We had purchased our bus tickets to Sihanoukville from our guesthouse, but were advised that due to the Tet holiday, we would not enjoy the customarily included ride to the bus station. We paid our bill and negotiated a ride with a tuk-tuk driver outside the hotel. At the bus station we stood in the parking lot and chatted with a Dutch couple. We complained about the extra bag we were carrying because the charge was $200.00 USD to mail it home. They proudly told us they were traveling with only large day packs (maybe 50 liters), but we learned that they were only traveling for a month. Pi-sha! We're traveling for a year with only 1 large backpack & a day pack each. We explained that we put our backpacks into larger, zippered bags so that we can lock them and because they protect our backpacks clasps and straps when in transit.
The bus ride was about 4 hours and uneventful. We did stop once for food and a toilet break. We purchased fried rice, placed in a styrofoam go container and beef & green beans sauteed in garlic, placed in a clear plastic bag. As is often the case, the food was room temperature; Phyl was not happy, and we again played the “pretend your food is hot” game. We saw many more children naked from the waist down and an elderly lady washing on the side of the road, in a plastic tub. She stood on the side of the tub, bent in half, her boobs hanging down into the water. I'm not sure why, but these sights continue to amaze us.
P- Do we know where we're going? What's the name of our hotel?
G- Hmmmm. I don't remember.
P- Did we write it down?
G- I am afraid that we didn't. I planned to do that this morning, but I forgot.
P- I guess that's what we get for booking a hotel when we're a little drunk.
G- Hahahah! I guess so.
P- How in the hell are we going to tell the tuk-tuk driver where to take us?
G- Chill! We'll tell him to take us to an internet cafe and we'll check our emails. I know I received a confirmation email.
P- How did we forget to write it down?
G- It's called beer, Gladys. We drank a lot of it. No big deal. I cannot even come close to remembering the name, but I remember what the outside looks like so maybe I'll recognize it.
As luck would have it, we were dropped off right next to an internet cafe. I paid for 15 minutes, checked our emails and wrote down the name and address of the hotel. While I was doing this, Phyl was negotiating with a tuk-tuk- driver and talking to that same Dutch lady we had spoken to in Phnom Penh.
P- Ok, the tuk-tuk drive is going to bring us to the hotel, wait while we check in and put our stuff in the room, then take us to Otres Beach to see if we can find a place on the beach.
G- What's Otres Beach?
P- The Dutch lady was telling me it is considered the quiet beach. I know we don't want to be on the party beaches, Liberty, Serendipity or Ochheuteal.
G- No, we definitely want the quiet beach, and we need to book a place today because it's Thursday and people are going to start pouring into this area because of the Tet holiday.
We left the Sunday Hotel, rounded a traffic circle containing 2 very large, gold painted, lions, and turned down a narrow, 2 lane, road. Corrugated metal shacks lined the road, and just to their right, several men were showering at a communal “bath house” that consisted of 4 PVC pipes, affixed to a fence. Two women bathed small children in plastic washtubs. Cambodia may be hot and dusty, but Cambodian people are clean. They may live in a shack, not use soap or shampoo, but sometimes I think Phyl & I smell worse than them.
After about a mile, we turned left and ran into a heard of gray, horned cattle walking down the road toward us. The tuk-tuk driver slowed and moved to the left, the owner of the cattle drove them to the right side of the road and we passed within inches of these big, brown eyed, beasts of burden. Not long after we passed the cattle, we turned again and began driving down a dirt road, covered in medium sized to large rocks. The tuk-tuk bounced along, the driver moving from side to side avoiding the holes and larger rocks. We bounced around, often flying off our seats.
G- Baby, you better hold those boobs down or you're gonna knock yourself unconscious!!! I'm not kidding.
P- Oh, I didn't think you were joking, but I can't hold my boobs and hold onto the handle.
G- This road is almost as bad as the road we drove up into the rain forest in Belize. The one that gave us shaken adult syndrome.
P- That road was way worse, but this one is killing me.
Our tuk-tuk driver first stopped at a place called Mien Mien, but they were unsure if they would have a room available the next day and they were currently full. We stopped at every place along the beach but no one had a room available. The total number of options was only about 10 places with some having as few as 3 rooms to rent and several with only communal sleeping quarters above the bar/restaurant. We were disheartened when we returned to the first place, Mien Mien, to sit in their restaurant, drink a beer and watch the sunset. The woman running the place said that she thought she might have a room opening up and she'd call our tuk-tuk driver in the morning and let him know. This gave us a little glimmer of hope!
P- Whah! I want to stay here, in that shack on the beach.
G- I know. This is exactly what we were looking for.
P- What are we going to do if we can't get a room here? I don't want to stay at Sunday Hotel and pay double what we're paying for tonight. Damn Tet holiday!!
G- I have the feeling that everything is going to work out. Tomorrow someone will leave and we'll be able to stay here.
P- I hope so.
Pursuant to our request, our tuk-tuk driver to brought us to a restaurant, grilling fresh seafood on a large, roadside grill, along Serendipity Beach. Of course it was open air, but there was a slight breeze so it wasn't too hot. Phyl enjoyed grilled shrimp with roasted potatoes and a sort of cole slaw salad. I had grilled tuna, roasted potatoes and cole slaw salad. We each had a beer. The meal was delicious and cost us about $7.00.
Our tuk-tuk driver had taken another fare, but was back and waiting for us when we left the restaurant. Back at Sunday Hotel we confirmed and reconfirmed that he would come to the hotel at 8:00 am tomorrow morning and tell us if Mien Mien had a room.
