Facing my Fears

  Back to the Wild West of SE Asia

   It's been called that by many people, and you don't really appreciate the name until you experience it first hand. Don't get me wrong, Cambodia is a beautiful country and I really love being there, it just has the air of possibly producing a scenery that would be reminiscent of the mid-west USA circa 1850 (sans horses and Colt 45s(but am sure you can both for the right price)).

   My Thai Visa was up in a week or so, my brother, Paul is landing in Phnom Pehn in a few days and I'm on the beach having a Margarita in Pattaya....okay, not a Margarita, a water. I was going to take a bus from here to PP, or at least to Siem Reap, then again to PP. I decide that the bus is not in my plans to get to Cambodia, so I look up some flights from Bangkok. I find a pricey deal to Siem Reap...$60, I decide that's what I will do.

That's me on the beach

     I catch a $4, 2 hour bus ride to Bangkok and find a $12 dollar room for a night, before my flight leaves to Siem Reap. I make my way to the airport, via Skytrain and city bus, total cost is 65 Bahts...not bad considering I was quoted 800 Bahts the first time I was here. The flight was an hour...I'm beginning to think all flights in SE Asia are an hour, which is fine by me. I fill out the paperwork on the plane and meet a couple from Britain, they are very nice and are doing a similar trip as I am, we wished each other luck and went in to immigration line ups in the airport. I pay my fees and find a room for the night...a little pricey, but nice room.

   I go to find dinner and a tuk-tuk driver promises me a great meal and he helps me get a new phone card. He brings me quite far from my room, to which I protest and we get to some restaurant that I not like the feel of. Naturally, I go in and have a drink with my driver, 2 girls sit down and help themselves to a drink on my tab! I order my bill and discover my earlier suspicions were accurate my bill was $18 for 4 drinks!..., I pay the bill and tell driver to return me close to my room, I let him know that he will never drive me again(I tell him that after he dropped me off...lol). 

   The next morning I'm on a 7 hour bus ride to Phnom Penh, my brother will be there late that night, on my way I contact his friend, who will be setting up a ride for us to Sihanoukville, a truck of some sort to accommodate the electric wheelchair. I arrive and Mr. Whut has no truck, but assures me he will by the morning. Paul arrives without his suitcase (it's still in China, apparently). We get a room across from the airport and wait till 2 the following day.


    The next day we collect the baggage and load up a mini van with the wheelchair and Whut's motorbike. A few other people are there for the ride. Whut tells us he chartered the van, but I have my suspicions when we stop and pick up another person. We arrive at Sihanoukville about 4 hours later and we go to Paul's place. They have no room for me, so I find a room about 2 kms. from there, but closer to the city core...near the "2 Lions" as this is the reference point of the city, so I'm told.

The 2 Lions, Sihanoukville, Cambodia

   The last time I was here, I was very afraid, so much so that I left the city on the first bus and made my way to Thailand. Now, I see the city in a better light, I attribute this to my being a grizzled veteran of SE Asia, having been over 2 months and all over Thailand, plus being acclimatized to the culture sure helps. I have a much better attitude towards the city this time, and this really helps me see it for what it really is, a city on the verge of becoming a destination for travelers.

    I rented a motorbike for my time here, as close as I am to the centre, there are 5 beaches here and they are spread out. My brother takes me on tour and we visit the different beaches. At one of them, there is some serious construction happening, A Chinese company is building a resort/casino right on the beach, looks like it will be a very nice, very big resort. I think this is just the beginning for the city and in several years, there will be an explosive growth in their tourism industry...but what do I know?

one of the beaches here, quiet by day,
busy by night 

   Most of the time spent here for me, was a sort of 'down time', compared to my whirlwind tour of north Thailand. There were 2 main attractions here: beaches and casinos, I was not here to gamble, so I did not hit the casinos. A typical day here would be meet for breakfast, go to one of the beaches for coffees, and mingle with the other people we encounter, go home for a few hours to shower and then meet for dinner and maybe go to the beach and watch the different activities going on, from fire eaters to dancing to dancing. There was always something going on along the beaches. There was also a beer garden sort of area filled with many bars, most of which had pool tables. There was an area, that I did not go to, but from what I understand, Victory Hill is the party area of the city...it was not close to the 2 Lions, so not close to me.

   

   I spent 2 weeks in Sihanoukville and I really enjoyed my time there, I did, however feel the need to go somewhere as I was becoming 'slothy' and needed to get busy. I boarded a bus for Siem Reap, the home of one of the Wonders of the World....Angkor Wat.