SE Asia Travels: Sihanouk Ville

I enjoyed Sihanouk Ville the most of all the places we visited. It has a laid back feel, right near the ocean, andis Cambaoidas second largest city, whhichI found suprising. it is quite sprea dout and open and wears the dichotomy of poor vs rich on it's sleeve, more so then other places. The starkeness with a ultra expensive Mercedes parked ona dirt road lined with the ultra poor spoke much about how Cambodia was fairing.

Rroad to our Guesthouse,, we were off to the left down a lane

While Shianouk Villeis teh largest port in Cambodia, the shipping woudl barley rate a mention in any western port, most of the minimal trade is still done directly with Vietnam and Thailand, thought there is an explosion in infrastructure building. eg new trail lines to Thailand etc. the place has a long way to go.

We were ensconsed right on the beach, no more then 20m from the Surf line.

from the ocean, looking back to our guesthouse (LHS)

Our Guesthouse

Enjoying a local beer, at the Guesthouse

The warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand were very shallow and you had to wade out 50 -100m to get up to the top of your shoulders in in Ocean.

Enjoying a morning snorkel

Local fisherman, chasing his morning catch

We had planned to spend several days here, exploring, relaxing and for Toni to do some investigation about helping out with humanitarian help in Cambodia. Serendipity Beach is where we were staying, and it was serendipitous indeed to have the owner of a small orphanage was staying in our guesthouse. Anyone who wants to make a donation can at this website

Toni chatted to her and was then invited t come have look,

Toni's Moto Dup (Motorbike Taxi) ride to orphanage

she loved the place

Rainbow Orphanage

and loved what Mandy (in the photo) was doing to help and we hope to come back to help out. More about Orphanages here

Food

We mostly ate atteh guest hose, the Khmer food there was great and very affordable. The only real treat was at a seafood restaurant one night,

Chner Molop Chrey Seafood Restaurant, Victory Beach

and was it superb,

L to R: Crab, Fish and Crawl Fish (like a mini lobster)

all up about $40, for the two of us.

Beach
The beaches are gorgeous, the rubbish and pollution are an issue for all of the area. Street drains emptying into the ocean, along with a what seems like a complete disregard for litter being an issue.