New Adventures In Backpacking

Next stop was Sihanoukville, Cambodia’s premier beach resort. I must confess being from Scotland and being whiter than white and not really being a beach person, but after the hustle and bustle of India, the treks in Nepal and the classes in Thailand, I felt quite a large amount of satisfaction for the first time in a very long time, just sitting at my table on the beach and feeling the sand between my toes.

Sihanoukville is a fun place, a man made town that’s located right along the beach. All sorts of accommodation can be found here, from very budget backpacking places to fairly up-market resorts. The beaches are littered with restaurants selling the cheapest and yummiest seafood and the nicest iced coffees that this boy from the council estates of Scotland may have ever tasted. On every trip I have always discovered a new food or drink that I could not imagine ever living without again. Iced coffee is my new addiction. Can’t think why they are not so popular in Scotland.

Like everywhere in Cambodia the mean little sales children were out in force being nasty to me when I did not purchase their merchandise. I got lucky however as my Swedish friend Hannah seemed to be unable to shake off a persistent little girl who followed her the whole day threatening to kill her and then whispered in her ear in perfect Swedish ‘I want to f**k you slow and hard.* I can only dread to think where she learnt that.

All the usual beach-type water sports are there if you are flushed with cash. I settled for a boat trip to a nearby deserted island for a picnic and some frisbee throwing with Vince. Snorkeling was also on the itinerary but this is where the comparison to the Islands in Thailand finishes. Whilst we were promised a host of exotic fish and ‘possible’ dolphin sightings, the reality when you were in the sea was you could barely see five feet in front of you. Though the dip in the sea during a hot afternoon was a more than welcome relief.

At night the tables and chairs are put away and the beach becomes one massive dance floor. It really reminded me of being back on the islands in Thailand . For those of who you enjoy gazing at blonde tanned beautiful Swedish women, Sihanoukville is the place for you. Swedish people are everywhere in Cambodia, which speaks volumes of the country that this is their chosen holiday destination whilst the Brits are still flocking to the Costa Del Sol.

I write these blogs there and then and then re-visit them when I have time to post them. You would never notice, but since I want to share how great my New Year was, some two months later, I think the game is well and truly up. My evening was spent on the packed beach, dancing like a maniac, meeting up with wonderful people, avoiding stray fireworks that everyone else seemed to find hilarious, and swimming in the sea when the sun came up. It was easily the best night of the trip and has inspired me to be abroad every New Year from now on

It was at this point of the trip Vince had to return home to a cold Dutch winter. It’s always fun traveling with him. Sadly most of my stories about him on this trip will never see the light of day on this blog! But one thing is for certain it will not be the last time we hit the road together. There’s lots more pavement to be chased.

Vince has finally got round to putting up his own travel blog. His tales and adventures, not to mention many more years of experience, put my efforts to shame. Check his blog out at http://new-world-adventures.blogspot.com/

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 5:23 am and is filed under Cambodia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.