Where We At? Sihanoukville (but not for long)
We’ve been chillin’ in sunny (far too sunny) Sihanoukville with our German buds Anna-Maria and Benjamin for the past few days.
In the ocean after a long time away from it.........fully clothed
The first night, it just happened to be a full moon. Well, you know what that means in Southeast Asia. The night ended in us being covered in body paint, swimming in our dresses, and consuming the biggest, most fantastic burger of our lives (what Amy termed the two-dead-animals-in-one-burger meal…chicken, cheese and bacony heaven).
Sihanoukville is pretty cool – definitely a backpacker town. The main beach was absolutely packed when we arrived, because the water festival (the second-biggest festival of the year) is in Phnom Penh right now and so many of the Phnom Penhers have come down for a break from the craziness.
A few days back, we had a crazy little incident with a tuktuk driver taking us to a beach a few kilometers from here. Our tuktuk was unsuccessfully climbing a steep hill, and the next thing we knew, it slowed to a stop, and we heard a bang, and our tuktuk driver saying softly, “help me, help me.” We looked over to see the tuktuk’s motorcycle vertical to the road, our tuktuk driver wedged in between the bike and the tuktuk. First, we stopped the tuktuk from rolling backwards, then we helped him out of the incredibly painful position he was in. His back was badly bruised and we encouraged him to get medical help but he responded that he was “a man.” Right.
The beach – Otres beach – was lovely. White sand, and cool, fresh ocean water. The vendors were slightly obnoxious, until we met a group of very clever young girls. The cleverest of the group, Srayon, asked Amy if she wanted her legs threaded. Amy, understandably frustrated at having been asked this question numerous times by numerous vendors, replied that in Canada, boys like girls with leg hair. Srayon didn’t miss a beat: “You can lie to me, but don’t lie to yourself,” she says in perfect English. Amy and I both cracked up.
Yesterday, we found two lovely little cafés for breakfast and…well…late breakfast. The first was Q&A, which is a library-type café with a shite load of books. The second was The Starfish Bakery, which has lovely baked goods, and exclusively hires disabled people that would struggle finding meaningful jobs elsewhere. Both were around the downtown area.
On the way to downtown, there is a traffic circle with these two lions in a compromising position...
In the evening, we headed to the Waterstation Hill area, where Anna-Maria had heard there were lovely sunsets to be seen, and Amy had heard of a nice little restaurant. The sunset, unfortunately, was slightly disappointing (nothing compared to Don Det), and the restaurant Amy had heard of had been closed for over a year. What we discovered about Weatherstation Hill, though, is that the area is extremely ‘ex-pat’-y and full of girly bars. Yuck.
My overall opinion of Sihanoukville? It’s a fun beach resort town, but still can’t compare to Thailand’s beaches...but I guess not much can.
Today, we’re headed to a little-known backpacker secret island called Rabbit Island. Secret’s out, bitches!
PS Blonde Traveler Tip of the Day: Phnom Penh is not pronounced, as most of us think, pe-nom pen, but actually just nom pen
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 05 November 2009 03:54 )