On our second day in Sihanoukville, it was time to go back out on the water. In a boat. This time, most of the group was going snorkeling and heading to an island for some swimming, lunch and more fun in the sun.
Once again, we left pretty early in the morning to hop on the boat. We stopped in one spot for snorkeling, but I’m not a snorkeler, so I just sat and watched. After about forty minutes, though, we headed to Bamboo Island. Don’t let the name fool you, though. Just like there were no monkeys on Monkey Island and no unicorns on Unicorn Island, there was no bamboo on Bamboo Island. There were beaches, though. Lots and lots of beaches. This time I did participate and we swam and did regular old beach stuff. The one beach thing I didn’t do was put on sunscreen, but I assume I’ll get to that later.
At around noon, we took a break for lunch. We had rice and fish or chicken skewers with vegetables. The food was barbequed on the beach and was very good. This was followed by some mango dessert and then more swimming and beach stuff. We left Bamboo Island and returned to the harbor for some more snorkeling, followed by a return to Sihanoukville. I was a little tired and decided to head back to my room for a nap.
I got up and texted some folks and found that a lot of people were at the Purple Bar. That was where I had gotten the fifty cent drafts the night before and I decided to return to the scene of the crime. I read a review of the place that said it had some of the best hamburgers in Cambodia, so I tried one. It was the only hamburger I tried in Cambodia (or since China, for that matter), but I couldn’t come up with a reason to argue. After the burger and a few drinks, the second day came to an end.
I began my last day in Sihanoukville walking around the city for a while. Like all of the other cities I had seen in Vietnam and Cambodia, it was truly different from anything I have seen in the west, but I’m getting more accustomed to the typical southeastern Asia city. I stopped by a few cafes and eventually wandered back to my hotel. Lots of other people were heading to a private beach, but after two days of beaches and significant sunburn on my shoulders (I knew I’d get back to that sunscreen topic again), I decided not to go.
Instead, I walked some more around town to see if I could find anything interesting. For the record, I didn’t find anything all that interesting. I did stop at a different restaurant for a little more amok, this time of the chicken variety. The place was pretty deserted and the people who worked there, as well as another tourist, stopped by and chatted for a while. I really like how the people in Vietnam and Cambodia come by and speak with you when you’re eating alone. Anyway, the food was good, but this was closing in on the end of my Sihanoukville adventure.
Later on, I went to dinner with the group in the restaurant where I had eaten the delicious fish amok on my first day in town. In the evenings, the restaurant, as well as most of the restaurants around the beach, have a barbeque and served grilled food. I had barbequed beef steak with potato salad and grilled vegetables. I don’t reckon it was too authentic as far as Cambodian food goes, but it was pretty damn delicious. That and, of course, a couple beers effectively ended my evening because we had to get on a bus by seven a.m. the next morning.
I’ve never been much of a beach person, but I have to say that I did have a really good time in Sihanoukville and would recommend it to anybody looking for a good beach town in Cambodia.
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