Chilling In Cambodia

22^nd March – 9^th April 2016

Independence Monument

I’d been on the go constantly for almost three months so I thought it was time for a short break. I was in need of a holiday! I booked myself some beach time on the Cambodian coast for a little while to chill before launching back into the chaos in Vietnam.

The Royal Palace

More Phnom Penh

I still had a day left in the capital of Phnom Penh and I chose to spend the day exploring the city. I walked down the river and around the outside of the Royal Palace. I wasn’t bothered about going in as it looked very similar to things I had seen before.

Very grand

My and Daimi parted ways again as she was in a hurry to do the islands before starting volunteer work. I wanted to do a more relaxed pace for a change. That night was largely uneventful. I sat in the hostel bar for a while. The owner was Australian and was a nice man. There are a lot of expats in Cambodia running businesses.

Looks rude from this angle

Convertible?

The next day I caught the bus down to Sihanoukville which took forever. When I looked on the GPS map after 2 hours I saw that we had only travelled 12km thanks to the traffic! I was very happy to finally get off the bus. Then I jumped into this weird car that had a roof extension. All the taxis here are like this. It’s a little odd but I think they look quite cool.

Awesome accommodation

I stayed at a hostel in Otres Village which is a tiny little village away from the hugely touristy town of Sihanoukville. Part of me wanting to relax was to get away from that sort of party place. This place still had travellers though. The hostel I stayed at, The Hacienda, was full of people. It’s a really chilled place where everyone just hangs out in the bar.

Bamboo bar

The welcome drink is a shot of Jager! A little unusual but welcome all the same. The place had quite a hippy vibe. Dreadlocks everywhere. I spent the evening in the bar chatting to people and drinking. I had a chicken parmi which was an absolute treat!

Otres Beach

The next day I went down the beach and what a beach it is. So chilled, barely anyone around. They had started to build restaurants and bars along the beach but they have been banned so most of the strip is just empty sand for people to enjoy. The existing businesses may or may not be demolished, they are still debating that.

Awesome location

I went down to one of the restaurants and had lunch. It was just so I could use the sun loungers that they had for a few hours. It was such a beautiful place to sit.

Beautiful

The plan was to stay in Otres Village for a few days before going out to the islands. This turned into a full week as the place was just too awesome to leave. I wanted to chill and chill I did. I was so relaxed and the idea of packing all my stuff and moving again seemed like too much effort. I really enjoyed this place.

Amazing place for such an horrendous moment

There was one particularly horrendous moment though that will stay with me. If you continue to walk down the beach, past all the restaurants then you could to a small creek which you can wade across. Not many people go down there so its effectively a private beach. I fancied a walk down that way just so I could have a whole beach all to myself.

As I was walking along I saw 4 police officers talking to a western girl which I thought seemed odd. They didn’t seem to be arresting her or telling her off for anything so I walked over and asked what was happening. She pointed to a dead body floating in the shallows about 20 metres further up the beach. That was a shock! I would have walked right up to it without noticing but I was already close enough to tell that he had been dead for a while. It was such an awful thing to witness and it certainly killed my mood.

Still a nice beach

It was hard to take my mind off it whilst I was exploring the coastline. That was until I went around a rock and stumbled on a couple having sex. I wasn’t expecting that either!

Crabs

Otres Market

Every Saturday the Otres Market opens for business. It was just opposite the hostel so I went over. Its not really a market. More of a live music venue. I had a few beers with some friends I had made and watched the live bands which were pretty good for the middle of nowhere. The power kept cutting out but apart from that it was pretty good. I saw an old lady smoking a joint and dancing around with everyone else which demonstrates the hippy vibe I mentioned earlier.

More beautiful beaches

Bit of coastal erosion

I spent some more time at the beach. I accidentally forgot to pay for my lunch in one of the bars. There’s been a few times when I’ve got up to leave and then I suddenly remember to pay but this time I didn’t realise until I was back at the hostel!

Awesome place to watch a sunset

After a week here I thought it was time to pay my bill and head on to the islands.  I had enjoyed just hanging out and not doing too much. I also took the chance to plan the rest of my trip after Vietnam. I needed to book flights before they got too expensive. Apparently I'm going to the Philippines.

