In drum spre Phnom Penh, B&R au ajuns intr-o mica insula din Golfului Thailandei, unde au facut snorkeling, scuba si s-au bucurat de viata.
Cambodia 2 – The South-West Coast
From Siem Reap it was an early morning bus to Phnom Penh. We should have got a tourist bus leaving at 06.30 but the woman in the booking office cocked up and, even though we were there 30 minutes early, we were told to wait at the wrong place. As a result the bus left without us and there then followed a heated discussion which eventually ended in a frantic tuk-tuk dash across town and seats on a slow local bus. Not the start we would have wished for.
Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia yet appears to be much less touristy than Siem Reap. Our first job on arrival was to get a tuk-tuk to the Myanmar Embassy to organise visas for what was to be an unscheduled trip later in March. We had hoped that we might be able to get these the same day or possibly the next, but were told that it would take a full week to process our applications. There’s not that much to do in Phnom Penh so we made arrangements, through our guest house, to travel to Sihanoukville on the coast the next morning. We were unsure about what we would find when we got there as we had heard numerous, very contradictory reports. Some raved about the lovely beaches but most bemoaned the fact that it seemed to have become yet another booze party destination on the hedonists’ trail around SE Asia. Bearing these warnings in mind, we opted to stay in one of the older back-packer parts of the town called Victory Hill, which fortunately did turn out to be far from the main disco/clubbing centres. However, it didn’t take us long to notice that this part of town was frequented by a disproportionate number of fifty plus males and that in the early evenings groups of young ladies would congregate in the street side bars. And yes, we did receive some funny looks from the other ‘tourists’ as we walked along the streets, hand in hand; ‘What sort of weirdoes are these?’ A white man with a white woman was not a very common sight.
We thought that we had got used to the sight of these older men with their young Asian lady friends as we ate in the local roadside restaurants. That was until one morning when a couple sat down at the table next to us and started to chat. The first voice was of an Irish male and the second should have been that of a Cambodian female but was in fact that of a male, or was it a male? It was difficult to avoid staring but closer inspection definitely detected masculine features!
The diving in Cambodia is not considered to be amongst the best in SE Asia but we were keen to get under the water and find out for ourselves. After visiting a number of Dive shops in town we plumped for one whose dive operation was based on a tiny island some 30+km offshore; two days, one night on the island and as much diving/snorkelling as we wanted. B forgot to take her travel sickness pill before the boat sailed so the first part of her birthday was spent, not quite hanging over the edge of the boat, but feeling very under the weather.
It was, however, all forgotten as we drew up to the jetty of this beautiful, jungle covered, tropical island retreat. Since this was a treat for B we pushed the boat out and upgraded our accommodation from the dormitory to one of the self-contained, ’luxury’ beach huts ($20 per night and the dearest so far in SE Asia). We had a pedestal toilet, a large barrel of water for showering and flushing, only a couple of holes in the thatch above our heads at night and ‘air-conditioned’ panelling on the floor and walls which comprised of inch wide gaps between each plank. The mosquito net did a great job at night! And to top it off, we had a veranda complete with chairs, hammock and a beautiful view out over the bay and islands around us. In fact, we loved it so much that we immediately booked ourselves in for a second night – now, that was pushing the boat out!
Our first two dives were ok – a little disappointed at the visibility and lack of colourful coral and, but plenty of fish to be seen. We then had time to snorkel off the house reef before we headed out for a birthday dinner at our favourite beach restaurant. (In fact, there were only 2 places to eat and the menu comprised of noodle soup, fried rice or fried noodles – with a veggie or meat option!). This really was island living – no fancy restaurants etc, just a wee local shack by the water where you eat what you get whilst watching the children swimming in the sea and paddling around on their make shift polystyrene boats. Then it was back to the beach hut for some drinks on the veranda – all in all, a fabulous birthday – even if B didn’t get her red wine and chocolate!
Day two, we had a brilliant dive with very good visibility and a great reef with lots of coral and fish – why didn’t they take us there the day before? More snorkelling, more noodles, more rice and more soup was the agenda for the rest of days two and three, not to mention someone getting extremely sunburnt up the back of his legs because he refused to don the factor 50 sun block!!
The island is also home to a conservation project where volunteers help to survey the health of the coral reefs. The majority of volunteers are young travellers who come to the island to learn to dive before being put to work collecting data. The project has seen success over the years, both in terms of educating the local fisherman and modest regeneration of the reef coral.
Between the project and the dive school, they have brought employment and some prosperity to the island folk, whilst maintaining the natural charm of the island. Long may it continue!
We were very sorry to leave our island retreat but not before one last dip in the ocean. Just as we approached the jetty, we were invited out on the dive boat for what turned out to be a wonderful snorkel. As the rest dived in deeper waters, we explored the shallows around the islands rocky shores which abounded with huge shoals of fish and a diverse assortment of corals. What a way to end our time in ‘Paradise’.
With time to kill before returning to Phonm Penh, we had a few more days at Victory Hill where we seemed to be totally surrounded by French and Russian tourists. A side trip into the main tourist drag and beach confirmed that we had made the right decision not to stay there – the beach was lined with small bars and restaurants where cheap beer, food and loud music attracted the ‘twenty-something’ crowd. Meanwhile, off-shore, jet-skis buzzed around terrorising the bathers, adding further to the noise pollution. What a contrast to our Paradise island retreat (what boring old farts we’ve turned into!!).
P.S. We cheated! The photo at the start is of the aquarium in our Phonm Penh guesthouse! Don’t really approve, but it was beautiful!
Text&Foto: Blathnaid si Richard Crilly
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