Reference: the title for this blog post is stolen from a song by The Naked Apes. Good band..
We made our way from Siam Reap back to Phnom Phen, our hotel staff greeting us with big smiles, “Room 17 again?”. A tuk tuk driver hopped on our bus before we arrived there actually and tried to cajole us off in to his tuk tuk for the remainder of the journey. I guess enough tourists fool for this sort of rubbish to make it worth his while.
Whilst here we ticked off The Killing Fields which was very moving. I wrote the dramatic beginnings of a blog update whilst there, ranting largely on how we in our western worlds tend to place value on the most insignificant dramas; after looking at the suffering caused by the Khmer Rouge destroying the lives of so many people it seems obvious that we all need serious attitude adjustments back home. The post was accidentally deleted, possibly for the best.
We decreed that some good old sunshine for the soul was in order, one final bout of relaxation before starting on the homeward bound journey. We arrived in Shinookville, its success is clearly the result of its touristic appeal. It’s how I imagine the Thai beaches were a decade ago, hotels and restaurants being erected as fast as possible in every direction. We went for a wander to locate a guest house, the majority were full or overpriced, or both. We ended up at Apple Minimart and Guesthouse which, aside from the roaches, was a superb guesthouse. My main highlight was undoubtedly the food which was just divine. The chocolate pancakes and omelettes with veges were both utterly scrumptious.
Satisfied with our new location we wandered down the beach. It takes about ten minutes of solid walking to finally leave the row of bars behind. To get away from the touristic part we hired bicycles, joined by Beth and Francois. Together we cycled off in search of virgin sands. We ended up on one pleasant beach which allowed us to have a generous patch all to ourselves. And it was still touristy enough that we could purchase a beer nearby. We spent the afternoon wrestling in the water, then moved on to hiring wind surfers. I nailed the sport using the beginner board and sail. Upgrading to the big-boy-board resulted in me sailing out away from the beach and then being unable to get it back in. After what felt like a day of failed attempts at bringing her back Craig finally sailed out to rescue me.
Before I forget, the beers here are finally getting to me. I cannot stand Angkor or Anchor, the two leading Cambodian beers. I am constantly surprised to find that these are both the most expensive beers we have purchased in South East Asia – and most expensive by a factor of two – and the worst.
Every meal we had out this way was culinary bliss. Dinners were substantial and tasty, and we returned to one restaurant in particular a number of times down on the waterfront.
Two food highlights: (new for me, but far from profound)
Potato Skins: halve roasting potato, probably par-roasted, fill with olives, bacon, cheese..., roast and serve with sour cream
Cambodian Chicken Curry: a yellow/red curry with coconut milk, bay leaves, chicken, potato, pumpkin, probably some stock, ...
With appetites satisfied we moved on to more exciting endeavours. Scuba diving. Now this is new for me, and I was extremely sceptical that I was going to even be able to equalise. At the crack of dawn we approach the dive shop with our luggage and begin the two hour journey out to The Island. The scuba diving, led by a mad Frenchman, was in two sessions. One in shallow where we were trained in what to do and how to perform the basic emergency procedures, followed by a free dive over coral and fishes at a depth of six to seven meters. It was absolutely amazing. I think I am going to have to take this up a bit more seriously as soon as I earn some dosh. It’s just so cool gliding through the water; I think it’s the closest we can come to flying without actually flying.
After the scuba activities were done and dusted we proceeded to track down a guesthouse on the island. Now, this island really was amazing, with white beaches and warm blue waters surrounding us, it was a dreamy paradise. There were a handful of guesthouses and a couple of restaurants, enough to service tourists without ruining the place. The spot we stayed at was aptly named Paradise, and I think it cost us about 10 USD pp, a little more than we were planning to pay but completely worth it. The chill out/restaurant space was utterly amazing, a fine example of how being clever about the layout of a restaurant can completely alter its vibe. It was open on three sides and somehow gave us the sensation that we were the only people in there, regardless of how crowded it actually was. Being led to our bungalow we encountered a snake, it was just chilling out on our balcony. Finally. We all survived. I half expected it to make a second appearance in the middle of the night.
The island had no shortage of great food, all at a stupidly reasonable price, with the exception of a Brittish-run joint which has recently popped up that is. I had one of the greatest chicken curries of my life at one restaurant, a real culinary highlight of the entire trip.
We filled the days swimming, walking, eating, repeating, and having the occasional drink. Either mango shakes or a gin and tonic if it was getting late. This place was utterly amazing, I’ll be sure to return.
All too soon we packed our bags, beginning our staggered journey back to Wellington. We spent the night in Sihnookville, playing on an obstacle course off the shore in the morning.
There are an abundance of fireworks and cows on the streets here, and lo and behold the fireworks scare the cows. Seven walking steaks were loitering outside our hotel when loud bangs down the road to the right clearly startled them. And then, with uncannily bad luck, the fireworks started down the road to the left as well. I can remember this vividly in slow motion. There were two girls standing right next to them at the time. The cows started charging, one head butting a girl on her back. Fortunately she was not injured, but it was a harrowing moment.
Then next to Phnom Phen (they didn’t have the same room for us this time, tut tut), and now back in Saigon. We were intending to do a boat trip down the Mekong to reach Saigon but were unable to due to Chinese New Year. We ended up on a bus, quite fortunate given these were also being affected by the festivities. Now there’re just a couple of days remaining before we reach the airport and fly home.
This has been a great trip and I’ve learnt so much along the way. It’s not the end of this blog however as I still have a couple more posts worth of content in the pipeline from this trip, as well as a months worth of thoughts to be added from my recent exploration around the States.
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