The last few days have been down on the southern coast in a town called Sihanoukville, Cambodia's only real beach resort.
Lots of lazing around on beaches, drinking cocktails and forgetting the bustle of Phnom Penh and Siam Reap. I hired a bike yesterday and rode up to Victory Hill - one of the other parts of the town - in the blazing sun. It's quite hilly here so I was lucky to have a bike with gears - a novelty in Cambodia. Managed to have a good cycle round and felt like I'd done something at least. The sweatiness proved it.
There are 3 bad bits about Sihanoukville / Cambodia.
1) There doesn't seem to be a regular rubbish collection or any bins for that matter, so the rubbish from the restaurants is just heaped out on the street to sit in the blazing sun all day. It's a formidable scent. It stings the nostrils.
2) When you're trying to relax on the beach you constantly get hounded by kids selling bracelets and fireworks - "open your heart and open your wallet mister!", women selling massages and pedicures or amputees begging for money. It's really sad to see cos there was probably a landmine involved somewhere, but if you gave money to all of them you would spend a fortune - they're everywhere.
3) The money here is very confusing. You pay in dollars and then get a mix of dollars and Cambodian Riel in return. It's 4,000 Riel to one dollar and they have 100 Riel notes, so you end up with a huge wad of money that is pretty useless. Also, nobody ever seems to have change. If the bill comes to $6.50 and you give a $10 note, they make a noise like a builder giving an estimate ("it's gonna cost ya") and ask if you have anything smaller. Well no. No I don't. A massive wad of Riel is then thrust in my direction.
So Lizi, Annie and I are busting out of here tomorrow with travel plans back to Thailand where the people are less pushy, the money is less confusing and the rubbish collection seems to be better organised.
I did end up having a pedicure on the beach. My feet look bloody lovely.
Lots of lazing around on beaches, drinking cocktails and forgetting the bustle of Phnom Penh and Siam Reap. I hired a bike yesterday and rode up to Victory Hill - one of the other parts of the town - in the blazing sun. It's quite hilly here so I was lucky to have a bike with gears - a novelty in Cambodia. Managed to have a good cycle round and felt like I'd done something at least. The sweatiness proved it.There are 3 bad bits about Sihanoukville / Cambodia.
1) There doesn't seem to be a regular rubbish collection or any bins for that matter, so the rubbish from the restaurants is just heaped out on the street to sit in the blazing sun all day. It's a formidable scent. It stings the nostrils.
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| Beach sellers by sunset |
3) The money here is very confusing. You pay in dollars and then get a mix of dollars and Cambodian Riel in return. It's 4,000 Riel to one dollar and they have 100 Riel notes, so you end up with a huge wad of money that is pretty useless. Also, nobody ever seems to have change. If the bill comes to $6.50 and you give a $10 note, they make a noise like a builder giving an estimate ("it's gonna cost ya") and ask if you have anything smaller. Well no. No I don't. A massive wad of Riel is then thrust in my direction.
So Lizi, Annie and I are busting out of here tomorrow with travel plans back to Thailand where the people are less pushy, the money is less confusing and the rubbish collection seems to be better organised.
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| Escape! |
I did end up having a pedicure on the beach. My feet look bloody lovely.
a pedicure on the beach? It's a tough life! hope your trip goes well.
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