Rain, rain go away

Sihanoukville

Oded and I left Phnom Penh after two days and headed to the beaches of Sihanoukville on the southern coast of Cambodia. The ride there was an experience in itself--the buses are decent and they stop for bathroom breaks and food--all good things. The problems arrive not from the comfort of the seats, but the daring ness of the drivers as they tend to believe they are the only driver on the road despite oncoming motorists and truckers. To avoid collision, the driver just beeps constantly as a way to alert others to move or perhaps because it amuses him. In addition to the beeping, there are the Cambodian programs blasted from the TV at the front of the bus--I am not sure what exactly we watched but I am almost positive that it may have been a torture device at one time. Once the caucophony of noises becomes alost normal, there is ample time to view the countryside. These rides are proof that most of Cambodia is flat and flooded in many areas to make rice paddies--the amount of water and mud is almost unbelievable. We arrived in Sihanoukville at dusk and took motos to the our guest house--the Monkey Republic. Run by Westerners, this is a backpacker mecca--pool tables, free draft beer on arrival, and tons of Aussies, Brits and even some Israelis. We spent two days there in total and about five minutes at the beach--it rained almost the entire time--the kind of rain that wakes you up at night and soaks you in an instant. So we both improved our pool skills, read a lot and made some new friends. All in all, it was very relaxing and a nice excursion out of Cambodia's cities. We spent one more day in Phnom Penh to finalize Oded's Vietnam visa and said goodbye to Cambodia.