Awesome

A huge ball of gas

I had one last day at the beach so that I could watch the sunset. It was beautiful. I can see why people have moved here. I think that might be a planet crossing the sun or a sunspot. I meant to look it up but I forgot.

Chaos on the pier

The journey from Otres Village to Koh Rong Samloem was predictably chaotic (that’s why I had been putting it off). I got one of those weird cars to the pier and it was manic. There were about a hundred people cramped into this café and some confusion about what was going on. It turned that the speed ferry was broken and all the people catching the 9am ferry were still sat waiting. It as 11.30am. After an hour two slowboats arrived. One for Koh Rong and one for Koh Rong Samloem

It was the roughest ferry ride I have ever been on. Not that I’ve been on all that many but this was very rocky. The waves were pretty big for this little boat and it swung from side to side so hard that you had to hold on even sat down. I was on the upper deck which only increased the swinging. I actually found it quite fun. It was a different story for those downstairs who were throwing up!

I thought I'd seen a beautiful beach, I was wrong

After a couple of hours I arrived in paradise, otherwise know as Saracen bay on Koh Rong Samloem. It was stunning beyond belief. Crystal clear water with such a strong blue against the white sand. You could easily pay a fortune for somewhere like this but here I was paying a fraction of the price. We had a little wait before the boat transfer came to take us into the next bay where the accommodation was.

Hut on the beach

Not a bad spot for a beer

The hostel was pretty cool. I stayed in a wooden hut with three other people. The bar area was huge and it was a great place to hang out and meet people. The hostel had the bay to themselves at the moment and they’ve built some hammocks and swings out on the water.

More amazing beach photos

A place to chill

and drink

That night I got chatting to a few people in the bar and before long we were a big group playing ring of fire. Can someone please invent a new big group drinking game because I am so sick of ring of bloody fire!

I played a couple of games of twister. The coloured dots were painted on the floor. Then everyone started dancing. It was one of the Cambodian staff’s birthday so they played some Cambodian music and danced Cambodian style. It was a weird kind of Tai Chi dancing. Slow but swift motions and everyone did the same like some crazy Asian Macarena . I joined in and copied them as we slowly circulated around a pole.

Trekking into the jungle

Jungle

The next day I went trekking through the jungle. They have a free boat that transfers to the main beach three times a day or, if you want to, you can trek though the jungle. I thought this would be much more fun so off I went. The sign saying ‘good luck’ didn’t fill me with confidence!

FIRE!

On one of the days trekking to the main beach I came across a small bush fire that was getting very close to the path. It wasn’t a very intense one but I warned a couple of people that were coming the other way all the same.

Most amazing pool ever!

A guy had told me about this pool next to the beach where you can just sneak in and swim for free. I even managed to grab a sun lounger. So I spent my day just hanging out there. My plan had changed again. I was going to go to Koh Rong island but every time I heard someone talking to someone who had been there, they would ask “How was it?” followed by “Did you get food poisoning?”

I found out that they don’t treat there waste properly and just dump it in the water. They then use that same water for washing things and cooking with and so everyone gets ill. Everyone that I spoke to either got ill or knew someone who had. Having had food poisoning twice there was no way I was going to risk it. Plus Koh Rong Samloem was amazing and I don’t think it could be beaten so I stayed here for five days.

Delivery

I got the free transfer back to the hostel but I had to wait whilst they got the delivery. About 20 boats pulled up to this big boat and people started throwing things onto them. It was a little insight into island life.

Band photo with my new friends

Once again I mostly just chilled in the sea or in that pool I had heard about. I got chatting to three Germans who were very friendly, Anji, Stephanie and Dennis. They taught me the card game Kabull which is my new favourite. Its been a long time since I played a card game as exciting as Kabull.

Profile picture right there!

They left the day before me so I was left to my own devices on my last day on the island. I went for a walk around the bay. Well it was more of a wade across the half metre deep water in the bay. I was trying to get through to the other side of the island to see the other beach but I couldn’t find the path. On my way back I cut my foot on a rock and it started bleeding everywhere . I washed it out with something the barman gave me but because it was on the bottom of my foot I didn’t want to walk on it incase I got some dirt in it. So I spent the rest of my last day in the bar on my laptop sorting pictures (there was no internet at the hostel).

