In a couple of years the smart accomm operators – Accor Novotel, Marriott Le Meridien, InterContinental etc – will bring class and sensibility to Cambodia’s coastal playground. Meanwhile, it’s all Chinese-only casinos and rubble. They didn’t have to bulldoze the little guys: the shorefront bars, eateries, and US$10-US$20 a night guest houses; there’s 100km of undeveloped coastline. Anyway, “Cheers” and Choum reap lear…
Month: August 2018
TRYING TO NOT BE A CRABBY TRAVELLER
Sihanoukville dispatches: Always trying to be positive … at least crabs aren’t a worry. It took a tuk tuk tour to find what’s probably the last available guest room , with hot water (call me picky), that accepts Westerners. US$30 a night is steep and it’s a rear room, but the Cambodian staff are fab and it’s a joy to watch Chinese families splashing in the pool. I expect this will soon be bulldozed to make way for a casino resort. – Makara Bungalows.
SIHANOUKVILLE: PARADISE GAMBLED AWAY
Sihanoukville dispatches: How to put this tactfully… Don’t expect a tourism Phoenix to rise from these ashes and rubble; at best, maybe a gold/jade balut egg. This is Lord of the Rings alternate ending where Sauron wins. Star Wars, where the Empire has demolished the rebel freedom fighters’ last base, is rebuilding it as a Mega-Death Star, and Darth Vader now speaks Mandarin. A game of Monopoly, where you pass Sihanoukville, and go straight to Otres Beach and collect $100. Serendipity Beach I have renamed as Calamity Cove. An hour in Sihanoukville is an hour you could have spent somewhere nice…
A CRITICALLY IMPORTANT WORKING LUNCH
Sihanoukville dispatches: Should old, faithful, seagrass straw hat finally be retired? It has been my one constant companion all over Asia. The potential replacement (US$4 at tourists shop) is “made for Modernist with selected material”. But am I travel Modernist material?
DON’T U HATE IT WHEN YOU’RE TRAVELLING AND…
Phnom Penh dispatches: Something in the water in South-East Asia makes my clothes shrink. A bit more each day until I go home. Hmmm. Anyway, lashing out for lunch today: delicious duck and fresh hand-made noodles ($US4.50) at one of my fav tourist eateries, Davids Noodles…
PLEASURE IN PAIN
Phnom Penh dispatches: Not unlike an Alabama catfish that’s been stunned numb and dumb by an electric eel, I’ve been thoroughly “therapied” by a blind massage therapist; my lumbar osteoarthritis pummelled into submission. Kneaded and prodded like Topolino’s pizza dough. Therapists obviously have varying degrees of blindness: one bloke has a flash Rolex wristwatch, and I catch my therapist with one hand working my arm while the other is checking messages on her mobile phone. $US7 an hour (for foreigners) and well worth it…
U GOTTA STAY SHARP, SON
Phnom Penh: Panda Mart wants US$7 for Gillette razor in the “French End” of tourism precinct; around the corner at Pride of Cambodia Mart it’s US$1.60. That’s 9 chilled cans of Angkor beer difference…
Haxtrax 