Words and photos by Caloy Libosada
For somebody who have been to Cambodia at least three times, it is really stupid to even admit that I haven’t been to Angkor Wat. Yes, that famed civilization that became an icon for Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider movie.
But I have a fairly good reason not to get lost in the northern part of the kingdom and find my way instead to the southern shores called the province of Sihanoukville.
Ochheauteal (O-tsa-teel or O-sha-teel) is a public beach where you get to meet a lot of local and foreign travelers.
Backpackers on the way to a resort in one of the beaches in Sihanoukville.
Cambodia opened up its doors to tourism just a few years ago. Yet, it is experiencing massive amounts of visitors and investors. Coastal areas and islands are experiencing frenzied development. Luckily for the backpackers, there are still hold-over areas where they can still go to like Ochheauteal Beach. Don’t worry about how you pronounce it, it took me 20 tries before I got it right.
Sihanoukville is about four hours away from the capital city of Phnom Penh (can be 3 hours by private van). Depending on your budget, you can stay in a high-end resort that requires top dollars or to simply lodge for, say 8 dollars. Yes, the US dollar is an accepted money anywhere in the country.
Opulence is the name of the game for those who have money to burn. See the black car? That’s a stretched limo, a stretched Ford Expedition limo.
Food can be a combination of a lot of introduced culinary cultures (say, Japanese to Russian), so be ready for some sensory overload. For a lot of Cambodians, a sandwich is a strange snack, you can copy them and have yourself a serving of fruits instead. And if you’re up to it, provide some stomach space for exotics like ant and bee larvae. They taste better with fish sauce.
A typical Cambodian snack.
Before going to Cambodia, read up on culinary terminology and prepare your taste buds.
It is really hard to paint how this part of Cambodia looks like as everything is developing so fast. What you read here may not be true anymore a few months from now. Motodups or motorcycles that can ride one or two passengers are still quite common, but the number of cars and SUVs like Camry and Lexus already compete in the road space in the area. And with a seeming blink of an eye, what was not there would be there–and I am talking about huge resorts and buildings.
This side of the world still has spots you can claim to yourself. But they are fast disappearing to give way to resort development.
This huge bridge under construction leads to a tiny island soon to be smothered by development.
If you have plans to visit Cambodia, I suggest you allot some days for Sihanoukville, enjoy the sun, the sea, and the sand. Enjoy the food and talk with other travelers. You will be very glad you did…. before everything become strange in the near future.
