The past two days here in Sihanoukville
have been fantastic. Yesterday I went on a boat tour of the Ream National Park.
The tour started with breakfast by the beach at 7am. I sat and watched the cafe's
staff set up for their busy day while I lamented the fact that I could have
still be asleep in bed. I was finally presented with my breakfast. One baguette
sitting alone on a huge plate. I smothered it in jam and butter in order to
take away from the crunchy stale taste.
I am not a morning person at all but I
don't mind getting up early if I am doing something important or interesting. I
do not like getting up at 6am for a stale bit of bread. I couldn't help but
think that this the day was doomed to failure.
After a half an hour bus ride through the streets of downtown Sihanoukville
and into the country side, we arrived at the Ream National Park
ranger station. Here we met our ranger guide, had a quick toilet break and
boarded the tiny junk boat that would take us down the Prek Tuk Sap
Estuary.
I ended up being the very last person to climb aboard the boat so I had to
sit in between an old Italian couple who kept talking over me even though I had
asked them several times if they wanted to sit together. They passed cameras,
bottles, half eaten fruit and guide books inches away from my face. It was
going to be a LONG boat ride.
On the way down the river our guide pointed out sea eagles, storks and
egrets, and when we got past all of the mangroves and into the bay, our guide
started shouting "dolphins! dolphins!" We all looked but saw nothing.
He kept seeing them but no body else did. An Australian woman at the back of
the boat said quite loudly "There aren't any dolphins! He's lying!"
(Bloody Australians!) Seconds later we saw a silver fin shining above the water
for a split second and everyone held their breath to see if it would surface
again. The boats motor was turned off and we floated, listening to
nothing but the gentle lapping of the water. A few minuets past and the guide
said that it was probably the wind that was keeping the dolphins below the
water. I had no idea that dolphins didn't like the wind.
We jugged on to our first destination - one of the national park's beautiful
golden beaches. Some people swam, others sun bathed and I sat on the sand and
read my book. After an hour we were told we were going on our trek through the
jungle and to the other side of the peninsular. I was worried at this point
because I was wearing only thongs and I wasn't sure what the track would be
like. I needn't have worried. Our apparent "trek through the jungle"
turned out to be nothing more than a casual stroll down a sandy, tree-lined
path. As the group walked, I chatted to a young British woman called
Louise who was walking in front of me.
After the "trek" we had lunch at the dolphin watching station,
which is a wooden building sitting on stilts about two meters out from the
shore line. Lunch was a barracuda steak, coleslaw and (as usual) a stale
baguette. Poor Louise had to settle for only, what she called, a cabbage
sandwich because she is a vegetarian and couldn't eat the fish. I can't imagine
what it would be like to be a vegetarian in some Asia
countries. Especially in China
where vegetarian fried rice comes complete with squares of pork. Louise said it
was usually only hard when it comes to day tours and that she usually gets by
with veggies and fruit.
When lunch was finished we all jumped back onto the boat. A few minuets
later the motor whirred and we were stuck on a sand bank. The guide had told us
as we were leaving that if this happened he would ask for the men to help push
the boat. (He also said the women didn't have to help and could stay in the
boat. None of the women complained when they heard this.)
Everyone watched as the guide and the driver pushed with oars trying to free
the boat from the sand bank. A few of the men asked if they needed a hand but
after the guide jumped into the water and gave the boat one big push to the
right, we fell off the sand bank and into deeper water.
The ride back was much more enjoyable. I sat at the front of the boat with
Louise and a young Australian couple - Lauren and Steve - and we all talked.
Louise and I even discovered we were staying at the same guesthouse, which was
quite a coincidence considering how many places there are to stay in
Sihanoukville.
Once back at the ranger station we were slowly ushered into a few vans and
four-wheel-drives, and driven half an hour back to town.
In the evening Louise and I decided to go out for dinner so we found a quiet
little restaurant away from the beach that had Khmer coconut curry served
INSIDE a hollowed out coconut. Even despite the novelty of having ones meal
served inside a coconut, the meal was DELICIOUS and satisfying and both Louise
and I were clutching our fully bellies afterwards. As we were sitting at our
table talking; Greg walked by, which was a fantastic surprise and when Louise
left for the guesthouse Greg and I caught up over a few beers.
