Feb 2009
David Fruitman
In the process of enduring a significant building makeover, Snooky still has plenty to offer the discerning sun worshipper
Life's a Beach
With several miles of white - sand beaches, Cambodia’s southern resort town is
poised to snatch the big bucks holiday prize
In Cambodia the best known and most popular beaches are around Sihanoukville (Kampong Som). The town is a common weekend retreat for Khmers and expats and a popular hangout for backpackers. It is known for its laid-back attitude, cheap drinks and, of course, beaches.
Getting there is easy with a number of buses every day from Phnom Penh and one from the Thai border. You can also get a taxi or van to take you there. Despite many rumours, there is no sign of the airport reopening.
Moving around Sihanoukville is simplicity itself. At the time of writing, foreigners are allowed to rent motorcycles, but this changes without notice so check on arrival. Moto taxis and tuk-tuks are ubiquitous, but agree a price before you hire one.
The most popular beaches are Serendipity and Ochheuteal, which basically form one long beach. They have numerous bars and restaurants and most put out chairs and umbrellas on the beach for customers. These are a favourite hunting grounds for people selling everything from seafood to sunglasses and manicures. If you want a quieter beach try Otres. While it is starting to get built up, it is much more reclusive.
At night, Serendipity and Ochheuteal really get moving. Watching the sunset and enjoying cheap drinks and good seafood or BBQ are a treat. There are usually some fire jugglers and other performers around as well. Some of the best late night bars – Dolphin, Nap House, Jack Shack – are on the beach. For me, a great night in Sihanoukville often involves a jug of Vodka/Red Bull (about $5.50), good sounds and relaxing by the water after dancing at Dolphin.
If you don’t feel like going to the beach, there are a number of other things to do around town. Sticking with the aquatic theme, there is sailing, windsurfing and fishing. For the latter, besides arranging a trip for yourself at the beach, Fisherman’s Den offers day fishing trip that get rave reviews and include an eat-what-you-catch dinner. There are also a number of dive operators in town offering courses, day trips, island stopovers and live aboards.
Away from the water, Top Cat cinema shows a number of films every day and offers private screening rooms where you can select your movies. Pim’s operates a mini golf course which advertises an endorsement from Tiger Woods – really! For the more physically active, there is a Khmer boxing gym or you can rent a bike and explore the area.
Sihanoukville is also great for food. Of course there’s good seafood, but there’s also a wide variety of options from fine French dining to Swedish comfort foods and Mexican, which are easy to find. A few choice selections are great pizzas from the Corner Bar (which delivers) and Oasis; Japanese cuisine at Happa; Swedish dishes at Small Hotel and my favourite – Rose’s. There you will find one of the best value meals in town with most dishes under three bucks including her famous fish’n’chips – look for her at the New Christmas Bungalows a couple of blocks from the beach.
At night most people end up at the bars. There are plenty to choose from around town. Many of the most popular are between the Golden Lions and Serendipity and Ochheuteal beaches. It is easy to wander around until you find something you like. At least until Dolphin gets going, I recommend trying Mick & Craigs, Nap House or Utopia.
May 2008
Justin Garnett
Cambodia is rushing headlong into the new century with a development plan that is reminiscent of postwar Berlin
Progress At A Price
From sleepy, down-at-heel beachfront town to a modern resort destination, Kep is on the move and, hopefully,
in the right direction
Once a playground for the well-heeled citizens of pre-war Cambodia, the seaside resort of Kaep Sur Mer (“Kep”) is experiencing a development boom that will either confirm its place as Cambodia’s premier holiday destination or turn it into a naff holiday camp to be avoided at all costs.
Back in the 1930s and up to the 1960s, it must have been the place to visit. Drive into the town along its coastal, tree-lined boulevard and you can imagine what a fine time everyone must have been having. In those days its stunning French villas and Vann Molyvann art-deco concrete houses looked out over amazing views of the Gulf of Vietnam and beyond. Famous for its crab, Kep is surrounded by gloriously lush hills that funnel soothing ocean breezes into your face. In Cambodia’s heyday, life was easy and weekends were for relaxing with your family.
The onset of the Khmer Rouge reign of terror, however, undid it all in a flash, destroying the town and razing most of its beautiful architecture. Few houses survived and those that did are pockmarked with bullet holes. Almost overnight Kep became a Khmer Rouge stronghold and a forgotten backwater. Fast forward to a couple of years ago and it was recommended in the Lonely Planet guide as a quiet, if somewhat boring diversion from many of the other Cambodian destinations.
In 2006 there were only a few places to stay and I saw only a handful of travellers. I ate glorious crab, took a boat to Koh Tonsay (Rabbit Island) and explored the dirt tracks at the base of the hills that are the backdrop to the town.
