjoyed the sun, sunsets, food and company and our last few days in Cambodia.
Today we returned to Phnom Penh and tomorrow we will leave on a bus for Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) and so that concludes another chapter of South East Asia - Cambodia.
Cambodia Final Thoughts…..
For both of us Cambodia has been one of our favourite places in South East Asia. There isn’t that much to see in Cambodia if I’m honest, you can visit Angkor Wat, ride the Bamboo Train in Battambang, visit the seaside resort of Sihanoukville, submerge yourself in history in Phnom Penh and jungle trek in the west if you like but when compared to a jungle trek in Thailand or a beach in Malaysia, Cambodia just seems to be trying its best to catch up (with the exception of Angkor Wat of course).
So you might be wondering why we loved Cambodia so much? Well one reason is the people, there genuinely friendly, helpful, smiley and happy. The landscape is green and watery and in some places dishevelled and dirty but it only adds to its charm, similar to India you love Cambodia because it effects you and you never quite know how or why but it does.
Its not possible to wax lyrical about the joys of Cambodia and there’s nothing negative to report its one of those countries you have to visit to understand why people love it and why we loved it.
