Another Giant Ibis bus to what is essentially a area of beach resorts in South East Cambodia.
We hired a scooter in Sihanoukville ('Snook') and explored, swimbos on board. Eating great seafood in local restaurants gave us access to the best beaches outside of the town although just a short stroll down from the beach and you were back to simple fishing villages and a very different way of life.
As to the town, the beach areas are split up into the locals' and westerners' beaches, some of it fairly tacky with shady characters trying to sell drugs, though we did get to see some live music.
We also had our first direct experience of the endemic corruption here: we were aware of the local police scam of pulling over foreigners on scooters and dreaming up offences to fine them for, sometimes for serious sums. We were duly pulled over by a sunglassed thug with loads of gold braid. Nic kept smiling (through gritted teeth) and we got away with $2. By coincidence, this was what a policeman in Siem Reap had offered to sell one of his badges for as souvenir.
There are also many casinos in Snook for the Chinese who fly in specifically for them; we entered one and it was like a different planet. Away from the beach there was also a great fish market.
We then moved on to Koh Rong, an island 2 hours by ferry from mainland Cambodia and renowned for its pristine beaches and also for the location of many of the "Survivor" reality shows around the world. Our resort originally started life as a base camp for the production crews and shares the long sandy beach with a fishing village and nothing else. The white sand is so fine it squeaks when you walk on it. Apart from the obvious sun lounging, archery, kayaking (which led to the demise of Nic's iPhone this time!) and some excellent snorkelling were our main activities. Our stay was only spoilt when on a sunset stroll down the beach, Carolyn was dinner for the local sandfly population and the following days the very unpleasant bites emerged...we will spare you any photos!
We hired a scooter in Sihanoukville ('Snook') and explored, swimbos on board. Eating great seafood in local restaurants gave us access to the best beaches outside of the town although just a short stroll down from the beach and you were back to simple fishing villages and a very different way of life.
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| Love the bike helmet! |
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| Haggling whilst trying to maintain white skin! |
We also had our first direct experience of the endemic corruption here: we were aware of the local police scam of pulling over foreigners on scooters and dreaming up offences to fine them for, sometimes for serious sums. We were duly pulled over by a sunglassed thug with loads of gold braid. Nic kept smiling (through gritted teeth) and we got away with $2. By coincidence, this was what a policeman in Siem Reap had offered to sell one of his badges for as souvenir.
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| Idyllic but...... |
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| Kayaking through the mangroves |
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