My gorgeous bungalow overlooking the bay cost $8, beer was 50c and I remember being amazed at how undeveloped such a great place could be. It was on the coast, had everything going for it and . . . yet . . . where was everybody? It must only be a matter of time, I thought.
Kep 2008: little did I know how right I would be. Convoys of Mercedes were streaming in every weekend: land-rush/development hysteria had started. Drive into the once-quiet back lanes and you will see clusters of Khmers carrying suitcases stuffed with cash wielding yellow measuring wheels, intent on doing land deals at every turn.
Swaths of hillside forest are being cleared and fenced, guesthouses are going up overnight and villas are being restored to their former glory.
You can now spend up to several hundred dollars for a night at the glorious Knai Bang Chatt resort or as little as $20 at places such as Vanna Bungalows or Kep Lodge. Even though the once rustic crab shacks are being renovated, thankfully the tasty crawler is still cheap. But the small port has been developed, there is a new marketplace underway and power blackouts are almost a thing of the past.
The sleepy Kep of old is pretty well gone forever; Cambodia’s development has finally and deservedly caught up with the south coast. If you can, go and see these places now because at the present rate they will all be vastly different destinations in five, two or even one year.
Hopefully, though, it will continue to offer the relaxing break from Phnom Penh that we all so desperately need. Unless, however, some thought is given to the way the development is undertaken, the glory that is one of Cambodia’s jewels could lose its lustre and be ruined forever.
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Feb 2008
Lee Baer
Once a bustling lumber town, the destiny of Chipat and its former residents appears uncertain
Daydreams of an Eco-Resident
Surrounded by waterways and jungle, few places share the natural beauty of this bucolic district capital.
Samart Yim is a man with a vision. He is well aware of the backpacker tourist demographic and their usual environs around the Boueng Kak lakeside guesthouses in the big city. But he is also aware that as more of their ilk venture to the countryside to see the Real Cambodia, and he may one day be enjoying a piece of the eco-tourism pie if more decide to meander down his way.
He is happiest guiding the odd motorcyclist from his new home in Sovanna Baitong up the 24 km trail that winds north through the forest to the charming but dilapidated town of Chipat. His former home, he now sees it not as a decaying row of tin roofed shacks, but the centre of an eco-friendly tourist hub in close proximity to scores of natural treasures.
Chipat was once a thriving village whose primary economic resource was timber. Situated in the southern Cardamom mountains in the district of Teuk Lak, it enjoyed decades of harvesting this resource, even becoming something of a boom town in the process. One only has to stroll down the 2 km long palm lined boulevard to notice the former prosperity. Large attractive lots, groomed clean of undergrowth but each still sporting scores of tall trees, provide remarkably attractive locations for the houses that shelter the few remaining inhabitants.
In an effort by NGO Wild Aid to reduce the decimation of the local forest and its wildlife base of gibbons, tigers, elephants, bears and crocodiles, they disbanded large scale logging in the area and offered residents plots of land in the artificially created town of Sovanna Baitong, seven km east of Andoung Tuek along National Highway 48 towards Koh Kong. There, the transplanted loggers-turned-farmers now grow cassava, pineapples, coconuts, lemons, papayas, custard apples and rambutan in an effort to be self sustaining.
Yim’s vision may be premature. Nothing would please him more than an invasion of tree hugging eco-tourists, but the simple fact of Chipat’s lack of basic infrastructure may hold this back for awhile yet. The town’s only guesthouse, with four comfortable rooms each at 12000 riel (US$3) per night, is usually home to travelling NGO workers or the odd gang of motorcyclists. Beyond that, the town is full.
If that doesn’t deter the motivated traveller, it is an incredibly bucolic place. Nearly surrounded by rivers it is a playground of waterfalls and swimming holes carved out of the clean black rock. It has a distinct feel quite unlike any other place, even in the Cardomoms. The people seem accustomed to foreigners passing through, which leads to a laid back ambiance unlike some towns where a tourist can sometimes feel like a sideshow attraction.Two options exist for getting there. The former road travelling north from Sovanna Baitong is now a single track jungle trail complete with water crossings, sand, and stick bridges. Forget about it in the rainy season – even the locals don’t attempt it because of the fallen trees across the path. It normally remains this way until the dry season arrives in earnest and the locals chainsaw a path through.
Another way is to catch the daily boat from Andoung Tuek. It makes the journey each day around 11am and spends the night, then returns the next morning at 7am. In a pinch it can take a motorcycle as well, and the deckhands who muscle it onto the dock will charge a dollar for the service. If you like it rustic, it won’t disappoint.
JOBS