The Beach Side of Cambodia
Trip Start
Dec 06, 2008
1
10
13
Trip End
Jan 02, 2009
Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Saturday, December 20, 2008
On our first day here, we got some delicious and very fresh seafood and then we hit the white beaches with crystal clear water. The downside of this beautiful destination is that much of the people's income in this town is generated from tourists buying their trinkets, so the moment we grabbed a chair on the sand, we were mobbed by children selling bracelets, women offering pedicures and massages and even eyebrow threading, and endless beggars. Beaches have never been my vacation destinations, so this type of mobbing was all new to me. Saren is really good at saying no and leaving them no false hope that maybe she'll change her mind We came back to our hotel after that with intentions of going out, but we all just fell asleep.
It's a pretty spread out town, so on a whim, we rented some motos the next day, and man, what fun! Again, with safety first as the motto, we didn't have to provide a driver's license or insurance or anything. Just $7 for the day and we hit the pavement. Saren and Oscar rode on one moto, and I took the other--they were automatic--no clutch just yet. After we got the hang of it, we took the bikes out to the countryside of Sihanoukville to the Ream National Park--about 20 km. out. The beach we found was deserted--there were bungalow pavilions and palm trees lining the shore, but there were no other people in sight. So, Saren swam, Oscar dove for shells and crabs, and I tried to knock a coconut down from a tree--I was unsuccessful. After the beach, we drove around to a temple where a Buddhist woman gave us a prayer and a tour of their under-construction temple. There were monuments all over of the 12 chinese new year characters (rat, dog, horse, snake, etc.). The woman spoke in Khmer the entire time so we have absolutely no clue what she was saying, but she was cute and very interested in showing us around and blessing us.. We then drove back to town to our hotel and crashed for the night from all the sun and wind and driving.
One of the major things I have noticed about Cambodia is that it receives a ton of foreign aid from surrounding Asian nations--Vietnam, China, Thailand, and Korea. Actually, Korea has a really big stake here in Cambodia, but I'm still trying to figure out why. Michael, any thoughts? Anyways, temples, national parks, and historical sites are pretty much all preserved through funding from external sources. Cambodia is still getting up on its feet for tourism, so we're lucky we got here when we did. It's rather untouched compared to Thailand, and this was the sort of experience I was hoping for.
Our last day in Sihanoukville was spent at another beach, a private one this time. I knew this time in the water was approaching and so for about 4 days before the beach, I was psyching myself up to go in the water. Being petrified of shark attacks (this time I have a reason, Conor), I was rather hesitant to go in. But I did and it was great, and I found sand dollars and shells and mini-crabs. Who knew the ocean was so alive? Goodness knows that there isn't much going on in Lake Michigan other than mutated fish. I totally got burned on my arms and legs--there will never be a sunscreen strong enough for me. The beach was beautiful, and after, we grabbed an amazing dinner at a restaurant in the backpacker's area called La Paillote. It was the best meal we have had yet, and if in Sihanoukville any longer, I'm sure we would have gone back.
The food was French influenced Asian, and it was executed much better than the Italian-Asian mess we had in Bangkok. The chef was young, but he was well-trained, and I was really interested in talking with him about his chef background. But the blasted language barrier, once again, stopped me from figuring out his story. This is another instance of why I will do more studying of the native language the next time I go abroad.
