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.