Home of the best beaches in Cambodia, Sihanoukville does not disappoint. The shore is littered with beach after beach each its own personality. Sokha Beach is up-market, filled with resorts and middle-aged to elderly, rich white people. Serendipity Beach is the backpacker area. Ochheutal Beach is where the masses are. Independence Beach is nice and quiet. Otres Beach is out of the way and forgotten. I stayed in the backpacker area of Serendipity, which is kind of in the middle geographically. The first day I followed the coast north. I am not sure how far north I got. I intended on getting all the way to Victory Beach but I am not sure that I did. I decided to call it quits when I got to will be a huge bridge that was about 5-10% complete and was not allowed to pass by some pseudo-security guard. It was going to get dark soon anyway so I was happy to end there anyway. There is no road that follows the water for some reason and the sandy beaches north of Serendipity often give way to rocks that lead into the water. When there was no sand, which was most of the time, I proceeded over the rocks with the water crashing into them. It was fun and decent exercise and provided for some stellar views and pictures, which will be posted when I am motivated to do so.
The following day I ventured south with the goal being Ortes Beach, about 5km (3.4 miles) away. I expected to encounter more rocks as I did when I went north the previous day but I did not. It was almost all sand almost the entire way. I reached Ortes before I was ready to turn back so I continued on. Beyond Ortes, however, I do not know the names of any of the beaches, but each was stunning. Ortes Beach is truly amazing. A small stretch of Ortes has a small crowd and several business (guesthouses and bars) lining the white sand but Ortes is largely unvisited and often there was not another person in sight. I cannot explain this as the views are better than the more popular beaches and the water is cleaner (though this is probably because there are fewer people). Somewhere along the way I managed to get bit like crazy by ants on my feet. There are so many bites that my feet look swollen and as if they were dipped in pale red paint.
At some point I stumbled upon a small group of people shooting a commercial for some drink. I think it was an energy drink but I am just guessing. I inserted myself into the ad (we are in a small circle huddled over a little bit and on cue stand upright, reach for the sky with a can of whatever-it-is-called and shout). Lame commercial, I know. The odds of any of the handful of takes I did being the one that is selected to ultimately be the ad is small but it was fun all the same.
Both nights I was in Sihanoukville I went a small night market for dinner. The first night I ended up at some noodle place and ate some of the best food I have had in recent memory. I made a point of remembering which stand it was so that I could return there the second night. After eating on the second night I asked if they could show me how to cook the dish because it was so good. They induldged me though the lesson was not too productive because they did not know the English of about half of the spicies and I was unable to decifer them with my smell and taste.
I tend to get bored of beaches pretty quickly if there is not something else to keep my attention. Though beautiful, Sihanoukville was no different and I left to return to Phnom Penh (en route to my next destination) after only two nights.
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