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The journey to Sihanoukville from the homestay was through more rural Cambodia which was very scenic, although it was the first time that i had noticed the skull and crossbone signs attached to trees signalling landmines. Its so sad that they obviously cannot afford to clear areas of the country from them. Arrived in sihanoukville after the home stay and the walk feeling rather shattered. Most of the group were straight down to the beach to check it out but I had read several reviews that the beach wasn't that the great and you could get hassled alot by people trying to sell you stuff. I chilled out in the hotel room instead and as this was the best hotel we had stayed in Cambodia I wasn't too bothered. It was nice to be in a room with aircon again and also the bathroom had 2 new features, first of all it wasn't a wet room and secondly it had a bath. Regarding the wet room business it was just so nice to have a shower without having to dry yourself and the toilet at the same time.
That evening I did go to the beach and was quite glad that I had chilled out in the daytime as the beach front was pretty seedy. Don't get me wrong i do like beach resorts and beaches but I'm probably not the best person to comment on this as i don't normally do these type of holiday destinations, but it reminded me of the a typical beach resort in the Mediterranean or North Africa. There was loads of a little bars dotted along the shore front each playing their own music trying to compete with the neighbouring bars with loads of young people getting hammered on cheap alcohol listening to s*** music. We ate on the beach and a few times kids were coming up to sell bracelets, the thing that makes it worse is if you watch them they are actually with their parents who are drinking at the bars. Due to being in a touristy area there was also alot more casualties of war, pretty sad really but the usual stuff. After dinner some people stayed out to get hammered on the cheap alcohol but I decided to be sensible to get an early night due to having limited sleep the night before at the home stay.
Woke up the following day really early, which isn't unusual as most days have had very early starts, but after waking I couldn't get back to sleep. I realised after sometime that the mattress was really hard and therefore was no more comfortable than a park bench. I also felt a bit loose in the bowel so i necked a couple of Imodium tablets and decided to get up and get ready for the boat trip to check out some islands.
The boat we caught was a bit similar to a longtail boat that you see in Thailand, although ours had the added feature of real charcoal effect decking, it must had a small fire at some point in the boats history. It also had a small leak too, infested with giant mutant silverfish and the outboard motor cut out several times. The first stop the boat made was off the shore of an island called Koh Pra. Here we did snorkelling and I also did a bit of fishing. The snorkelling was good, the coral wasn't too bad either, but obviously not as good as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. There were plenty of fish to see but no real unusual ones or brightly coloured ones. I got out of the sea and did a bit of fishing with a hand line and used squid as bait. I caught my first fish in 2 years and when I brought it up on deck the Cambodians were warning everyone not to go near it as it was covered in rather sharp spikes which it flared up as soon as it came out of the water. I got a picture with it and then he unhooked it for me and he mentioned eating it but that was last time I saw it, he'll probably have it for his tea for tonight.
The second island was called Koh Tekil and this was where our boat moored and we were allowed to hit the beach. It was nice as there were very few people on it. It was chill out time, although I did go for a small walk to a bar jut up the beach and had fresh coconut. We ate on the beach and the tour guide and the boat driver did barbecued barracuda which was very nice. Following dinner I just chilled out on the beach and went for a swim in the sea, the sea was proper warm too just like bath water.
When it was time to leave the guy emptied the boat from water and we were off again back to mainland. The trip back was a lot more scarier than the journey out and it was probably the first time that I have felt slightly anxious in Cambodia. The sea was a bit choppy and the driver had no choice but to manoeuvre sideways across the waves, therefore causing the boat to tip at an angle. Typically I was sat on the side closest to the water. On return to the hotel it was becoming obvious that some of the group had caught the sun quite badly, I wasn't too bad as I'd covered up and also i will never forget the time i was backpacking around thailand and witnessing what the sun did to a scottish lad's back.
Before going out for tea I could hear loud music coming directly from outside the hotel, it appears that they has set up a stage for karaoke which was strangely playing dance music. That was new to me I didn't know you could do karaoke to dance music. It could probably take off if wasn't for the guy who was controlling the cd player being trigger happy with the tunes so you just getting into the music and then he would change the music and play that tune for a couple of minutes. Thankfully the whole event was finished when we returned from dinner.
Anyway that takes me the current day. I woke this morning feeling a bit loose again so I necked a couple of Imodium, I've got a 5-6 hour public bus journey back to Phnom Penh and although I like new experiences this is one experience I don't really want. We return to Phnom Penh before we cross the border to Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam tomorrow, I'm so looking forward to Vietnam. But before we head to Vietnam the American lad in the group, Harr, is determined to fire a RPG missile into some waste land. I'm thinking of going with him as I wanted to capture the event on my phone.
- comments
Ralph Avvin'it! Cheers Ste. Well done on catching the fish! Karaoke to dance music! Maybe to Alison Limerick mate "Where Love Lives"! OLDSCHOOL!
Johnno So basically, you caught a fish and then had it stolen from you by the only person around. Brilliant. Good job you're where it's warm... It's freezing here - pipes bursting all over the north west... Have a great day!
stevennokes Alright Ralph, if it was Alison limericks "where love lives" it would be very special, but unfortunately I recall a really bad version of "gangnam style"