Sihanouk Ville, Cambodia

Sunday 7th – Tuesday 9th Feb

After a pretty good nights sleep at the Apex guesthouse we got up early enough for a quick bite to eat and jump on the 8am coach that picked us up from the guesthouse.

The journey to Sihanouk Ville took around 5hrs. The most obvious difference to Thailand was the roads, Cambodia is less developed and many of the roads are not yet tarmac.

According to the Lonely Planet 70% of Cambodia’s rainforest has been chopped down. However, on the stretch from the Koh Kong border to Sihanouk Ville the rainforest still looked incredible! Although the closer we got to Sihanouk Ville the more palm plantations I could see, but still not as many as Thailand!

Upon arriving at Sihanouk Ville bus station a sea of taxi drivers, tuk-tuks and mopeds were at the ready, all trying to tout for our business. The first was trying to persuade us to pay 500 baht (10 pounds) for a five minute ride, hoping that tourists arriving in Cambodia from Thailand would give up their baht or be confused with the riel currency. Eventually we ended up paying 16,000 riel ($4 dollars) which was still twice the amount we should have paid!

As many of the Lonely Planet recommendations were full (probably as it was coming up to Chinese New Year), our tuk-tuk driver took us to the GST guesthouse, which is on the main street across the road from Serendipity beach.

The accommodation was all of $7 dollars per night and was pretty basic, but it did have a good restaurant and internet facilities.

Serendipity beach was absolute chaos, just like Perranporth beach in the height of the season but worse! Tourism businesses line both the beach and the shoreline there is not a free patch of sand or sea! Covered by water sport facilities to bars and restaurants!

There was something sad about this place, I felt that the Cambodian people were so poor that any opportunity to make a dollar from the tourism trade was seized at every opportunity.

There doesn’t seem to be any regulations, with bars and restaurants offering drugs and prostitution and notices in hotel rooms informed tourists of the problems of child sex exploitation. In addition pollution can be seen everywhere, plastic bags line the streets and beaches, and dirty water outlets from the restaurants are pumped into the sea!

Our immediate reaction to this place was to get out as soon as possible, however, we decided to give Sihanouk Ville a chance, as Serendipity beach was only a small part of this area!

We decided to pay $17 each to go to the near by Ream National Park a few kilometers away. The day trip included breakfast, lunch and all transportation. Unfortunately, Elliott couldn’t make the trip as he was suffering from food poisoning.

We arranged the trip through ‘Saroum Thearity’, one of he many tour operators just off Serendipity beach. This was actually a good find, as it was on a side street that had many shops including the ‘Cambodian Children’s Painting Project’. A registered NGO that sell children’s artwork for $4 and the money helps provide: meals, fresh clean drinking water, first aid, dental care, mentoring and family support, school sponsorships and supplies, eco awareness projects, clothing and footwear and educating the children to protect and love the environment...check it out: www.letuscreate.org

With this wonderful project I actually felt that thee was still ‘serendipity’ about his place!