Sihanoukville
The touristy beach town of Sihanoukville - only visit if you are after beaches & islands, a party or to spend time with lots of Russians. You can choose which you like best or do it all!
We stayed at Backbackers Heaven Hostel - air con, double bunk beds and a mansion of a hostel, it was a really nice big space with a cute bar/restaurant, pool area and chill out spots. And a bargain for $7 pppn.
We hired a moto (scooter) for $6 for the day from a restaurant in near our hostel. The Hostel has motos too but had none for us that day. We set off for a beach day, deciding to check out the nicest of the beaches (we had read in the Lonely Planet) Otres Beach. It was the furthest beach, about 3 or 4 km from our hostel but we wanted to make the most of our moto hire and so set off on the short, but long when terrified on the roads of Cambodia, adventure to the beach. We actually didn't look around all that much and went straight to the first place we found, Palm Beach, a beautiful resort on the beachfront, not the cheapest but certainly reasonable compared to the rest of the world. There was a minimum spend of $5 to use their loungers so we ordered some tonic waters, a banana smoothie and shared a tasty Tom Yum soup whilst we where there, coming to a grand total of $8 - not bad for a luxurious day at the beach.
Koh Rong & Koh Rong Samloem Islands - We found paradise!
We decided to take a boat trip around some of the islands off the coast of Sihanoukville. $20 pp got us a simple but tasty breakfast on the shore before departing for a snorkle spot at an Island I cannot remember, and then lunch on Koh Rong Samloem, and then a stop off at island number 3, Koh Rong.
My advise, as lovely as the boat trip was, is to simply head straight to Koh Rong Samloem. Time on the boat was long compared to beach time and there are speedy boats that can take you directly to the islands you want to be at. This one, was absolute heaven...and the closest we've been to paradise since the San Blas Islands between South/Central America. A lush green backdrop, gorgeous white sand, so soft it feels like water between your toes and crystal clear water. Accompany that with a few bungalows and a restaurant or two, you will never want to leave. Trust me!
Koh Rong however, let's put this as politely as possible because hey whatever floats your boat, but this island is for...the party people, for the cheap-beer lovers and also for those not overly concerned with cleanliness. I shall say no more.
Kampot
Next we headed to Kampot, because everyone said we'd LOVE it. I mean, we did liked it. But we were happy to move on.
They're funny things, recommendations whilst travelling, you never actually know whether you'll agree until your bus pulls up at the station and you have that very first impression of a place. We liked Kampot but we did not love it as much as some said they had. We found a great coffee/breakfast place, Espresso and a few good spots for food but street food wasn't what we had expected, and actually found it quite difficult to find cheaper food.
When you head to Kampot everyone tells you about the Bokor Hill Station and the abandoned casino. So not wanting to miss out on a good tourist attraction, we rented a moto and headed on the 1 hour journey to the National Park and to see this old building with our own eyes. Not to be totally negative about it and in my defence we were having one of those exhaused- I-can't-bothered-to-do-anything traveller days but it was crappy and just plain weird. It was a long journey to see exactly what the photos showed, an abandoned building, once destined to be a casino and not much else. Yes, now there is shiny new, expensive casino up there, and a few other random buildings including an old church and a giant Buddha. But other than that, we were disappointed.
I must say however that the journey home was the most entertaining part. We got a flat tire. Yes, an hour away from town and on Bokor Hill itself our back tire decided to give up the ghost. We attempted to ride slowly down but not wanting to ruin the rim completely we soon stopped and opted for plan b. Plan b was born from the fact that cannot ride a moto and that I happened to be in running gear and therefore there was only one thing for it. Tom rides the moto slowly and steadily down the hill and I run behind him. Luckily it was cooler up there and after about 15 minutes of running we came to a stop station where we found food, water and a man with a toolbox. We had been hopeful of borrowing a phone to call our hostel for a pick up but no, this kind man whipped out a tool box and got patching. An hour later we had enjoyed a plate of Lok Lak and the guy had done the job. After saying millions of 'thank yous' and some money for his trouble, we were back on the road. The funny part is, just seconds before the flat tire we had both been singing as loud as we could whilst pootling down the hill, the 'Hakuna Matata' song from Lion King..."It means no worries!"
Pnom Pehn
I have to say we didn't really 'enjoy' our time in this hectic city. But we were moved by the history of Cambodia and educated on things we ought to have known about. Our hostel, '88' had good reviews online so we went for it, but the dorm seemed quite the opposite to the pictures online and was quite dark, although it did have air con. The pool/bar area had also looked a bit more spaciious in the pictures and although quite a big space, it was very busy and not very 'chilled'. We were spoilt in South and Central America, with a lot of hostels embracing the need for a calm, chilled space to relax.
So here I go on with my first world problems... before admitting that I hadn't been aware of Cambodia's past. I learned a lot and I am ashamed to admit that I was totally unaware of the genocide that happened here, killing 2 million Cambodians at the hand of the Khemer Rouge during the late 70s. A visit to the Prison and Killing Fields was more than an 'eye opener', it was utterly heart-breaking, learning of this country's awful history, and how it has been scarred by the loss of so many of its people was a humbling experience. The prison told us about the torture these poor people suffered, about the way in which Pol Pot and his men gathered their prisoners and how they obtained so many false confessions. Then, the Killing Fields, one of many and the place where these innocent people where taken to be killed. First. given hope and then brutally murdered and buried in mass graves. Men, women, children. Killed by their fellow Cambodians; many of which where killed later. With tears in my eyes I walked around this now peaceful place, listening to the audio tour which told this dreadful story. A tough place but I think every traveller should visit, to understand more about this country and it's scars. The toughest lesson was not knowing about such atrocities, despite them having occured in our own parents lifetimes, just 10 years before I was born.
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| Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum & The Killing Fields, Cambodia |
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