Sea of love

A day after moving into my new home, I left to go to another province for the last leg of the field work for this project I’m doing for UNICEF Cambodia. I love to travel, but I wasn’t comfortable leaving the house in total disarray. However, staying was also out of the question so I went.

I had only been to Sihanoukville once before, which is a bit strange because Sihanoukville is the holiday spot for locals and expats. The first (and last) time I went there was in late 2004, and I stayed one night only. I got there in the morning, proceeded to a couple of meetings that lasted till early evening, slept in a hotel on the beach front then went back to Phnom Penh the next morning.

I got to Sihanoukville at around noon on Sunday, where I was picked up by a motorcycle-riding staff of the guest house where the rest of the survey team were billeted. I called Poeu, my research assistant as soon as I settled into my room and asked how I could go to the survey site. He told me that the commune was about 15 km away from the city proper. I made arrangements for a motorcycle to take me there, which I estimated to be about 30-40 minutes by motorcycle. As it turned out, the guy driving the motorcycle (a nephew of the guest house owner) didn’t know where I was supposed to go, in spite of the clear instructions given him. But I didn’t know this, until after driving for more than an hour under the scorching sun, followed by rain and then the sun again. After a series of phone calls to Poeu, fixing a flat tire, and another hour of driving, I finally got to the survey site. When the work for the day was done, the survey team and I went to Occheuteal Beach, swam and hung around its cream-colored sand eating grilled squid and noodle soup that were being peddled in the area. I saw that the hotel I stayed in before was still standing and looked thriving. For dinner we ate more seafood at a local restaurant then stopped for dessert at a road-side eatery. A nice way to end the day after that mishap.

The relaxed atmosphere of Sihanoukville belies its colorful but tragic past. Carved from the jungle and mountains by the French in 1964, Sihanoukville (named after the ruling Prince that time), the only deep-sea port in newly-independent Cambodia was the French’s way of reinvigorating their waning power over the region. Its golden beaches attracted the elite but when the monarchy was overthrown in 1970, the town fell on hard times. The Khmer Rouge renamed it Kampong Som and used the Independent Hotel as target practice site. The port was bombed by the US Air Force when the KR hijacked an American container ship. After the KR, the highway to Sihanoukville became notorious for banditry and the beaches remained empty. Today the signs of civil war can hardly be seen in the town. The Cambodian government reported that about 320,000 tourists visited Sihanoukville in 2006.  

The next day we woke up to an overcast morning. We rushed towards breakfast. In my previous trips I have always brought a jacket, which I was only able to use in Stung Treng. After not being able to use it on the 2 suceeding trips, I didn’t bring one to Sihanoukville. This proved to be a mistake as rain started to fall the moment we headed off to the survey site. Bun Ly, the guy I was riding with, wore a raincoat to protect the documents and his laptop while I only had my fisherman’s hat and shades to protect me from the rain. The half-hour ride to the survey site felt like forever under the driving rain. When we got to the survey site, I was soaked. That afternoon, on the way back to the guest house, rain started to pour again but stopped shortly. We took advantage of this to take some photos by the road, which zigzagged its way to the hilly countryside. Spectacular view, I might say. The drives to and fro the survey site delighted me immensely, despite the risk of riding a motorcycle sans helmet, on a highway with high traffic of cargo trucks. As the sun set, we hit the beach again but the waves were too huge for comfort. We also went to the same places for dinner and dessert.

On the last day of the survey, the survey team originally planned to hold a party by the beach. But this last day proved to be quite hectic that doing the party at the end of the day was unrealistic. We didn’t even hit the beach that afternoon, everyone was busy processing the questionnaires that were to be sent right away to Phnom Penh the next morning. Instead the group decided to spend an extra day in Sihanoukville, to visit Ream National Park–a remarkable mangrove nature reserve 30 minutes from the city proper and, if time and money permits, take a boat ride to one of the more than 12 islands off the coast of Sihanoukville. 

We rented a van that would take us to Ream National Park and on the way we stopped by the market to buy food and other provisions. We got to Ream and we inquired about boat rental rates so we could go to Koh Russei (Bamboo Island). This island was about a 30-minute boat ride away from the beach at Ream, and this is the most developed of all the islands in terms of accommodation facilities. Facilities were still very basic but upon arrival I couldn’t ignore the island’s beauty and quietness. We rented a small cottage and had a sumptuous lunch of squid, fish, prahoc, and pickled vegetables. After lunch we headed to the other side of the island, which could be reached by a kilometer-long hike through a jungle trail. The beach, with its golden sand, was simply breath-taking. We stayed here most of the afternoon–swimming, frolicking in the sand, collecting crabs (which we set free before we left), and taking lots of photos.

We left Koh Russei at around 4PM, and during the drive to the guest house most of the group was asleep. On the way we purchased bus tickets for the journey to Phnom Penh the next morning. That night we had dinner and desserts at our accustomed places of choice, gorging on seafood and some beer for a change. Having spent a lot of time with the survey team, I revelled in their joyful company–their weird sense of humor, child-like glee, and unflagging energy.

I arrived at home, tanned and faced with the huge task of putting my new home in order. A large part of my mind is seriously considering making another trip to Sihanoukville when time allows it.