The Beaches of Sihanoukville

Location: Sihanoukville, Cambodia

NP: Way Out West - Mindcircus

Mood: Laid back

Sihanoukville in southern Cambodia is the biggest port city of the country. For us it offered beaches a plenty, from vast stretches of white sand to easy-going bars by the sea.

We tried staying at Monkey Republic, which was Lonely Planet's pick on Serendipity Beach, but though the location would've been good, the bungalow ($10 per night for a twin bungalow) was far too grimy (the white pillows were dark grey with stains), smelly and hot without air-con. We managed to stay there for but a single night.

The pillow at Monkey Republic.

Changing to Sunday Guesthouse (which was much more of a hotel than the Sunday Guesthouse in Phnom Penh) brought all the necessary creature comforts: a working wifi, clean room (with but a few ants on my bed), hot shower and a view over a construction site. However, it was further away from the beach, on a shady side road. We received a twin room with one double bed and one single bed that cost $15 a night. Despite what was advertised, bicycles were not available at the hotel.

Smile Cambodia was a permanent stall-like restaurant by the golden lions circle. It offered easy smiles, inexpensive food of a decent quality, and quickly became our local favourite perhaps mostly due to the prices and the agreeable lady that seemed to cook there from dawn till night, from 7 AM to 11 PM.

Serendipity Beach was filled with bars and restaurants and a few souvenir and art shops. I bought three pieces of art at Makaplo Handicrafts and ate well each day.

Staring at the blue sea from a comfortable chair on the beach with a 50 cent draft beer in hand was as close to heaven as one is bound to reach anywhere. In the distance a bar was playing mellow beach music as the waves broke on the sandy shoreline.

It was my kind of beach, apart from the few pushy vendors that worked the crowd of Caucasian drinkers.

- Hello sir, bracelet?
- No, thank you.
- Why not?
- I don't want one.
- Then you can have two.

Otres Beach a few kilometers away was still quite undeveloped stretch of white sand, though there was a line of bars/restaurants and some guesthouses. It offered a nice bicycle ride from Serendipity Beach, with a chance to swim, though the beach was too shallow for far too long.

And there were more beaches still... but we chose not to explore it all. A visit to city center by bikes reminded us of the fact that despite the mostly quiet traffic and calm atmosphere, Sihanoukville is a fairly large city. Showers of rain stumped our bike ride to a meager, short adventure on the nearby streets.

Relaxed Sihanoukville reminded me of Cha-Am and the calm of its beaches. But what Cha-Am lacked in variety, Sihanoukville had and offered readily. And though still pretty dark at night, it did it in more light than Phnom Penh at least. Plenty of food, cheap drinks, easy shopping and irresistable beaches make it a superbly laid-back destination where I could see myself living for a time.

Perhaps for a long time.