Tuesday April 5th, 2016 – At Anchor in the port of Sihanoukville Cambodia. A later departure on tenders took us ashore to a make-shift small market selling a few curios and to the coaches where we met our guide Kesohej (or something like that). We were to visit a school, a local country home, a temple, and a beach before returning to the ship by 1:30PM. There is not much for day tourists to see in this town of 123,000 (Cambodia Population 15 million – 50% under 21 years old), as there is little history, but is fast becoming a major beach resort given its nice sandy beaches and proximity (145 Km / 90 miles) to the capital – Phnom Penh. The population are ethnically Khmer and it is a multi-party liberal democracy (elections every 5 years) under a monarch. May to October is the rainy season with April being the hottest month, and we felt every degree of the 90-95F (32-35C) heat with high humidity. (FX rate US$1 = Reais 4,000)
Sihanoukville (pronounced Sin-sino-Ville) is also known as Kampong Som or Saom, named after King Sihanouk, was founded as a deep water port under French rule in the early 1950’s. French rule of Cambodia ended on November 9th, 1953 and after a brief time of independence, it became embroiled in the Vietnam War, due to the Khmer Rouge. Soon thereafter in 1975 Pol Pot (actually Saloth Sar) took over the country with the help of the Khmer Rouge, where he started his brutal regime of genocide. He killed intellectuals, closed all schools making them prisons and torture chambers, denied all medical care and made all city dwellers go to the fields as agriculture is the only need for the country. During his reign of terror (the killing fields) almost 2/5 of the country’s population died either by his hand or starvation / disease / overwork. The rest of the world turned a blind eye as the Vietnam war was just over and no one wanted additional involvement in the old French Indochina. Eventually a large Vietnamese army, sickened by the atrocities, invaded and took over Phnom Penh on January 7, 1979. Pol Pot went into hiding and died in 1998.
Our first stop was at a local school which has about 1,000 students going from first grade of primary school through High school. We went into one of the classrooms of the entry level 6 year olds and were treated to songs and general good feelings while asking questions. Diana and Nelson, having read the program before departure, brought a large bag full of paper, pencils etc for the children. Others also brought a few items and after the gift exchange and thank-you’s, we bid them farewell. It was a charming stop for all. School is provided free to all students through High School, but is NOT compulsory at any age. Today was their last day of school before two weeks off for the Lunar New Year celebrations – April 13 to 16. They return to school on the 21st April. A primary school teacher earns US$200 a month (US$500-$1,000 is a basic living wage in this economy).
The next stop was at a private family’s home in the rural outskirts of the city. The parents were away at work, but we visited with the children in their wooden house built on stilts (due to flooding in the rainy season). It was a modest home with no running water, (they pump water from a nearby well into a holding tank on the roof of the house) hammocks for beds and cooking was being done over charcoal. A fascinating (albeit intrusion) into the daily life of the local citizens. Our next stop was at the Wat Krom temple and monastery. There was a reclining gold Buddha some 15 feet long, a series of 40 life size effigies of monks (resembling the golden statues given at the Oscars), monks riding different animals – geese, pigs etc and the main part of the temple with the seated Buddha. Many small children followed us around begging that we purchase postcards (which we did) and one, John, in particular spoke very good English. We saw the monks going about their daily devotions and chores dressed in their orange robes and the various sepulchres all around the grounds. The staircases entering the various buildings were all made to look like cobra snakes. It was impressive given where and what it was and we were glad to have spent an hour there before heading to our final stop – the beach of the 5 star resort of Shoka. We grabbed a table under a palm tree and debated on whether to enter the white sandy beach, with it’s turquoise water and slow rolling waves, but decided on savouring some of the local delicacies. We had Satay chicken with yellow curry and a variety of exotic fruits – Rambuthan, Longan and Mangosteen. The latter was our favourite due to its taste, despite its appearance of a clove of garlic. We found Longa on the ship at dinner later today. All this washed down by a nice Angkor Beer produced locally. A really spectacular beach and well worth while returning for a beach holiday.
The tour was over and we were returned to the wharf area, where we looked at and purchased some of the nicknacks. Tachy returned to the ship while Diana, Nelson and Roger took the shuttle into the town as we wanted to see the market. We were dropped at the market amid a deluge of tuk-tuk drivers all wanting us to patronise their ride. We resisted and entered the market only to find the most interesting display of everyday items, shoes, shirts, clothing etc. We did find a small souvenir shop, but the main attraction was the colourful fruit and vegetable market with meat (all unknown cuts) hanging on hooks, covered in flies, as we avoided the motorcycles running down the aisles! The chickens, birds and other such animals were sold both dead with some 100 flies (alive) on each or chickens alive roaming around while the shopkeepers dozed in hammocks or played games, one looked like snakes and ladders and another bingo. Brooms, plastic and metal cups and containers, fruit juices particularly sugar cane juice, bananas, durian (both whole as well as in individual sized pieces (all without it’s well known stench) and other such items were to be had. After wandering around for an hour we returned to the ship for showers, dinner and bed. Another interesting day. We are all grateful to have a day at sea tomorrow before three ports in a row – Singapore and 2 places in Malaysia (including Kuala Lumpur).
Roger & Anne Travels 