01.-09.08.2009 - Blogabond

I was wondering, why Sihanouk Ville felt so westernised, but it is, as I read now, because it has been only constructed in the late 1950’s as a port city, so the town is much newer, more urban and cosmopolitan that most Cambodian provincial cities.

In general it is Cambodia’s premier beach town, sporting miles of sandy beaches, uninhabited islands and warm tropical waters.
The main city area sits on a beach lined peninsula jutting into the Gulf of Thailand. The pace of life is very relaxed and unhurried. The beaches offer umbrellas, thatched roofed eateries, bars and lots of restaurants, pubs, bungalows and an range of hotels, all making for a laid-back, beachy atmosphere and a great little tropical getaway. It is also a place to unwind by the beach, enjoy the fresh- from- the- ocean seafood , pary at the bars and happenings, take in island excursions or scuba trips and generally slow down, lay back and chill out.

So far so good, little guidebook, but how is it in reality?

I was very lucky to stay in a wooden bungalow at the beach with a wonderful sea view and hearing the waves at all times.

I also didn’t pay that much because of ‘rainy season’ and not many tourists. That was a great experience.

In 6 days there were only 2 days rain, so that also gave a great beach feeling.

I met up with a few other volunteers and we explored the 5 main beaches. Victory beach, which is apparently the ‘Ibiza’party beach

; Independence beach, most of it is closed to the public

; Sokha Beach, with perfect fine off-white sand

; Serendipity Beach

at Serendipity beach

is were I stayed, very popular with lots of accommodation and shacks to party; Ocheuteal Beach

is the same and then at the far end Otres Beach, where it is quieter and less busy.

When the weather was nice we stayed at the beach and chilled,

ate fresh seafood

fresh grilled sea squid

which was offered all the time or any other snacks, like fruit or doughnuts.

Constantly there were little kids, trying to sell bracelets, massages, hair removal or nail painting. Not only them, also cripples, a man with a baby on his arm who said his wife ran away came along and beggars in general. So you were never alone.

little boys selling cake rolls

SV has lots of orphans and poor families and I think they make good business with the tourists there. I had to explain a lot to them: “Knyom neksmetjet, ot mean loy charan”. That means that I am a volunteer and that I don’t have much money.

There was lots of sextourism going on. In the evenings, the young Khmei girls hooked up with single foreign males, those ones who are unattractive and old and you know that they only come there for one thing. Cheap entertainment.

In the streets I saw lots of white foreigners on motorbikes and was asking if they have a driving licence or how can they rent a moto. Driving licence is not needed. Only some kind of ID. The police apparently doesn’t stop because they want to avoid conflict. So basically everything is allowed in Sihanouk Ville.

at Serendipity beach

Including drugs like weed. That was the only open drug offer I had. And everybody smokes weed there openly and everywhere it is allowed. As long as you pay you can do everything you want there.

empty during the day, full in the evening

When we were walking along Otres Beach, I saw a crowd of people standing in the distance and was asking myself, what’s going on there. A party? Coming closer, I saw a man lying in the sand and a white woman over him doing cardiac resuscitation. But far too slow. And the crowd standing around them, a guy doing mouth to mouth resus.
I couldn’t help myself but jumping in and I’m not sure if I pushed the woman away, but she didn’t do it right, so I took over and then realised, that that man was already so blue and so I asked while doing the compressions, what happened. They said he was found around 30 minutes ago floating in the sea. They tried to call the ambulance but their reply was that after such a long time it was too late and he is probably dead anyway. To be honest, I didn’t try long. I gave maybe 3 or 4 more compressions together with the breaths from the guy, felt his aorta for a few seconds and declared him dead. His arms were stiff already as I realised when we turned him over to roll him onto a mat to carry him into a shack to cover the corpse. He was a heavy fat white foreigner and I can imagine he had a heart attack while being in the water or something like that. Also the waves were quit high all week and the stream strong. Nobody knew him but fortunately a guy came on his moto and said that this man rented a moto from him, so he had his passport. At least something. Later on the police arrived and I don’t know what happened then because I had to leave the scenery. It was quit a shock.

On the last day I was there, I did a boat trip to 3 islands, as they advertised it beforehand. One of them was the famous ‘Bamboo-island’. The trip was $14, including breakfast and lunch.
So in the morning I got a lift to the breakfast place and had a baguette with jam and a cup of tea. Then we went to the beach where the boat was already waiting for us. We were a group of people of 7. 3 couples and me. It took more then an hour to reach the first island over the open sea and the waves were sometimes a meter high. So we really had to cling to the boat not to fall out. But once we arrived, we had the opportunity to snorkel in shallow and calm water.

snorkeling on Island trip

Still I couldn’t see much because the snorkel equipment was disappointing and the sea was still not clear because of the storm. Even so I was really nice, because of the sight. And I love it to jump from a boat into blue water..

Next one was Bamboo- island.

We could snorkel again while the guys prepared lunch. Fresh Barracuda fillet from the grill.

there are around 1000 little islands around

That was really tasty.

more tourists on Bamboo-Island

Afterwards we had the opportunity to explore the island more so I went over to the other side and it was also very beautiful there.

jungle feeling on Bamboo- Island

I had a swim and a sunbath and would have stayed longer, if not one Khmei guy had made approaches towards me. So I joined the group again because I didn’t know how to say: Go away! In Khmei.

Bamboo- Island

I was swimming so much that afternoon.

ready for the next island?

It was so lovely.

on Bamboo-island

When we were ready for the third island, the motor of the boat stopped working. We were drifting for a while until finally they dropped the anchor on my suggestion. Of course non of the two guys had money left on the phone so they asked into the crowd who has local SIM. Me! After 5 telephone calls and 2 hours later, a boat arrived and towed away our boat back to the main island.

on the way back to main island

I felt all that was quit exciting and I wasn’t worried for a minute, but those American couples made a big fuss and got a free drink out at the end.

stuck but happy

I just felt sorry for the guys. I mean, what do people expect when they are here? At the end of the day it is still a developing country they are in but it’s easy to forget when you stay in one of the big posh hotels along the coast side .

But this is Cambodia, where people die in the sea and nobody notices it, where little children rummage around in the garbage to find something to eat, where the inhabitants would do anything for money. And still there are generally lovely people, very warm, smiley and helpful.

So I will definitely return, the landscape is just so beautiful and I love the sea. I also got a good tan, haven’t been that brown for a long time.

and this is not fake!

Back in PP I’ve witnessed ‘Cambodian autumn’ in a park with lots of kites and wind.

PP kites in the wind with Independence monument in background

of course I also got one!

written by

katja-horsch on August 10, 2009 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

from the travel blog: my trip to the beach

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