The beach!

Hi all!

Sorry I haven't written in a while. Honestly, not much has happened in the last few days. =) We caught a bus from Phnon Penh down to Cambodia's "premier" beach side destination, Sihanoukville. As far as beach resort development goes, there really isn't much to speak of here yet. This town has only reemerged as a destination in the last 8 years or so, basically since the hostilities here ended. The place is ready to explode with upmarket, expensive resorts, but right now it still has the run-down feel you want in a beach get-away. The town itself isn't much to speak of, but luckily there hasn't been much reason to go there. When we first got to town four days ago, our moto driver took us to a place that was way out of town, but since it was relatively nice and we didn't know the lay of the land yet, we stayed there. This is a very common tactic for taxi, tuk-tuk, or moto drivers. Certain hotels pay commissions to have people brought to their hotels, and since travelers are often tired and disoriented from being in a new city, they end up staying at the place they were taken to. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; often these places are fairly nice (but often out of the way). We spent the first night there, then went in search of a place by the ocean. We found one, but it was more expensive and quite crappy (moldy, full of mosquitos, a loud fan, and a faucet that sprayed you in the face when you turned it on). We ended up here for a night because we'd put a deposit down on the place the day before and didn't want to lose it. First thing the next morning, we packed up our bags (again) and moved into a wonderful bungalow set up on a hillside with a fantastic view of the water from the deck. It even has a hammock! All this for $10. So finally, after three days, we feel like we're at the beach. The beach itself is a long stretch of sand lined with little eating shacks that all have beach chairs in front of them. At night these places all do BBQ, sell cheap beer, and have fire dancers that work the crowds. Pretty sweet. Our place is a little down the beach where it starts to turn into a rocky headland, so there's no sand, just beautiful sandstone rocks in the surf. This also makes our end of the beach quiet at night. All the partying takes place where the sand is. As far as I'm concerned, we have the sweetest spot on the beach.

A member of the cat family that adopted us and hangs out on our deck.

Our view from our porch.

Another pic of our view over Serendipity Beach, Cambodia.

Ours is the one that spells out Eva.

So we've been spending our mornings reading and eating fruit and coffee on our deck, then going for lunch, then going for a swim, showering, having a snack and wine on the deck, then heading out for dinner. Pretty rough. I'll have you know that Sarah especially seems to be enjoying herself. She's really gotten into this lifestyle, if only for a few days. Our date for leaving keeps getting pushed back, but I think we'll take off in a couple more days. We've been on the road for about 6 weeks now, and both of us think it was time for a little break (a "vacation") before we continue on into Thailand. Ever since we left Beijing, we've been travelling south. We've finally reached the ocean, so now it's time to turn west and continue our trip around the globe. We'll be heading to Bangkok when we leave Sihanoukville.

Wine on the lanai!

More wine on the lanai (yes, I have a sunburn).

Sarah's picture of a firedancer

OK, kinda romantic....

I thought I'd share a couple of our observations from our time here:

There are many locals working the beach scene selling various things. The children all sell bracelets and necklaces, while the women sell fruit, manicures, pedicures (seriously) and massages. Oh, and you can get waxed if you want a hairless back, legs, or whatever. They seem to use floss or something, and a surprising number of beachgoers take them up on this (even men). Sarah's old toe nail polish attracts these women en mass. They all agree she should do something about it, but I think it looks just fine. =)

Another local subset that works the beach are men who are missing limbs. Most of them are missing a leg, and are obviously victims of one of the biggest remaining threats in Cambodia; landmines. There are still millions of landmines scattered throughout this country from decades of war, though most of them came from when the US was waging a "secret war" here in the 70's, trying to keep the Communists from spilling over from Vietnam into Cambodia. Cambodia is one of the most heavily landmined countries in the world, and over 1000 children are killed every year by these old devices. Not a legacy you'd want for your country.... Anyway, the men who beg on the beach all drag themselves around on their rears, which they have wrapped up in a cut-up inner tube to keep somewhat dry from seawater. It's a hard thing to blend "beach time" with war casualties, but that seems to be what this place does. Everyone doing what they can to make a living.

On a lighter note, one of the most common forms of clothing here seems to be pajama sets! I didn't even notice it at first, but Sarah pointed out that a large percentage of the locals (especially women) wear pajama tops and bottoms all the time. I guess it works as a matching outfit. =) It makes me feel like there are a lot of dental hygienists walking around.

Cambodians on vacation at the beach are amusing. This is a fairly conservative society, even at the beach, so you get a funny mix of swimmers; naked Cambodian kids, foreigners in bikinis and speedos, and (funniest of all) fully-clothed Cambodian adults. Seriously. A family will all be swimming out in the ocean, and the adults will be wearing pants and a t-shirt. Hmmm....

Love to all!
-Matt!