Travelfish newsletter Issue 367 : Sihanoukville mailbox
Hi everyone,
I’m still in Cambodia this week, kicking around on the Cambodian islands. Some of the beaches are beautiful, really beautiful, but the accommodation is more of a mixed bag—and expensive for what you get. If you’re planning on heading this way over the silly season, my advice is book in advance and keep your eyes peeled for updated coverage on Travelfish in a week. Newly updated on the site this week is Kuala Terengganu in Malaysia.
In other news, we have added a donate to Travelfish page. If you’d like to make a one-off (or regular even!) donation, please see here. Thank you! (I put the wrong link in last week’s newsletter—ops!)
Your seat awaits at Koh Rong Samloem. Photo: Nicky Sullivan
If you’re heading to Thailand for the first time, you may enjoy another newsletter we have called “Welcome to Thailand”. It starts with a series of daily emails, each covering an introductory aspect of Thailand. Then it switches to a weekly (Tuesday) instalment, each recommending a destination or attraction in Thailand that you may not have heard of. The newsletter is very much aimed at people new to Thailand, so if that is you, you can sign up here. All subscribers also get a complimentary PDF itinerary for Southern Thailand. Sign up here.
Good travels,
Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish crew
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Mailbox: Sihanoukville
Last week’s newsletter on Sihanoukville going bad was our most read newsletter in ages and we received loads of feedback. Loads. Below are some (slightly edited) thoughts readers emailed in. It seems we’re not the only ones sad about the direction it has taken. We received a lot of emails on this, sorry have not put them all in!
Probably won’t be back writes JD:
“Just read your news letter on the change in Sihanoukville and I am blown away. I was there in the beginning of 2016 and I remember meeting a local guy named "Red" who took me down to Otres beach. The beach was beautiful and had all those beach bungalows you could stay in and the sunset I watched that night was one of the most picturesque I have ever seen. It's really sad to read how much has changed in such a short period of time. I always wanted to pass back through on my next trip to South East Asia but doesn't look all that appealing now.”
RIP Sihanoukville writes PL:
“Wow, Stuart, to read of the changes to Sihanoukville (Schnookville) is heartbreaking. It was just starting to turn bad when I was there last just two short years ago, but still a great affordable laid back place, especially Otres beach, where i always stayed. To hear Monkey Republic is gone too for another Chinese casino is just the last straw. I saw the way the Chinese treated the local Cambodians last time I was there, and I was just appalled at their attitudes. Worse than the Russians in Thailand, if that's possible. I love Cambodia, and the Cambodian people have to be one of the kindest, friendliest peoples I have ever met. RIP Sihanoukville, I'll always have fond memories of the way you were.”
Need to stay, here’s a good recommendation from A:
“Last January i was in Siha ... euh Chinaville is what the Cambodians I talked to call the city now. We stayed at Patchouli Chill House. It is a small oasis in the middle of the garbage rubble, dirt and cranes towering over the uncountable construction sites. The hotel is run by a French-Cambodian couple who used to have several restaurants before they were forced to close one after the other due to an exaggerated rise in their rent. As soon as they left the building they were torn down, one after the other. They try to hold on to this last adventure with all the love for their city, job and lifestyle they still have. The food was gorgeous, the small hotel impeccable, cosy and comfy tucked away in a small alley. We only stayed one night, saw Sihanoukville from the bus and tuktuk, sufficient to realise there's nothing worth seeing there anymore.” Patchouli Chill House is on Agoda here.
TT combined Sihanoukville with a 103 degree fever:
“A quick note on 'Snooky-ville; I was there for a week or so in June, 2017. I wasn't impressed with the eastern beach areas where I stayed but then picked up a foot infection (probably from the pedicure people) and things got worse. Woke up with a 103 degree fever and was almost delirious so my wife called for an emergency ambulance, rode to the main hospital and checked in all day with an IV. Grateful for the assistance, but I didn't want to spend 3 nights there as recommended by the doctor. Was flying out the next day anyway to Bangkok and actually had a prior arranged appointment there. Meanwhile I just want to say, you gotta have cash and a strong will to get out of Si-ville. The 'resort' on the beach wouldn't let us back in and forced us to pack up and leave that night. I can't imagine how much worse it will be today and suspect the infrastructure is way behind. Beware.”
D (from a far longer piece!) finds a ghost of old Sihanoukville:
“Reading a little about this sprawling city that grew a coastal building more almost each passing day, we relaxed a bit when we came across some information stating that there were still some nice places among the concrete and rubble, and that in fact it had a certain je ne sais quois that fascinated some backpackers. Nothing prepared us for our brief but bumpy visit. After finding one of the most expensive and awful rooms of all our five months in five different countries, we walked along Serendipity beach until the trash from the sea-side restaurants and constructions was (nearly) out of sight. We enjoyed a lovely sunset and took pictures of a glowing pier, imagining excitedly how the paradise island we would sail to the next day would be like. And then we discovered the cheapest happy hour beer in the whole region, being sold in small plastic cups in a decrepit ruin of a hostel, with a graffitied pool and the sense that the place used to be lively and fascinating a few years ago.”
