10th November - Sihanoukville, 10°N 103°E
At last - we’ve made it to the beach. We’ve been on the road for over three months
now and we have only spent about 25 minutes of that time on the beach. Sihanoukville,
also known as Kampang Saom, Cambodia’s main beach resort, has ‘a lot of potential’
as the optimistic saying goes. Luckily the place that we are staying, Mushroom Point
at the far end of Otres beach, is lovely. We are staying in a little round bungalows
with thatched roofs and separate mini bungalows for the toilet / shower, all shaped
like - you’ve guessed it - mushrooms. Its open style and close proximity does mean
all noises travel but everyone here is very considerate and is nice and quiet at
night. Hollie has her own separate mushroom around the corner at number 6 (we are
number 3). Roman (Slovenian of course!) set up the place 2 years ago with two friends
and you cannot help but feel they were in just at the right time - this place is
so lovely - great beach and beautiful warm sea, it will grow and grow - apparently
a Russian company has already bought the remaining strip of the beach which at the
moment is completely empty of anything expect sand and trees.
There have been a couple of ‘firsts’ while we have been here. Karen has had her first
ever pedicure, and seen her first shooting star. Phil was bullied into a first of
his own: having all of the hair on his back removed by ‘threading’. This process
pulls the hairs out by the root and is probably better described as painful rather
than just uncomfortable. At least he looks slightly less like a monkey now (a young
child selling bangles on the beach pointed out this resemblance pre-depilation).
Phil also took a motorbike into town to get some cash out. Taking a motorbike here
means having a backer on a young lad’s scooter. Phil, suitably attired in sandals,
trunks, t-shirt and Japanese hat, made it to town and back unscathed but would probably
not repeat the experience after seeing just how much gravel and sand is on the roads,
particularly on the corners. The lads that ride the bikes have grown up riding on
sand and are pretty safe but even so...
Phil stayed up to watch a film one evening while Karen went off to our mushroom to
read. Phil went to our mini bathroom-mushroom half way through the film to hear the
sound of running water. No problem - Karen hadn’t really got the hang of the way
that the toilet flushed and there had been a couple of times where the toilet had
been left in continuous flush mode. This time however Karen had excelled herself
as Phil stepped inside into an inch of water. Returning with a torch he could see
the waterfall coming out of the door. It was easy to fix and, if you’re going to
flood a bathroom anywhere, do it on a beach as all of the evidence just sinks away
into the sand.
Seasoned sunbathers all, we managed to get different degrees of sunburn on the first
day on the beach. Hollie, with her high-risk ‘no protection until you feel the burn’
strategy came off worst and her legs have remained hidden ever since. Karen found
that factor 20 isn’t enough on previously unexposed skin and Phil burnt his back
despite being in the shade all day - maybe removing the protective monkey-hair was
a factor.
