February 21 & 22, 2019 - Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Thursday & Friday, Days 46 & 47

February 21 & 22, 2019 - Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Thursday & Friday, Days 46 & 47

On the 21st I was up at 4 to watch our approach to Sihanoukville and prepare some blog posts. I had started out in the Crows Nest. This is my usual early morning haunt after walking. It is peaceful and the low lighting is comfortable. Today the light were full on when I arrived. I thought this strange, but settled in to my usual chair. Shortly after I started working I noticed a couple of men working across the room from me. Soon one of them came over to me. He very apologetically let me know that I would have to leave. They were about to start refinishing some of the furniture. The fumes required the use of a respirator, which I did not have. I thanked them and adjourned to the Ocean Bar. This is another quiet place during off hours for the bars.

After breakfast we gathered our things for a visit to shore. The ship is running a complimentary shuttle to a beach across town. this is 30 minutes away. 

3 years ago we visited here and took a ship’s tour to Kampot to see how they grow and harvest Kampot Pepper. This is a famous culinary spice. We also toured the Kampot market and a nearby fishing village. This year we decided to stay in town and walk the sights. Matthew the EXC destination lecturer put an end to that thought. Nothing is near the port. So we decided to take the shuttle to the beach and check out that area. We would look at what is available along the way. Tomorrow we would take the ship’s Environs tour.

The ride to the beach was very interesting. There are tower cranes at work everywhere in this city. The area is dirty with litter everywhere. Traffic is somewhat congested. There are no traffic lights. People are well dressed and we did not see any  beggars. When we got off the shuttle we were greeted by a crowd of Tuktuk drivers. All of them wanted to sell us tours. They understood when we said we were walking. They called out “later when you get back” and let us proceed.

The beach is very nice. There is a nice stone walk along it, in front of the many restaurants and bars that line the waterfront. The sand is very fine but it does not blow in the wind. Businesses have set up tables and/or chairs on the sand in front of their bars and restaurants. Here you can get a drink or a meal or a massage. All at reasonable prices. There were also women cooking skewered calamari and fish over charcoal fires. We enjoyed the aroma, loved the look and passed on the experience. This was street food. Gloves were not apparent as things were skewered.

Part way down the walk we turned away from the beach to visit a hotel and casino across the road. This was not our only objective. Maybe we could find a Happy Room.

First we passed a mini mall. We toured it to check local pricing and selection. Upstairs was a department store that sold groceries, produce, dresses, shirts and blouses, luggage and hardware items. Prices seemed reasonable, but not cheap. No Happy Room.

Walking on we passed a number of Tuktuks waiting for their drivers to finish lunch. Unlike other cities with Tuktuks, here the passenger compartment is on a trailer hitched to a motorcycle. Very interesting.

The hotel across the road was nicely decorated for Chinese New Year. In the lobby we saw a jewelry counter and a mini mart with necessities. Around the corner was the happy Room. Hurray.

We finished our tour of the hotel and returned to the beach. On the way we passed a walled complex. We later learned that this was the Prime Minister's home. After walking the full length of the stone walkway on the beach, we turned back to the shuttle stop. The featured service on this part of the walk was foot massages. We did not buy.

We returned to Maasdam at 12:30 and had lunch in the Lido. I followed that by trying to update the text for blog posts. Then it was time to go to dinner so adding pictures for the posts will have to wait.

The morning of the 22nd we boarded a coach for a tour of the city. This started with a visit to a fishing village on the waterfront very near to downtown. We visited a factory making ice. The freezing process generated large rectangles of ice about 1 foot by 1.5 feet and 5 feet long. These are moved manually to a chipping machine where they were loaded into bags after being chipped. This was all done by hand. There is no automation here. The ice is purchased by the fisherman to preserve their catch on the way home from the sea.

We walked down a narrow street lined with small spaces where women were selling all sorts of fish. These are the fishermen’s wives and daughters. At the end of this street was the fishing harbor where many boats were moored. This area was quite crowded. Fishing is the predominant occupation after tourism.

Now the bus dropped us off downtown. Here we toured the central market. A large portion of the market was the wet market where seafood is sold. It was very wet. Water was running everywhere to keep the catch alive.Trading was active. The floor was very wet and very narrow. It was a challenge to stay dry. 

Beyond the wet market was the produce market.We did not see anything new here. But we did marvel at the number of vendors and quantity of fruits and vegetables. Herbs were also in abundant supply. 

Next to this were many ladies selling meat. They butchered it on chopping blocks right in front of them. Their accuracy in chopping with a clever in the same place time after time until the cut was complete was both impressive and disturbing. This great skill is hopefully limited to butchering meat.

Back on the coach we drove to the same beach our free shuttle had taken us to yesterday. Today we learned where to find the clean public toilets. We also learned that when you are quoted a price for a massage on the beach it is per person working on you. So, a $5 foot massage becomes a $10 foot massage if two people work on your feet. Buyer beware.

We left the beach and drove up a mountainside to yet another temple. Again the grounds were large and well maintained. We were high up with great views to the city below.

 One of the things we learned from our guide is that the Chinese are taking over the city. They love to come here to gamble. They are building casinos all over city as well as the hotels along and near the waterfront needed to provide lodging for the Chinese tourists . They have littered some of the nicest beaches with construction debris. They have torn down old businesses that they have purchased for new hotels along the beaches. This has increased unemployment for locals. 

The Chinese will not use local guides for their tours. They have trained Chinese guides. They do not let locals into the casinos unless they have jobs there. The Chinese mafia has contributed to increased crime. We were sorry to learn this and saddened to see the impact on the local people and the cleanliness of the city. 

Not long after this visit we were deposited at the ship. This had been a nice low keyed tour. We enjoyed it very much.