Life's a Beach!

Since our trip on the boat we have been just relaxing and enjoying all that staying near the beach has to offer. I have been reading alot while chilling by the pool and we go for wonderful walks down the beach when it's not raining. The rain comes and goes here at this time of year. It's not quite the true rainy season yet so we still get many hours of sunshine. When the rain does come it is usually a heavy downpour that is over quickly.

The power sometimes cuts out due to a storm but it's usually restored pretty fast and since they use propane to cook here we were still able to get a tasty Indian meal the other day while the power was out. The only part of our order they were unable to make was the lassi because they needed the blender for that.

We eat amazingly well for very little money. Our typical dinner costs less than ten dollars for food and drinks for us both and there is so much food that you can hardly finish what's on the plate. Highlights include pork and chicken schnitzel, coconut chicken curry, and chicken barbeque with baked potatoes. One exception to our tasty meals was when we went for an early dinner at the Twin Baby restaurant. Ryan had a cheeseburger that left much to be desired.

Our breakfasts have been excellent too. About a block away is the Cinderella cafe which has the best coffee and yummiest bacon we've had since we arrived in Cambodia. They make an excellent ham and cheese omelette and apple strudel with ice cream too.

We do more than just eat (occasionally, lol). There are always some errands to run. We found a little used bookstore within walking distance which is very handy considering I've read 9 books since we arrived in Cambodia. We also went downtown to a computer store to buy a mouse. It was getting tricky updating the blog and preparing photos without one. The computer store was definitely no Future Shop or Best Buy but they had everything that you could need.

At night after dinner we come back to the hotel and sit on the balcony facing the street watching the world go by. The smells from the barbeques that go on all down the street waft up to us. Last night we finally saw our first Cambodian convertible (a red Lexus at that). I would have thought convertibles would be more popular in this climate. We also saw a Aston Martin Vanquish which seemed very out of place in this impoverished country.

Tomorrow we are off to get our visas for Vietnam and we should be heading to Ho Chi Minh next week. It's funny that the only reason that we came to Sihanoukville in the first place was to get those visas but instead we have fallen in love with this little Cambodian beach town and are finding it very hard to leave.

Beer on a Boat

After one false start booking a tour to the islands around Sihanoukville, the weather cooperated and we headed off to Victory beach on a tuk tuk to meet our boat. We were the first people to arrive so while we waited for the boat to get to the dock we wandered around the beach and up and down the pier.

More people started to arrive at the dock and then we saw our boat come around the corner. Once aboard we were treated to coffee, tea, donuts and banana bread and then set off with our 21 fellow passengers to check out the rest of the ship. It had 3 decks, a sun deck on the top, a bar deck on the mid level and the kitchen with dining area on the low level. Robert, the owner, was very proud of the boat that he built and for good reason. It was very comfortable with lounging areas and relaxing seating on every floor.

Ryan and I grabbed two seats facing the back and drank our coffees as we started on our way to the first island. After we had finished our coffees and admired the view for a little while we headed to the bar and Ryan had his first draft beer on a boat ever. We toasted with the owner and hung out at the bar chatting with him until we arrived at our first destination.

The island was lush, untouched and gorgeous. Ryan and I dove into the water and enjoyed swimming around in the open ocean. Ryan originally had fins and a mask when he first jumped in but the fins were more hindrance than helpful and there was not much to see with the mask unless you went far away from the boat. Too much silt and sand had been churned up and visibility was not that great. After a very nice swim we climbed back aboard, showered off the salt water and headed back up to the bar. On our way to the next island we chatted some more with the owner and met an Australian woman who was currently working as a biologist in Vietnam.

On the way to the second island we had an amazing buffet lunch that was prepared on the boat. By the time we had finished lunch and had some fruit for dessert we had made it to our second destination. We saw Robert and his dog Lucy head into the water and swim to shore. After that a couple more people jumped in the water and headed to shore and we decided to do the same. It didn't look like that far of a swim but once we got into the water it seemed much further than we originally thought. We made it to the beach without a problem and wandered around until we saw Robert and Lucy come back from a path through the jungle. He pointed the way to us and off we went into the jungle in our bare feet.

The air was much cooler in the midst of all of the trees and the path that we walked down was covered in leaf litter and the occasional giant millipede or trail of ants. We had to make sure we didn't step on anything so we walked very carefully until the path turned sandy again. The path through the forest had lead us to the other side of the island. It was completely deserted except for a small group of wood huts. The beach was stunning but the most amazing thing was that the sand squeaked under our feet. We jumped into the water and played in the waves for a while before heading back to the path through to the other side of the island where we swam back out to the boat.

On the way back to Victory beach to catch our tuk tuk and head to the hotel, we laid out on the sun deck and relaxed while watching the water and the islands drift past us. We had such a great day that we have decided to do it again!

There's Always Room for Mango

Sihanoukville, an accidental stop we made in order to get our Vietnam visa quicker, has turned out to be a quiet and calm beach oasis where we are relaxing and having a great time. It is low season so the hotel that we are staying at, Beach Club, and most of the other hotels, restaurants and attractions are really quiet and uncrowded. The beach is practically deserted when you compare it to the beaches in Thailand.