As I sat there I watched this Aussie guy get more and more drunk. He was trying to beat the record of the most number of Klang beers drunk in one day. Its 38 surprisingly. He was on about 12 and couldn’t stand up. I can’t be arsed with morons like that. You meet these people every now then. People just here to get fucked up. Its not why I travel.

I don't want to leave paradise

I left paradise behind and took the boat back to Sihanoukville where I spent the night. It was, as I expected, very touristy but it was ok for just one night. I mostly just enjoyed the first air-conditioned room for two weeks.

Kampot

The next day I took the bus to Kampot which is a couple of hours down the coast. It’s a cosy town on the banks of a river and is a great place to access Bokor Hill which is where I wanted to go.

Massive Durian

After I checked in to the hostel I went out to explore the town a little bit. This area is famous for the stinky Durians which is the smelliest food in the world. So much so tha most hostels ban them. They built a statue of Durian in the middle of a roundabout and it’s the landmark of the town.

Just a few lilies

Cool photo

I came across a small lake that was covered in lilies so I spent some time playing with my camera to try and get a good shot of them.

Into the hills

Fun on the bike

Into the clouds

The next day I hired myself a scooter to drive up Bokor Hill which was an awesome drive. About 10km from town I entered the national park and the road then winded and twisted its way up the side of the mountain and into the clouds.

Cloudy at the top

Eerie buddha

As I got to the top of the hill it was periodically foggy as the clouds rolled over the hill. It made the Buddha statue at the top look quite dramatic.

Random big casino resort

Only a couple of weeks away

One of the big attractions here is the huge casino resort. I only popped in to use the facilities and have a look around. They were gearing up the Khmer New Year which happened a few weeks later. It seemed pretty empty which was surprising given the number of rooms they have. Maybe it gets really busy at the weekend.

Temple

Epic view

I drove over to a temple that’s been built on the edge of a cliff. The cloud had lifted a little so I could see the view all the way down to the sea. It was much cooler up here too.

Temple temple

Temple Temple Temple

Temple so much temple

The temple looked quite impressive hanging off the side of the cliff. There were a lot of tourists here and I think every single one of them had a selfie stick!

The old casino

The main reason I wanted to go to the hill (apart from the fun of riding a bike) was to see this old abandoned casino resort built by the French to escape the heat back in the day.

An ageing entrance

The main room

It’s a bit of a maze trying to get around it. It may appear symmetrical from the outside but the inside certainly isn’t and the large section out the back isn’t level with the front bit. They’re were several staircases and it took me a while to find my way out. I’m sure its bigger on the inside too!

Great view

Just opposite is a car park which was filling up with buses so I took my chance to leave before it got annoying. I had my lunch (pringles) in the carpark where I got chatting to two women. One of them was semi retired and leaving in Phnom Penh and her friend from home was visiting. They were both from England. They were nice people. I had bumped into them a few times around the hill and I would see them again a couple more times before I left.

Old church

Great view

The next stop was an old looking catholic church just a kilometre down the road. It was nothing special but the view from the hill behind was pretty good. I saw a couple of other abandoned buildings around that were used in the war and then I went back down the hill. It had been a fun day.

Back I town I took a ride along the river to where the road stopped. There wasn’t really anything to see but a couple of villages and I just enjoy riding the bike.

Final night in Kampot

I have no idea what I did the next day. Not much seemingly as I don’t remember and the only picture I took was of the sunset from the restaurant where I ate my dinner at.

I took the bus back to Phnom Penh cramped in the back of a minivan. A man kept telling me to sit on the back row and that four people could fit there. When I looked there were three people were already squashed and unless I sat on one of them there was no chance I would be able to sit there. I even said to him “you try sitting there, there’s no room!”. The van continued to fill up and one woman had to share a seat with a very disgruntled local. It was not a pleasant journey.

Random fireworks show

I had a couple of nights back in Phnom Penh purely to sort out my visa for Vietnam and to use it as a way point to Ho Chi Minh City. On the last evening in Cambodia there was an unexpected firework show down by the river. There was no one watching it initially so I don’t think anyone knew why there was fireworks. I asked a couple of people and they didn’t know. One guy said it was because of the king but what I asked him what he’d done he just shrugged. I guess I’ll never know.

My time in Cambodia had been very enlightening in terms of their history and also very relaxing. It’s not my favourite country but I am a big fan. That’s despite the horrendous transport options!

Next to see, Vietnam!