Christmas Eve in Sihanoukville (Dec. 24, 2014)

Hi Everyone,

First of all, Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope that you are having amazing times with your families and loved ones. I am sorry not to be doing the same, but thought it might be a bit much to fly back this year. I miss everyone and all the festive events, food, and laughing, but will be enjoying my Christmas and Boxing Day, scuba diving. How bad can that be?

I won’t have any WiFi on the boat, so I won’t be blogging again, until Boxing Day evening. That’s when I’ll be back, which will be Boxing Day morning, for you guys. 

Today was great. I walked again, to Independence Beach and met a new friend there that I saw yesterday, but didn’t talk to. When I saw him again today, I did talk to him and found out that his name is Rueven and he’s here on holiday from Switzerland, just outside of Zurich. He is really nice and we chatted, swam and just did our own thing for the afternoon. Around 2:30 pm, L-E showed up, excited that her friend from Belgium was coming to Sihanoukville today. She really liked him and hasn’t seen him for a month. She hung out with Rueven and me for a good part of the afternoon. She and I made plans to go for that hot pot soup for dinner, as Christmas Eve is the special night for her, and it’s her first Christmas without her mom. So I didn’t invite Rueven, and we all made plans to meet after dinner, with her friend, me, and Rueven. Perfect, sounded good.

Well, a few minutes before I was supposed to meet her, she flew into my hostel saying I was going to kill her…..lol. I highly doubted so, but she heard from the friend who just arrived, and they were going to an island to attend a party or something. She invited me, but I didn’t want to go, and really had hot pot on the brain. Anyway, I said to go ahead, and went to eat hot pot on my own. I would have asked Rueven to have dinner, but didn’t want to interfere in the special Christmas Eve thing with L-E. Well, I should have invited him, because being young and interested in a new flame, she ditched me…..lol. I didn’t care much, but could have had company for dinner. Anyway, I met Rueven later at the place we had agreed on and we had a great time chatting and watching a live band. We called it a night early as I am getting up at 6 am to meet up for my scuba trip. I am really excited and happy to be doing this. Here are some pics from today. Have a great Christmas Day and be happy.

More after my trip.

Laure-Elie and me drinking coconuts

Beach at sunset

Me, posing

The lions in the roundabout, for Christmas

Rueven and me Christmas Eve

Long Walk Alone (Dec. 23, 2014)

                                                                                                                      Photos on my walk........blog being weird again. 

Trees and forest

Trees and forest

Buildings under construction

Expensive hotel under construction

Gate of expensive hotel

Graffiti on a wall

Today I got up early and decided to take a long walk, just by myself, to kick out the cobwebs and  ground myself. It was amazing and the perfect thing to do.

I tried to shower before leaving, but the power went off, and the water wasn’t working for the showers. So, I put on my semi dirty clothes, grabbed my purse and bottle of water, and set off. I didn’t really have any particular destination in mind, but wanted to be away from the beach area with the vendors, and tourists. I found myself walking toward that beach that I have gone to a couple of times, Independence Beach. I suppose because it is so quiet and calm, without many people, it kind of drew me.

It took me about an hour and a half to get there, but I saw many wonderful things along the way, and was peaceful and happy to just keep walking. See the photos above, too.

Beautiful tree with flowers on the roadside

Once at the beach, I wished I had thrown in my bathing suit because it was a bit hot, though not brightly sunny. There was a wonderful cloud cover, which is perfect for me, as well as a nice strong breeze. I decided that I would look at the couple of little shops at the beach, to see if they had any bathing suits that might fit. It’s a challenge here, as the Cambodian women are really tiny and the tops of all the suits are usually too small for me. Well, as luck would have it, I did find one that fit me, and bought it for $8. A steal on a hot day, far from your stuff, with a cool ocean calling you…….lol.

I will make use of it, as I only have one suit with me and when it’s wet, it isn’t nice to have to put on. I did buy another one in Koh Tao, but the bottoms are a bit tight and not flattering. They wouldn’t let you try them on, because they were on the $5 sale rack. Fair enough, so I just bought it. The top fits well, but not the bottoms. Today’s suit, the top isn’t my favourite, but the bottoms fit really well, so I think I’ll just mix the two and have another suit to wear. Great!