There is a long stretch of beautiful golden sand for us to wander up and down on, checking out the critters in the sand and lingering in the tide pools waiting for us to discover them. So far we've seen crabs, little jellyfish washed up on the shore, small fish and big bugs, even a dieing cuttlefish that was leaking murky ink into the water. When the tide is out there are many rocks to scramble around and sit on while watching the ocean and feeling the sea air on our faces. One day on our walk a cute puppy with ears that he still needed to grow into followed us around and tried snacking on a dead crab that Ryan found on the rocks.

At night the restaurants that line the beach have barbecues and you can sit in round wicker chairs right on the sand while you eat dinner. Ryan had a mishap with his chair while reaching for the bill after our dinner on the beach and tipped over into an ant hill. Unfortunately he was bitten many times before he regained his composure but has suffered no long term damage.

Our favorite place that we have eaten at so far was last night when we went to the Snake House. There is a long garden path that has lush vegetation on either side as you make your way down to the restaurant. Once inside you notice cages all the way around the outside of the seating area that have snakes, lizards, frogs and birds in them. Our table had a reticulated python underneath the glass table top. The food was excellent, Ryan had borscht and I had beef stroganoff. We finished off the evening with coffees and chocolate mousse. It was an excellent night out and since it was on the 30th of the month (our last fancy dinner out was on April 30th when we went out for our anniversary) we have started a new tradition that we hope to keep up even when we return to Canada of going out on date night every 30th of the month.

The meal at the snake house was far from the only good meal we've had here. It seems like every new place we try has excellent food. Our other favorite is LaPona where the chicken curry and chicken with cauliflower have both been scrumptious. After dinner you get a plate of fresh mango which is like getting free dessert. We have both decided that there is always room for mango, no matter how full you are.

Best Seat on the Bus

Since our last plane ride was a little bumpy and neither of us are huge fans of air travel we have decided that travelling by bus might be more ideal. We booked the bus to Phnom Penh through our hotel in Siem Reap where the receptionist that did the booking was very pleased to be able to get us the best seats on the bus. It turns out that the best seats are right up front on the top of the double decker bus. Not only did we have a view out the side window, we were also able to look at the road out in front of us. It was a very interesting ride and unlike air travel you get to see the landscape change in front of you.

We drove through small towns with lively markets, houses on stilts where small children ran around while their parents napped on hammocks under the house or prepared food with a baby at their hip. There were chickens, roosters, oxen, cows, pigs, ducks and many dogs. Ponds full of blooming lotus, rice fields stretching out from either side of the road, and kids going to and from school on bikes with their blue and white uniforms on.

Our bus driver was confident behind the wheel and had no qualms about using the horn as any good Cambodian bus driver would. His horn would sound to say 'watch out here we come' or 'please move over so we can get by' as he passed large trucks, cars and a plethora of scooters on the undivided highway. The scooters that we went past seem to be able to carry anything imaginable from entire families with televisions to 6 double mattresses (the driver had them strapped his back and the sides of the scooter).

Our next bus ride from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville was on a slightly nicer bus. It was the first bus I've been on that had a stewardess. We got sugar buns for breakfast and were treated to the most mind numbingly horrible pop songs ever conceived. The highlight of the music was the backstreet boys (I'm not even being sarcastic) and also included such gems as Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On'. We only had one set of headphones with us on the bus so we both decided to suffer, it wasn't fair for just one of us to get those songs stuck playing in our heads over and over and over...

We arrived at the bus depot and as we departed our bus the tuk tuk feeding frenzy ensued. They swarm you, trying to be the one to take you to your hotel. Luckily for us we had pick up arranged and broke free from the crowd with our driver. The tuk tuks in Cambodia are a little different from the ones in Thailand. Here you sit in a two wheeled covered cart that is pulled by a scooter. In Thailand the tuk tuks were all one piece units, in Bangkok they had three wheels, in Phuket they had four. They have all been quite comfortable to ride in, even though there is no air conditioning you get naturally cooled from the wind in your hair and the dust in your face (there is more than one reason to wear sunglasses here).

In Cambodia, as in most of Asia, traffic runs on a give way system. That means that every driver worries about the vehicles that are in front of them and if someone needs to get into your lane, or turn left in front of you, you slow down to let them by. The whole system seems to work very effectively considering the amount of vehicles and we have only seen one minor accident since we've been in Asia. There are hardly any traffic lights, only on very major intersections, and even those lights aren't paid attention to like they would be in Canada. Traffic lights have count down clocks to tell you when the light is going to switch so everyone starts going a few seconds before the green light.

Pedestrians do not have the right of way here as they do in Canada. Crossing the road is a little like playing frogger. Sometimes you can get all the way across when there is a break in traffic, but often you have to cross half way and then stand in the middle of the road until the other side is clear. As long as you are deliberate while you are walking you can cut in between the traffic coming along and all the scooters just go around you and compensate for you. The few pedestrian cross walks that there are have the funniest symbols to let you know when it is ok to cross. There is an animated running man on the sign and as it gets closer to a red light, the running man starts moving faster and faster. We got quite a giggle out of it the first time we saw it.