My Retreat

I spent the last 4 days on a vacation from my vacation: Sihanoukville. The two sections of the town - one average beach with lots of tourism and one beautiful beach with relative isolation - each have their benefits (fun on the former, tranquility on the latter). But neither side feels very "cambodian." That said, I enjoyed them for what they were.

Arriving off the bus, disoriented as usual, I walked about a mile to the main (touristy) beach, called Serendipity, with an English couple, Charlotte and Tony. Encumbered with backpacks you can't always scan the whole town before deciding on a guesthouse and this particular weekend, many of them were full or overpriced. So I was happy to find a quiet bungalow for $9 on the dirt road leading to the beach.

Charlotte and Tony and I had a nice dinner the first night of steak and french fries. It's not "local food" per se, but the steak was cooked on a grill right next to us - we couldnt pass up fresh and simply cooked food. To give you a flavor of the non-Cambodian-ness of this beach, observe a few other meals I had: (1) traditional English Sunday roast (delish) (2) croissant for breakfast from a French bakery (oh the joy when I noticed that place!) (3) blue cheese and butter baguette (yes from the same place). (4) ice cream from a german-run vendor). To redeem myself I tried a few local things: fresh spring rolls and grilled squid from the vendor on the beach and the always intriguing and stinky durian fruit (thanks to my friend who was craving it).

I met some cool people - starting with nephew of the guesthouse (called Mohachai) who was Dutch. I was lucky to run into him at a bar one night after Charlotte and Tony went home, so I had someone to get a drink with. Of course that lead to meeting more people, a funny British woman, and we went out the rest of the night. I also made friends with Noam from Israel, who we ended up hanging out with the next day and smoking hooka with that following evening.

My first day on the beach coincided with International Women's Day. I have never heard of this day, but Cambodia surely honors it. I walked down to the local / Khmer section of the beach to get away from the tourists and I'm glad I did. I ended up making friends with this sweet 20-year-old local girl, Anat, who works in town. We chatted and swam and also hung out with a German couple who frequents the beach every year and knows the locals. It was a good day. I made a trip out to her store the following day (where I had the ice cream) and we chilled there for an hour or so. She is really sweet. She wanted to be a nurse but her family has not enough money (2000 per year) so she must be resigned to work in a shoe store. Man, one thing I would love to do for this country is have a scholarship program - how easy would that be? I have met so many talented, english-speaking young people on my trip who can't afford further education. Tourism, retail are their best options. Without education, how else can we expect the country to progress? Even if the level of education isn't as good as other countries, it surely must add something, and it can't stop at the high school level, which is where it seems many NGO's focus.

Well, after 3 days staying on the main / touristic beach, I moved to Otres beach. Just a few minute motorbike ride down the strip, Otres beach is absolutely stunning. After spending the day there, Charlotte, Tony and I moved there for the fourth night. Noam, my Israeli friend, had another friend who owns two bungalows and they let me stay for free. It was heaven. Just a beach chair, small table, bungalow, the sand and me. In front a wide sea dotted with a small, green island.

I left Sihanouville today and landed in Kep, via an shoddy old Toyota. Kep is as charming as Otres beach but used to be quite happening as a local and expat getaway. It is now a shell of what is once was due to the wrath of the Khmer Rouge. The beautiful wide roads, that once saw more traffic, wind along the beach, opposite a row of empty villas on overgrown lots where the rich once vacationed. I rode along the beach today on a bike. Tonite I'll get some fresh seafood - Kep is known for it and tomorrow I take a boat to stay a night on Rabbit Island, as its called, which should be even more magical. Days like the last few, I wonder - how is it that I am I allowed to experience such beauty and tranquility? Isn't life suppoosed to be hard? Well, before anything takes it away, I will soak it in.