I found a nice beach chair, under a straw umbrella and just chilled there, swam, and watched the water and some sweet Cambodian children playing in the water, just at the edge. One kid was only about 3 years old if that, and was absolutely loving the water washing up on her back and pushing her over. I think she liked the fact that I was watching her as well. She would say ‘Hey, hey……and then something in Khmer.’ I thought it was probably ‘watch me’, but I couldn’t say for sure.

Here are some things I saw at the beach. Livi, the crab was super cool. He was pushing sand out of a hole he was in. He would appear with a big blob of sand, then go back into the hole and come up with some more sand. He was really neat to watch. Those are his legs in the photo, pushing out the sand for himself.

Sand crab pushing sand out of his hole

Me, sitting under the straw umbrella

Cruise ship that was on the water at beach

I stayed and lazed on that chair for some hours, then walked back. I felt rejuvenated and happy when I called on Laure-Elie to see how she was feeling. She is better and will join me at Independence Beach tomorrow. I will go earlier than her, as I get up so early. I think I might walk again, but this time, will take my backpack, drawing stuff, book and munchies. That way I will have everything I need to stay for the day. Stella may join us too, but I want to go early because both of the other two, like to sleep late.

Tonight I just found a street vendor, with L-E, bought some noodles and took them to the two lions statue in the roundabout, to eat them. She wasn’t up for eating noodles yet, but wanted to go out for a walk, as she’s getting really sick of only seeing her room and the guesthouse restaurant.

That’s all for now. More tomorrow, and then…………scuba diving. 

Football and Barbq Dinner (Dec. 22, 2014)

Charlie Harper Bar in Sihanoukville

Same

Tom and Lee, in the bar watching FB

View looking into the restaurant

This morning we got up early, and took a Tuk Tuk to the centre of town to meet Tom and his friend. We watched the Sunday Night Football game, at 8:30 this morning……lol. It was a really nice little bar/restaurant that we went to, which had two screens and quite a few people in it. I had a coffee and some breakfast, chatted between plays with Tom and his friend Lee, and enjoyed watching some football. I forgot how much I miss watching sports on TV, especially football. It always was my favourite.

The game ended about 12:00 and they dropped us off at our hostel in the Tuk Tuk, and continued on to their hotel. We said we would meet them on the beach, at the first place we saw them. I didn’t want to go down to the beach quite so early, as it was hot and I didn’t want to burn. I stopped off at L-E’s guesthouse, but she wasn’t feeling well, still. She spent the night up, going to the toilet. Poor gal. Oh well, I think she’s better, but just not totally better yet. In any case, I walked down to the beach and met up with Tom, Stella, Olga (a Spanish girl from our hostel that joined us), and Ann and Maca, the couple for Jersey Island, off of Britain. How interesting.

Seafood plate......mmmm

Tom, Stella and Olga

Me, with my rashy top, after a swim

Olga, me, Maca and Tom

Sunset at Serendipity Beach

Ann and I talked quite a bit and ended up sharing emails in case either of us might go to the others’ country. She used to live in Toronto, so I don’t think it will be as interesting for her, as it might me for me. None the less, she was adamant about sharing details, so that was nice.

When we finished spending time at the beach, swimming, and me……trying out my new mask and snorkel, we all went to another restaurant down the way that was serving a huge pork chop with a rib attached, salad, potato salad, and cooked vegetables. This barbecue was $4.50 per person and was delicious.

Sue, Olga, Ann, Stella and Tom

View from the restaurant

Same restaurant

After that, Olga and I went back to the hostel, and relaxed, got ready for bed, and just basically chilled.

Hope you all have a great day.

Beach and Drawing (Dec. 21, 2014)

Well, this one’s going to be short and sweet. Stella and I went to Independence Beach this morning around 10:30 am and stayed there until 5 pm. It was so nice. Not too many people, but still enough people that it was interesting and I had good conversation with a nice Cambodian man. I’ll tell you about that in a minute. 

