Seaside in Sihanoukville

Back on the bus! This time caught the bus that was taking a few barangs and majority of locals to the seaside town of Sihanoukville. We are adapting to the Asian seat size and not complaining as we looked around and saw many families with 5 sharing 2 seats. The Asian kids we find are polite and well mannered, the only time we hear crying and fussing is usually with the western kids. What's up with that! Why are our kids "the brats"? Our culture could learn from the developing countries as we see a similiar pattern, whether it be Mexico, Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, or Asia, these children are well behaved. I guess we spoil and cater to ours a little too much! Who's the boss, who really runs the show? After about 6 hours for our 6 dollar ride we arrived in Sihanoukville, hopped on a tuk tuk and checked out half a dozen guesthouses/hotels. As the Chinese New Years approaches, many of these places get booked solid! Found a room at Serendipity beach in a hotel that we (thank God) only stayed one night. It was clean and quiet enough, but I was a little worried as our bathroom ceiling was dripping with moisture, well more like raining and hoping that the weight of the water would not cause the roof to collapse. Up early to hunt down another spot to hang our hat for a bit since we were caught last year with Chinese New Years in Vietnam and had a heck of a time finding accommadations. It was recommended that we go to Otres beach and what a great spot! Super quiet with a beach that was not stacked with people, and less garbage! Found a room at Mushroom Point, 7 small circular bungalos with round beds, mostquito nets, and thatched bamboo roofs. Breaky was included, great food overall, good coffee, sometimes a bit of wifi, unheated showers, kinda like deluxe camping, all for 30 bucks. The only downside was getting chomped on by a spider and mossies. Stayed there for almost a week before we had to find another spot just down the dirt road called Otres Bungalos. This was a bit of an upgrade with aircon and hot water. We would wander back to mushroom point and try to do some wifi stuff but in this little town there were numerous power outages with generators keeping the action going. The various beach bars and resturaunts had comfy papa san chairs to lounge on and great seafood abound. Steve even tossed a bit of frisbee around for a few days hanging with the Italians and one of the guys told me that Steve has the best hands on the beach (well I new that already) ha ha ha! One day we took a boat to check out a few surrounding islands, Bamboo and Koh Ta Kiev. At the second island it was nice and quiet so Steve and I wandered down the beach and he found a great spot for snorkling, I unfortunatly broke my snorkle so I watched as he swam au natural with the fishies. He saw some beautiful coral gardens and many medium and smaller fish. Nice day, then back to Otres for more of the same daily doings, beach and hang time. It was great to see the happy locals celebrate with their families, swimming in large groups fully clothed and enjoying their picnic parties. The downside is they leave all their garbage once they're done for the day. Gotta educate the locals on cleaning up after themselves! One day we hung out at this bar that we guessed was owned by cops as we saw a couple of them laying on hammocks while swilling rice wine and whiskey shots still in uniform. A lot of blatant corruption in this country. One day out on our moped rental # 16 we noticed other drivers signaling something but we speak no Khmer and they no English only to get pulled over by the police and pay $1.00 for driving with our lights on during the day, what kinda rule is that? Drove around, saw some sights and checked out a beach that Patti recommended, Sokha Beach. We went to the fancy hotel there and used their lounge chairs and later caught a bit of the hotels entertainment of the Chinese pole dancers, (not what some of you might think, perverts). We have seen this before on Khao San Road but always a great spectacle to watch! One man performs on top a 20' pole held up by several others. Totally enjoyed the vibe, beaches, and of course the people of Otres. Would definitely go back for a return visit. We are glad to see this area before big development takes over. There's quite a few concrete fences already in place separating the properties that will forever change the sights of this quiet little beach town. Ohhhh Otres.