Konni & Matt - Perpetual Travellers: 07 May

Southeast Asia

Kingdom of Cambodia

Sihanoukville

Otres Beach

O Stress Bori Beach Hut

Basic double room on the beach, 10 m from the waterline, for KHR 29,400.- or US$ 7.- per night. Friendly and helpful host family.

Click below for an interactive road map of the O Stress Bori Beach Hut at Sihanoukville's Otres Beach and for directions:

N 10° 34.22' E 103° 33.14'

Enjoying relaxed down-time and re-charging our batteries at the end of Southeast Asia's hot-and-dry season, just before the beginning of the monsoonal rains: (i) soaking up the sun and chilling out on the pristine Otres Beach, c. 10 km southeast of Sihanoukville, (ii) dabbling in the more-than-lukewarm crystal-clear water of the balmy Gulf of Thailand (where we could make out individual grains of sand over the distance of a few metres under water), (iii) feasting on local seafood delicacies which were offered to us non-stop by friendly and unobtrusive beach peddlers (e.g. six grilled Cambodian lobsters for US$ 2.-, twelve grilled squids for US$ 1.- and, as a cheap route into oblivion, one litre of excellent homemade rice spirit for only US$ 0.60), (iv) enjoying a 90min-long traditional Khmer full-body massage on the beach for US$ 5.- and (v) planning our further travels through Cambodia's hinterland.

Amazon.de Widgets

Hiring two 125-cc Honda motos aka motodups (small underbone motorcycle taxis with driver) for US$ 2.- per vehicle and per person, respectively, and riding pillion straight to the Vietnamese Consulate in downtown Sihanoukville in order to purchase two 30-day single-entry tourist visas for the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for the compulsory (!) and rather stiff express fee of US$ 45.- per person (...and getting them issued from the slimy and efficient government weasels within 30 minutes).

“The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are.”

(H.L. Mencken)

Sharing a shared taxi with five other passengers and the lucky driver/owner (a total of eight people found some seat in his worn Toyota Camry, mercifully all of us with a BMI below 25: a young Khmer couple on honeymoon shared the rear seats with us, two young Khmer men shared the front passenger seat amongst each other, riding shotgun together, and a sexy young Khmer lady sat on the cabbie’s lap, but no lap dance) from Sihanoukville's crowded taxi stand opposite Phsar Leu to Kampot (110 km, 2 3/4 hous, US$ 5.- per person), set with picture perfection on the Kampong Bay River near the base of the Elephant Mountains.