Sihanoukville, South Cambodia
Anna's entry:
We chose to come to Sihanoukville for two reasons. First, to explore the coast of South Cambodia. And second, to get a visa for Viet Nam, our next destination.
We chose to stay at Serendipity beach, a relaxed coastal stretch on the Gulf of Thailand. Since the low tourist season started, we had lots of accommodation choices. We selected a place over-looking the ocean (private room for only $8). As a matter of fact, we happened to be the only tourists in that hotel, so we had an entire second floor to ourselves. Our window and a huge balcony was right over the ocean, so we would enjoy watching the sea right in front of us, and star-gazing at night was excellent. In the morning and early evening we would virtually step out of the hotel into the pleasant sea. We went snorkeling every day, the water was warm and calm, the visibility and marine life wasn't the greatest (especially compared to our diving excursions prior on this trip), but over all it was peaceful and pleasant (except for occasional tiny jelly fish appearances that seemed to be brought by afternoon currents). Also, in the morning we would go to a local produce market - since the town did not have as many tourists, we typically got a reasonable (local) price on fruits. Rambutangs were my favorites - that's a red hairy fruit, sweet and juicy inside, variety of lychees of some sort. And, Rob would get a dozen delicious waffles fresh from the waffle iron (heated by wood) from a local old lady who gave us great price. In the evenings we would play table pool with the hotel staff. Those Cambodians have different game rules, but let me tell you, once of the guys was a real pool shark. Needless to say, when we had a team competition, I would always invite him to join my team. Despite of my horrible billiard abilities, we normally would win. :)
Also, during the night time local fire jugglers would demonstrate their skills right on the beach - they would throw juggling flames up in the air, as well as perform all kind of skills with big fire rings. It seemed a little touristy, but it held our interest for about an hour, plus Rob took some excellent photos of their work.
We were able to process our Viet Nam visa at a local Consulate in about 10 minutes, so our second purpose for coming to Sihanoukville was accomplished as well, and it was time to move on.
We got the bus tickets to Phnom Penh, where we would explore a sad part of the Cambodian history - the gruesome Khmer Rouge...
We chose to come to Sihanoukville for two reasons. First, to explore the coast of South Cambodia. And second, to get a visa for Viet Nam, our next destination.
We chose to stay at Serendipity beach, a relaxed coastal stretch on the Gulf of Thailand. Since the low tourist season started, we had lots of accommodation choices. We selected a place over-looking the ocean (private room for only $8). As a matter of fact, we happened to be the only tourists in that hotel, so we had an entire second floor to ourselves. Our window and a huge balcony was right over the ocean, so we would enjoy watching the sea right in front of us, and star-gazing at night was excellent. In the morning and early evening we would virtually step out of the hotel into the pleasant sea. We went snorkeling every day, the water was warm and calm, the visibility and marine life wasn't the greatest (especially compared to our diving excursions prior on this trip), but over all it was peaceful and pleasant (except for occasional tiny jelly fish appearances that seemed to be brought by afternoon currents). Also, in the morning we would go to a local produce market - since the town did not have as many tourists, we typically got a reasonable (local) price on fruits. Rambutangs were my favorites - that's a red hairy fruit, sweet and juicy inside, variety of lychees of some sort. And, Rob would get a dozen delicious waffles fresh from the waffle iron (heated by wood) from a local old lady who gave us great price. In the evenings we would play table pool with the hotel staff. Those Cambodians have different game rules, but let me tell you, once of the guys was a real pool shark. Needless to say, when we had a team competition, I would always invite him to join my team. Despite of my horrible billiard abilities, we normally would win. :)
Also, during the night time local fire jugglers would demonstrate their skills right on the beach - they would throw juggling flames up in the air, as well as perform all kind of skills with big fire rings. It seemed a little touristy, but it held our interest for about an hour, plus Rob took some excellent photos of their work.
We were able to process our Viet Nam visa at a local Consulate in about 10 minutes, so our second purpose for coming to Sihanoukville was accomplished as well, and it was time to move on.
We got the bus tickets to Phnom Penh, where we would explore a sad part of the Cambodian history - the gruesome Khmer Rouge...
posted by Rob and Anna @ 6:25 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home