I sat in the shade, with my new rashy top on that protects from the sun, and was happier than ever. I drew the long dock and walk out with two huts on it. It was a nice thing to draw, and made me feel good to know that when I look back at my drawing book, I will remember how lovely it felt on this beach, just chilling, watching people and relaxing.

Drawing from today

On the way home, I stopped by to see how Laure-Elie was feeling and she was better, but still not fully recovered. She said she wanted to go out for a while though, and get some real food. I told her where I went last night, and she was interested, but needed to have a nap first. That worked well, because I needed to have a shower so she said she would come by my hostel around 7 pm for dinner. Stella was tired and wanted to stay at the hostel, so it was just L-E and me for dinner. She really liked the hot pot and managed to eat quite a bit of it. Then we went for a short walk until her tummy needed to go back to her hostel. I kept walking for a while, and she headed back.

Lions in the round about by the hostel

View from behind

Full view of street that restaurant is on.........no tourists
and it's only one street over from the hostel.

Once back to the hostel, I chatted with Julia and Lydia for a while on the phone, then headed for bed. 

Tomorrow I will wake up early and meet Tom, the American man from Bellingham, and his friends, who are going to watch Sunday Night Football. The Seattle Seahawks are playing the Cardinals, so it’s an important game. The funny part is, because of the time change, we will watch it at 8:30 am Monday morning, at a bar that Tom knows the English owner who gets the overseas sports channels. It should be fun and we can have breakfast and coffee there while watching the game. I’ll be sure to take lots of photos.

More tomorrow.

Quiet Day and Local Dinner (Dec. 20, 2014)

Hi,

Today was a nice day. When I got up this morning, I had two emails from Laure-Elie, who is staying at a guesthouse down the street from me. She said that she had been throwing up and diarrhoea all night and couldn’t go on the boat trip. I felt badly that she was sick, but wasn’t sad about the boat, because when I got up, I didn’t want to go either. It seemed like a good idea last night, but as I got up today, and thought about it, I pictured being on this boat with a whole whack of young, drunk people and that wasn’t very appealing.

Stella too, wasn’t feeling that great, as she is on antibiotics for an infected bug bite, and they are making her feel a bit off, after she takes them in the morning. Between the two of them, and me feeling uncomfortable about going, it was easy to decide to go to the place and ask for the money back. This went well and the guy gave me back the money without issue. I’m really glad we didn’t go. You kind of get swept up with the partying here, and after two nights of it, I am sick of it, and didn’t want to party, or watch others party, at all today. I needed a day of being quiet and spending some time walking around, and looking at the water. It was perfect.

I went to see L-E this morning and brought her two big bottles of water and a couple of packs of electrolytes. She seemed ok, though tired and a bit sore in the tummy. Otherwise, she looked good, no fever and no chills or anything, so it was probably just some food or water that didn’t agree with her. Poor thing, it is awful to have that when you’re travelling and alone. She was really grateful to receive the water and electrolytes. 

After visiting her, I walked down to the beach and sat on a chaise lounge for a while, looking at the water. It was really hot today, so I stayed in the shade on my chair. It was really nice just looking at the people and water for a while, and thinking my own thoughts. Then I walked around again, and went to the hostel for a little rest, and to get my bathing suit and sun shirt on. By then, it was getting to be a bit later in the afternoon, which is a better time for me to go swimming. I fry if I go too early and even with the sunscreen and sun protector top, it’s still too hot for me.

By the time I got to the beach, it was just perfect and I went in for a swim. There were so many Cambodian people at the beach today. I guess being Saturday, many people were out with their families, enjoying the beach. It was fun to watch the kids and adults playing, dancing and having fun. I had a mango while sitting at the beach, peeled and delivered by a nice young girl who carried the huge plate of fruit, on her head. I don’t think the photo turned out well, but she was so cute and did up the mango so well, without touching it once with her hands.

