Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Monday, January 19, 2009
The ruins of Siem Riep were simply incredible, especially the part called Bayon. We rode bicycles, which is the best way to see the ruins, we took lonely paths out through the jungle, seeing isolated ruins overgrown by vegetation, feeling like we were in an Indiana Jones movie. And there were lots of monkeys, They had no fear of us, and if you see their teeth, you would know why. From Siem Riep, we took a high-speed river boat to Phnom penh. We were on the roof all the way, partying with some Korean men who were half drunk on something called Soju. They made us try some, but it tasted like lighter fluid and probably had enough alcohol to be equally flammable. When we arrived in Phnom Penh, we spent one night in an overly touristy area by the river, The bus ride from Phnom Penh to
Sihanoukville was not particularly interesting, but the countryside was pretty green, and we got to see rice fields being plowed with wooden plows pulled by oxen. When the bus arrived at the Sihanoukville, bus station, we were instantly beset upon by a horde of tuk tuk drivers and motodops (open-air taxis, and motorbike taxis). We literally thought that they were going to tear our clothes off. We opted for a tuk tuk, and told him to take us to Coaster's, a place we had called to make reservations while we were in Phnom Penh. The tuk tuk stopped at the top of a rough dirt road leading down to the beach, maybe a quarter mile away, and the tuk tuk driver told us that he couldn't take us any further, because the road was too steep. This came as an unpleasant surprise, because we had heavy bags, and we were tired from the trip. We made like pack mules, and finally made it down to the beach where Coasters was supposed to be. After some inquiry, we learned that it was another 100 yards or so, on down the beach. After more slogging, we made it to Coasters. It was a shabby looking place, not what we expected from what we saw on the internet, but the worst was yet to come. Even though we had called the day before and reserved, they told us they had no room (I am skeptical about this, because the place looked pretty deserted to me). I was tired and upset, so the clerk called a fellow with a heavy Irish accent who identified himself as the owner. He was all apologetic, and said that he would find us a room at the guesthouse next door called the Aquarium at double the price. We were too tired to argue, so like suckers, we paid the price, not only for one night, but for four. The next shock was that the room was not on the beach like we wanted, but way up the hill, and they didn't even offer to carry our bags up the long hill. The room itself was dirty, but it was getting dark, so we collapsed in our beds, both of which had mosquito nets with holes in them.The night was miserable, because we got eaten alive by mosquitos because of holes in the mosquito net, and it was NOISY, it turns out that it was right beside an all-night disco bar. The next morning, we talked to the Irish fellow again, and tried to get our money back, but he refused, and wasnt even nice about it. We mentioned our experience to the bartender at a nearby beachside bar, and he said that our experience was not surprising, because the Irish owner of Coasters and also the Aquarium as it turns out, is locally notorious as a shyster. Well enough about the bad part. One reason we came to
Sihanoukville was to get our scuba diving certification, since the prices there are very low. This was a wonderful experience, almost enough to make up for the bad lodging. we went for the Ecosea Dive shop. their dive boat wasn't a thing of beauty, but they took us to a location on our second day in the water that had just an incredible variety of colorful, exotic fish, just like Seaworld, but real. The beach at
Sihanoukville is long, with powdery white sand fronted by warm, turqquoise blue water. The best part was the the palm frond roofed bars and restaurants right on the sand, where they barbecue the freshest seafood right over the coals. They all have lounge chairs where we spent all our time when we weren't in the water, receiving massages and pedicures, and generally turning into suntanned, relaxed, jello. Paradise.
