At the beach in Sihanoukville

I'm at the beach!  My co-worker Stephanie, her friend Murray, and I decided to take advantage of the weekend to travel to Sihanoukville, a peninsula facing the Gulf of Thailand, which is about a 4-hour bus ride away from Phnom Penh.  Described by the Rough Guide as "Cambodia's primary coastal party town," Sihanoukville did not fail to impress me with its craziness.  I must admit, I was a little weary of coming here since partying and dancing are two of my biggest fears.  But I'm glad I came -- Sihanoukville, with the sound of waves and sea breeze, is beautiful (and going out last night was actually really fun!).

We're staying at a beach bungalow called The Cove, which has cute rooms and balconies overlooking the water.  The place is surrounded by so much nature that it makes you feel even more secluded from the rest of the world.  Even now as I write, I can hear geckos chirping and some strange rodent jumping from a tree branch to another.  It's a luxury I can't easily get in Washington DC.  Being surrounded by water, Sihanoukville is also famous for its seafood.  We ate at a beach BBQ place last night that served an entire squid, shrimp and barracuda on the grill.  It was fresh and I particularly liked the barracuda.  We're planning to check out local fish & chips, which I am very excited about.

At the same time, the town also has its difficulties, being one of the most prized tourist destinations in Cambodia.  While we sat and ate on the beach, we were approached by many amputees, sometimes accompanied by small adorable children, asking us for money.  Later at night, we saw some kids around ten years old trying to sell bracelets and impress us with their dance moves that were not innocent.  I wonder where they learned that from...probably from watching foreigners dance at a nearby bar or from those who thought it would be funny to teach these kids risque moves.  I wonder if tourism centered on partying like here does more bad to the local population than good....

Anyway, more on Sihanoukville tomorrow!