Her carrying it, but it's dark

Plate of fruit she carried on her head

After my swim, I met up with Stella and we walked back towards the hostel, and stopped off at a Cambodian hot soup vendor, on the way. I had been talking to two men that live in Sihanoukville now, in their 70’s, who told me where to go for some real food. I am a bit sick of Western restaurants here, as it’s very touristy, and not much local food to choose from. I was really excited to try this place, and it was great. The man who owned the restaurant spoke very good English and was able to communicate with us and tell us how to do the soup. There is a single burner hotplate at every table, and they bring you all kinds of vegetables, noodles, beef and an egg, to put into the soup. When they bring it, there is already beef balls, tongue, and tofu in the soup. The nice part is, that you can watch the soup boil, right in front of you and then add the items you want to. I let it boil for a while, just to make sure that any bacteria was boiled out. That was really great, as was the soup. The broth was amazing and so tasty. A real hit for $2.50 each......we couldn't even finish it!

Hot plate and Stella at restaurant

View up the street from our table

Goodies to put into the soup

Boiling soup, almost ready

Finally, we came back to the hostel, showered, and I washed out some laundry to hang for the night. It is great to do a few things each night, and then it never gets out of hand, and I always have something clean to wear. 

Oh, on one of my walks, I ran into Santa, Livi, so I took a picture with him, for you. He said you’ve actually been pretty good this year. Way to go! Also, a little birdie told me that you wanted to see my room at this hostel. Well, here it is. Not bad, eh? It was so nice to talk to you this morning. I always have a great day after we chat. You rock, sister.

Me and Santa

Lockers with great heavy locks on the door

My bunk, on the bottom

View of the room from the door

Tomorrow, I think I will take my drawing stuff and go to Independence Beach again. I think we’ll go earlier tomorrow to make a whole day of it, and just chill out there for the whole time. That should be great.

First Day in Sihanoukville (Dec. 19, 2014)

Today was lazy but lovely. We went for a walk down the beach near our hostel, then took a Tuk tuk and went to another beach that’s about 15 minutes away by Tuk Tuk. It is called Independence Beach and Stella and I went with Laure-Elie and her friend, Elodie. We had such a grew time, just relaxing and enjoying the quiet. 

Looking up into the tree above my chair

View from our beach chairs

Me, at the beach

Laure-Elie and her friend

Stella

View from our chairs

After we got back to Sihanoukville, we showered, and then got ready to join our new American friends, Tom and Ana and I forgot his name….lol. Anyway, they weren’t at the spot we were to meet them, but we had some Happy Hour drinks, and a couple of plates of freshly barbqued scallops on the half shell. When we were done, we went to find L-E and her friend. We did, and danced a lot of the night away, which was so much fun.

Tomorrow we will take a boat trip to three islands, where we can snorkel, and swim, or dance on the boat. It sounds like fun and the captain doesn’t drink, because I asked….lol.

More pics tomorrow for the boat. Had a great day today.

Love you all, Sue.

Sihanoukville, Cambodia (Dec. 18, 2014)

Well, I made it to Sihanoukville without issue. I arrived at the One Stop Hostel at around 2:45 pm. I met Stella right away and we started to have a great party not soon after my arrival. We walked down to the beach where we met Laure-Elie and her friend, on the beach. We had a little chat, then met some sweet Americans further down the beach. We sat and had a couple of drinks for Happy Hour, along with some yummy squid on the half shell. 10 of them were $2 US. The drinks for Happy Hour were $1 US. What a deal and how much fun.

View from bar, looking out to beach

My bus, which was great.

Group at the next table that we partied with

Dinner, 10 scallops barbecued on the half shell

Tom, Stella and me

Sunset that first night

Dancing for the sunset

By the end of our time at the beach bar, I had been swimming two times in my bra and panties, and had drank a few cocktails. What a great first day here. I don’t think anyone even bothered about my swimming attire, except Stella, who kept taking pictures. I don’t care, it was amazing to swim in the ocean, and the temperature was so great, about 30 degrees.

More news tomorrow. We might join Laure-Elie and her friend, tomorrow to go to an island to chill for the day. That sound good to me…..lol.