The next morning I dragged my self out of bed at 7am, showered, dressed and
went to the guesthouse reception to ask where I was suppose to be to start my
island boat tour. One of the Khmer staff told me my ride was late. He apologised
and told me to sit while he called the driver. The exchange of words sounded
quite fiery but in a few seconds the driver was there. I carefully climbed onto
the back of the moto (THIRD time on a motorbike and counting!) and asked the
driver to go slowly. To the drivers credit he did go slowly ... but the ride
was only to the top of the street! I could have walked there in THREE MINUETS!
I wondered why it had been so important to stop this poor moto driver from
doing whatever it was he was doing so he could come and driver me to the end of
the road. Hahaha.
At breakfast I sat with two Australia
women – Ashley and Julie who were work mates traveling South
East Asia together on a few weeks holiday. It turned out that both
are from the same area in Sydney that I lived in
for years – one from Chippendale and the other from Newtown. I have met lots of people from Sydney but so far no one from Newtown. It really is such a small world...especially
when you can be in another country and have someone ask you about your local
pubs like The Townie and The Lansdowne. :)
(Oh and what was for breakfast? You guessed it – one stale baguette each. Yum,
yum.)
After breakfast we made our way down to the beach and to our boat. I sat
with Julie and Ashley at the back but we couldn’t talk due to the noise of the
motor. As we jugged along I stared out at the vastness of the calm ocean with
the morning sunlight dancing along the blue water’s slight ripples. Even despite
the very motor, it was still peaceful and relaxing. Our small boat was carrying
about 11 people in total most of whom were young backpackers. An Aussie couple,
two French women, two Scottish guys, three young Khmer guides, Julie, Ashley
and my self.
We soon stopped about two meters from the rocky shore of a small island.
Once here our guide handed out snorkels and told us we could snorkel closer to
the shore or just swim around the boat where the water was about 2-3 meters
deep. When people jumped into the water, the tiny boat leaned to one side and
then rocked quite dramatically from side to side for a few seconds. The water
was warm and I swam around for about half an hour before getting back onto the
boat.
Our next destination was Bamboo
Island where Julie,
Ashley and I did some snorkeling and walked around the beach – being careful
not to step on any sea urchins as we went. Lunch was served in the shade on the
beach and consisted of barracuda steak, coleslaw and a baguette. Sounds familiar
right? It was exactly the same as the lunch I got for the national park tour! Hehehe.
It was nice enough though, especially with chili sauce!
Bamboo Island
is one of the smaller islands in the bay
of Sihanoukville, and it
became obvious to us just how small it is when we walked an entire 10mins to get
to the other side. Few if any people actually LIVE on the island but you can
rent bungalows along the beach if you’re lucky enough to secure a reservation. The
beach on the BAY side of the island is clear of sea debris like bits of coral
and urchins so we all felt a lot safer just paddling in the calm, shallow water
without the threat of stepping on something and needing to go to hospital.
I talked to Julie and Ashley, and the three of us bobbed around in the water
and bathed in the sunshine. It was just a lovely, relaxing afternoon with some
awesome people, in a beautiful place. What more could you ask for? :)
The boat trip back to Serendipity
Beach was noisy again and
this time everyone was feeling quite tired from having the sun on them all day.
(It’s a hard life! Woe!) Some people read others watched the water and the
passing islands and our guide passed around plates of squared banana and
pineapple.
Back on dry land Julie, Ashley and I decided to meet up later on for a drink
and I wandered off into town to check my emails and buy my ticket out of
Sihanoukville. I bought an 8:45am bus ticket to Phnom Penh leaving the next day.
I enjoyed my time in Sihanoukville but I really feel that it’s time to move
on now. My next destination after Phnom Penh
will be Bangkok where I will organise the next
leg of my journey – my U.K.
trip. I have visas, flights and accommodation to sort out and Bangkok
is b y far the best place in South East Asia
to do this.
Although I did have some low points of my trip in Cambodia...I will be sad to leave.
I have enjoyed my time here. I met some FANTASTIC people, experienced some new
things, eaten some great food and see some awe inspiring sights. And I am sure
I will come back one day and do it all again. :)
