Fortunately a bit of bad weather doesn't close the bars in Sihanoukville

There we were sitting on our beach lounges under a faded old umbrella enjoying the passing scene and sipping on an Anchor Beer.  But the clouds became dark grey, the breeze picked up and within seconds we were forced to retreat to the protection of the bar as the rain came lashing down at almost a horizontal angle.  The idyllic beach scene in this budding beach resort town of Sihanoukville had suddenly turned into a dark, wet and miserable scene.  Fortunately we were safe in the bar so resorted to the only possible action – we ordered another beer.

The colour, people and activities on the beach are great fun to watch

Cambodia doesn’t exactly have a beach, sun and fun reputation.  Its recent history is a bit like the weather on the beach that day but to their collective credit they are trying to claw back economically and socially.  Sihanoukville, their only deep water port and only major beach area, is a key part of their future success.  But tourism is still a relatively novel phenomenon there and the overwhelming majority of tourists are young backpackers who are attracted by the beaches, the sun and the very low cost of staying there.  And for all of those reasons it was a must see for us.

Beautiful fresh shellfish on sale from local hawkers

But we were in town for what locally they call the Khmer New Year, which is a five day weekend and their biggest holiday period of the year.   Unlike in Thailand, the local grinch-like government has banned the throwing of water as a means of celebration, although we did see some children committed to the old tradition.  But local families were out in force, camping in the shade near the beach, splashing in the water, sitting in a big circle under the trees eating large portions of communal food, laughing and enjoying this festive season.  It was great fun to be part of the scene.

The ranger station along the river in Ream National Park

On one day Julie and I opted for a day trip to the nearby Ream National Park.  We jumped into an airless van and with our small group headed 18 km down the road to what the local authorities call a ‘Mountain, Mangrove, Island and Beach National Park’.  We climbed into a small local boat and started heading down the Prek Toek Sap River which bisects the park and acts as its major feature and main transport route.  The river was dotted with small islands and the banks were lined with thick tall mangroves that created an impenetrable barrier to the rest of the park.

Children in the local fishing village come out to see the visitors

Local fishermen, some legal and some not-so legal, threw their nets in the shallows or strung them between poles.  We saw locals farming their oyster and mussels beds while numerous species of birds flew overhead.  The colourful Kingfisher birds caught most attention but we loved the kites, which would fly above the water and then suddenly dive down, splash and come up with a little fish in their beaks. 

Julie taking a well-earned break after a grueling walk on the beach

Local fishermen sustainably live and fish in the national park

We were dropped off at a little beach where Julie and I had a refreshing swim and then followed our park ranger for a 45 minute trek through the jungle to a remote fishing village on the other side of the peninsula.  This is life at its most basic, small houses on stilts, washing hanging out to dry, kids and dogs running around in equal numbers, fishing nets being repaired in the shade of the nearest palm tree.  We made our way to a boat house on a pier where our guide had been barbequing barracuda freshly caught that morning and we gouged ourselves on beautiful fish, salad and rice.  It was a very rewarding day seeing life on the river, the wildlife and the locals plus we had the chance to meet a few interesting travelers who were of equal spirit and adventurously tilted like us.

Our park ranger guide who works on a salary of about $1.00 per day

When ya gotta go, ya gotta go

The following day we chose to explore the local beaches and have a lazy day under the umbrellas.  Which we did, sort of, in between passing rain storms and strong winds.  In the afternoon we caught a tuk tuk to nearby Otres Beach which had a much slower lay-back image, the backpackers of the main Serendipity Beach where we were staying were partly replaced here by more longer term chill-out types.  The smell of dope and signs advertising its sale were common themes. 

Life is a beach

But any good beach area must also have good restaurants and a decent nightlife.  We found Cambodian food a bit bland after living in Thailand and were constantly asking for more chili or spices to liven it up.  But the long string of bars that line the beach during the day turn into lively restaurants at night and serve beautiful barbequed fish and meats at low tables in the sand.  Each night we chose our fresh fish from the ice, had them barbeque it and prepare the way we liked it and enjoyed the feast with cold Anchor beer in a spectacular beach setting. Just stunning stuff.

I have been known to lie on my back at night and drink Black Russians

Except for one thing.  Because it was Khmer New Year the locals would walk up and down the beach trying to sell these local fireworks sticks which we had previously seen at a western new year party in Siem Reap years ago.  In essence, these are long narrow sticks over a metre long which must have had some sort of explosive fireworks packed inside them.  You tore off the top, lit the fuse and then held the stick up in the air as it started to ignite.  These sticks would shoot off up to 50 small fireworks in a continuous pulsing manner, loud, bright and smelly.  As a local novelty they were pretty cool and we enjoyed the scene for a while.  But after hours of hundreds of these things being shot off with the burnt gunpowder smells drifting over our barbequed barracuda we decided we were over Cambodian fireworks.  Unfortunately most of the locals on the beach were not.

Local entrepreneurs know how to make a buck (and a half)

We thoroughly enjoyed our five days in Cambodia, immersing ourselves into the culture and scenes of the capital Phnom Penh, enjoying the long drive to and from Sihanoukville and most importantly having some great relaxing time around the beaches and national parks of southern Cambodia.  The beaches were better than we expected, the people were super friendly, most things were cheaper than Thailand and it was fantastic to spend time in a place still growing and emerging from its past.  Good luck to them!