GB reminisces:
“I have such fond memories of my first trip to SEAsia in 2002, and Sihanoukville was one of the highlights of that trip. Not because it was perfect, nor because the beaches were spotless, but because it was raw and gritty and most importantly backpacker friendly. I spent nearly three weeks whiling my days away in Sihanoukville in a small but tidy $3 a night joint that made life feel simple and pure. The Cambodians in Sihanoukville were the friendliest I’d met and I’m still friends with a few of them to this day (they’ve long since packed their bags for the islands). The rat-bagged motorbike I rented for the trip to Bokor became my trusty stead, my ass still hasn’t recovered almost 20 years later, but the memories of simpler times always make me smile and cherish those early days of travel. To see the place so utterly unrecognisable makes my heart hurt and I fear that no one will be able to experience it as I once did, a young naive Canadian in a very foreign country just enjoying the slowed down Khmer way of life. ”
M (extracted from a far longer piece) found charm in 2014:
“After a few hours we forced ourselves to wander closer to civilisation (north westish?, to the right as you're facing the water). "Locals" were partying all along the beach, fireworks (middle of the day), eating, drinking, very friendly as we wandered by. We made our way to a type of headland of rocks with some bars along there, took in a few happy hour cocktails (happy hour! Cambodian booze prices! Hardly needed.)”
I’ll conclude by saying while Sihanoukville is an absolute festering pit, the islands offshore are absolutely worth putting up with it—one night maximum. As one emailer said “sometimes you need to pass through hell to reach heaven”.
Good travels
Stuart
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Ten (well this week, eleven!) things worth reading
Thailand hopes to have bullet trains running by 2023
“But he and other critics question whether HSR is the right choice, given the high cost and relatively short distances involved. Some argue that dual-track rail would suffice for the eastern provinces, which currently lack any railway at all.”
Consuming hope
“But this year, in the end, the forest fires were like a wild beast: not only devouring the demonstration plot that the community uses to teach, experiment and share ideas about agricultural practices, but also turning their dreams to ash.”
Government approves northern highlands airport in Sapa
“The Ministry of Transport has approved a plan to construct Sa Pa Airport with a capacity of 3 million passengers a year.”
What happened to Myanmar’s ghosts?
“I had come to Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar’s capital city, to talk to the captain about the logistics of relocating the spirits of the dead, a practice based on ancient Burmese spiritual beliefs. We were sitting outside an almost deserted cafe; I was sipping on papaya juice and the captain was drinking water. Next to us was a long drainage channel that cooled the sweltering air. Along the banks of the channel, the tamarind trees blazed orange.”
The perfect holiday in Laos
We’d say this is an awful lot to fit into two weeks. Solution? Go for three!
Ho Chi Minh City’s hilarious side
“The international crowd claps and cheers as he introduces a Vietnamese comic who goes by her first name, Tu. Clad in a leopard-skin dress, she mocks foreign Tinder dates seeking Asian women, while bawdily discussing her sex life.”
The Chinese who fled Sukarno’s Indonesia to build a new Bali under Mao
“But for Tan’s family, and many like them, even the hardships of the Cultural Revolution were better than facing the pai hua, or anti-Chinese sentiment, sweeping Indonesia.”
Rekindling regional pride: the Dawei Art Space
“Mya Ei Thwe said the idea for the exhibition came from the artists themselves. “They wanted to rent a space to put on an art show during the Thadingyut festival [in mid October] but didn’t have the budget for it, so they approached us, and we were so happy to host them here,” she said.”
Volunteer tourism: what’s wrong with it and how it can be changed
“Aside from sometimes creating an inaccurate impression, these appeals have attracted increasing numbers of student volunteers, best described as amateur humanitarian workers. They intend to serve people, especially children, but do they?”
Thailand will soon allow its citizens to grow cannabis at home to sell to the government.
I thought the government there was already pretty high.
Indonesia’s fading democracy dream
“The risk for Jokowi lies in the fact that each move to erode anti-corruption efforts and individual rights makes him ever less distinguishable from the system that Indonesians voted against when they first elected a political outsider as president.”
Something to read
The Beach
“Garland used novels Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness as well as various Vietnam war movies as inspiration for his novel, which sees protagonist Richard search for that most mythical of all things travel: a perfect, pristine beach, known to next to nobody.” Yes, I’ve been on the beach a lot this last week!
Travel shot
Though it's popular, plenty of peace and quiet remains to be found. Photo: Nicky Sullivan
Till next time
That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia.
Travel light!
Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team
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