Sihanoukville

Sihanoukville, also known as Kampong Som is located towards the south of Cambodia, about 180 kilometres from Phnom Penh. Promoted as a local seaside attraction to both locals and foreigners, the place is still very much unexplored, not commercialized. Yet.

The beach is definitely not as good as Krabi, but I welcomed any form of a relaxing next few days so the beach was a wonderful option.

Phnom Penh Bus Station

We took the local bus there, which was a decision that some regretted :P. The ride was pretty long and bumpy , plus we were getting bored on the bus. But at least, they played an american teenage booper comedy and Mr Bean :).

Independence Hotel entrance

We stayed at Independence Hotel, taking up their 'Sunset Promotion' which was a pretty good deal for a 4/5* hotel in the area. *given that there's only 2 of them in the whole place, the others were mainly all guesthouses*

Hotel lobby

Pool area

The check-in experience was horrendous due to some management issues, but thankfully, it was all resolved in good terms. Frustrating still. Sometimes I wonder if it's just because that we're:

1. Young adults
2. Asians,

that we get pushed around. Never have I heard about being downgraded for my rooms without a reduction in the rates. Ridiculous isn't it?

Well, as we were opiniated young asian adults, we took it up with the management and were finally given a better offer. I have to say that it was handled pretty well by the senior officer, which made up for the trouble.

Dining room

So, we got upgraded to an executive suite plus a superior twin room :).

One of our rooms :)

We didn't do much in Sihanoukville except hanging out at the beach, kayaking and stuffing ourselves silly. Hence the single post for a 4 day outing. Day 1 was spent lazing and kayaking at the hotel. And investment plans at night :P.

Day 2

As with every trip to an island/beach, a day dedicated to island hopping is only the norm. And that was exactly what we did the next day :). Snorkelling wasn't all that great, the visibility was poor, the amount was sea urchin was plentiful. *sigh* But the scenery was pretty okay :).

Clear skies, aquamarine waters

And we spent the next few hours bumming at the beach, lying under the sun.

Pretty knackered by the time we arrived back at the hotel, so we had room service which had pretty good food! Or maybe it was coz we were 4 hungry people :).

But it does look good, doesn't it?

Now, day 3. What can I say about day 3? Apart from the morning, I basically spent almost the rest of the day in the bathroom, after being struck down with food poisoning. The worst I've ever had in my lifetime, it only finally went away after almost a week. Now, that was painful. Better part of it? - At least I managed to go kayaking that morning before it all :).

Didn't do anything on our last day as we had a flight to catch in the afternoon back to KL. We managed to get our hotel to arrange for a private taxi to take us down to Phnom Penh for the flight. All in all, it was a pretty good 9 day trip :). I got to see my Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, visited the infamous S21 prison and bummed at the beach. Quad biking was awesome! :)