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Homestay - Chambok
After 3.5 hours on a very uncomfortable cramped bus we arrived at our first homestay of the trip, we have 3 in total. After having such a great homestay in Thailand last year I had high expectations for this. Homestays in Cambodia are a new and fast growing source of income for remote villages and I am all for that. However it was all a bit disappointing.
It was lovely when we first arrived as all the children flocked to meet us; I've never seen such happy and dirty children (but as we soon found out staying clean in such a dusty environment is not easy!) Mark and James played football with the kids for a bit, they were loving it. The accommodation was exactly as I expected, wooden house with one room on stilts, thin mattress on the floor and a mozzie net. The loo was outside and was of the typical squat variety.
About half an hour after we arrived we got back on the bus and were taken to the local community centre. A local guide greeted us and told us all about the history of the community and the projects that they were running to rebuild their society - it was interesting and they are a tough bunch of people. We then had dinner cooked by women from the villages. Another group were doing homestay as well, they were loud and kind of took over. After dinner it was back to the accommodation to sleep basically. Well at least until around 3 am when the cockerel started then his 10 mates joined in.
I would have preferred to have had more interaction with the family and the locals and it would have been nice to stay with the family and eat with them. I hope the next stay is better but never the less it gave us a real insight into rural Cambodian living.
Sihanoukville
Another 3.5 hours on a bus the next day brought us to the seaside town of Sihanoukville. This is a holiday destination for many Cambodians. We had 2 days here, which meant we could 'chillax' a bit. Our first night involved a lovely meal on the beach, BBQ seafood for me, many drinks and dancing until about 1.30 am, for others it was later. I was dancing with a local Cambodian girl at the end of the evening, think she was loving the moves; either that or she was just fascinated. It was a great night and the group all had a good time. We then had a free day and found a private beach away from the hordes of western tourists - bliss and a lovely sea breeze made it the perfect antidote to all the travelling, late nights and early mornings.
Next stop we are back to Phnom Phen for a night then we have an 8-hour journey to Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam….very much looking forward to this next part of the trip. 5 of our group will leave and 6 new people come on board.
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