Fortunately for us, the minibus ride between Kampot and Sihanoukville would only take 2 hours, but for the first time in South East Asia, the bus actually arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule!
Inconceivable.
The minibus dropped us off just a few meters from the central roundabout and it was just a short walk to our hostel, Panda Guesthouse (www.pandasihanoukville.com).
Sihanoukville, Cambodia's seaside resort haven, is a city like no other in Cambodia. As opposed to the usual flat, arid landscape encompassing most of the western and central portions of the country, Sihanoukville boasts kilometers of beautiful white-sand beaches.
Like most places in South East Asia, where there are beaches, there are backpackers and parties!
Our hostel, while not directly on the beach, was still only a 5-minute walk to Serendipity and Occheuteal beaches.
Once we settled in, we wandered down Occheuteal beach and stopped for some 50-cent draft beers. As we were relaxing, Willeke, a Dutch traveler we had met in Siem Reap wandered by. She joined us for a drink and would later join us for dinner.
After dinner, the flyer-kids were already out in full force: there are a number of bars on the beach that try to entice people to come to their bars by handing out flyers with various promotions or free drinks on them.
These incentives can range from getting a free drink for having a mustache (success!) or wearing a costume (something as simple as wearing a head band or bracelet).
Most places also give you a free shot before entering and a free beer at midnight, so all in all, with all these promotions and flyers you can get pretty drunk for next to nothing.
Josh and I usually split our time between JJ's Playground: a dirty bar with great music and a very strong smell of vomit; and Dolphin Shack, a bar with better music and a solid dance floor. Did I mention both had beer pong tables?
Needless to say that we would be at whichever bar had the best deals (aka free drinks) at whichever time.
After our first of many nights of partying, Willike accompanied me to Otres beach, a very relaxed (even by Cambodian standards) beach with next to no one pestering you to buy something.
After a blissful day there, we headed back to Serendipity for dinner and more flyer specials!
Following 3 nights of balls-to-the-wall partying, Josh and I decided to take it easy and head to Koh Rong island to relax and go scuba diving.
Unfortunately, on the eve of our departure, Josh got food poisoning and would have to spend another day in Sihanoukville.
I took a chartered tuk tuk to the pier and boarded a large boat destined to Koh Rong, the jumping off point for Cambodian diving in the Gulf of Thailand, and where I would be staying for 2 nights.
The boat took 2 hours and passed numerous islands along the way.
As soon as we arrived I knew that I would love it there: minimal development, very laid-back atmosphere, reggae music and no electricity; all the makings of a true island getaway.
I dropped my bags off at Paradise Bungalows and went back to the dive shop, Koh Rong Dive Center, for briefing before heading out on the sea.
I love diving: being on a boat and the feeling when you first jump into the tropical water just can't be beat.
It had been a month since I had last been diving in Thailand, but, while I don't want to outright say it sucked, the extremely low visibility, lack of fish due to the wonderful practice of dynamite fishing, and sparse coral made the dive sites a little lack-luster. I was still happy to have seen some crabs and stingrays though.
The rest of the day I just lounged around at one of the beach cafes and enjoyed my time in paradise.
The following day I would make my way to the secret beach on the other side of Koh Rong. To get there you need to traverse the jungle for close to an hour and climb down some pretty treacherous paths in order to reach it.
Once you exit the trees and behold this beach, even 4 hours through the jungle would have been worth it!
Perhaps it's the difficulty in getting there, or most backpackers are too lazy or hungover to walk there, but this diamond-in-the-rough of a beach is one incredible little secret.
The powder white sand stretches out for kilometers with not one, not even one shop, restaurant, stall or tout on it. There is virtually no garbage to be found and with a short walk you can have your own 500m stretch of ivory white sand and turquoise waters completely to yourself.
Unbelievable!
I spent several hours there until I felt like I was starting to burn and made the hike back to the inhabited side of the island.
Upon my return, Josh had already arrived and shared my point of view on the diving. I then spent quite some time gushing to him about the secret beach I had just returned from.
I had been fortunate enough to visit it while its pristine virgin sands remained intact. Sadly enough, there are apparently blueprints circulating on the internet of the future airport to be built on Koh Rong and the large-scale development projects that will surely follow shortly after.
While I do understand that Cambodians are extremely poor and are in dire need of income and employment generating projects; it's just sad that it comes at the expense of some of natures most beautiful places.
Paradise found. Paradise lost.
No comments:
Post a Comment