Sihanoukville

It takes about an hour before we leave the traffic and chaos of the capital Pnom Penh behind us and we drive into the real Cambodia.

Everyone has now put on thick clothes and I see people putting parts of the curtains in the holes of the air conditioning. The area looks green with rolling hills and here and there little villages with huts and kids playing in trees.

In Sihanoukville, the city that arose when it was decided at the end of the 1950s, that the country needed a deep port to trade. Nowadays, the city named after the Cambodian king, is the most important seaport in the country. We stop on a dusty piece of land what the bus stop suppose to be and where dozens of motorbikes are waiting for customers.

When the door opens most of them approach the bus and ask where people want to go. Ofcourse I’m a desired target – as a tourist they can ask more money. 

Last battle Vietnam war: 

We decide to have lunch together and then we end up in a big beach chair on the narrow strip of sand on the beach of the city. Surrounded by local women who besides got everything to sell, also offering to give a manicure, pedicure, backscrubbing, massage and I don’t know what else.

Unfortunately, there are also enough stray dogs, orphans and wanderers who are all begging for money or food. There is fine music played and we enjoy the view of the sea there all afternoon with some cold glasses of beer. When the sun goes down, tables are dragged to the waterline and candles are lit. We talk with an Amsterdam NGO girl and the owner until we order fresh caught fish from the barbecue. In the evening we walk past some night bars but it is not full unfortunately.

We end in a bar not far from the beach where a number of very lascivious ladies walk around - it is clear that you have to pay if you want them to go along. We take one last beer and will enjoy the beach the next few days.