Sihanoukville

So on the next morning, Panneth came to my hotel early morning, and found a shared taxi for me to go to PP, and the plan was then take a bus from PP to Sihanoukville (where all the beaches are). It was my first and last experience of Cambodian shared taxi. I never knew how one could call a taxi. There are no signs on the taxi, and no phone number to call. I think he just drove around and asked the locals... Taxi usually implies a more comfortable option, but not in Cambodia. Standard seating in a shared taxi is 2 passengers at the front seat, (not including driver) and 4 at the back, not including babies. In my case, there were 2 babies plus 7 adults including me and drivers, cramped in a 4 doors Camery for 4 hours, in which half of it were bumpy dirt roads! I have 2 conclusions: 1) Nothing is impossible. 2) Camry is an extremely reliable car!

The trip from Pailin to PP cost me $12 US and lots of time. The taxi stopped for breakfast, lunch, 2 pee-stops, 1 gas, and 1 complete car wash before going into the city, I'm talking about washing the car inside out, and under, took almost an hour! It's probably because washing it there cost less than in the city. That made me missed my bus to Shianoukville in PP! The only way left was taking a taxi again. The driver was nice enough to ask around for me. The other taxi drivers weren't so nice though when quoting price. Because it was late in the day, and I'm a foreigner, they upped the price dramatically. First one quoted $60US! second one quoted $20US and I had to take 2 seats! Out of desperation, I took the 2nd offer.

Panneth originally came from Sihanoukville. He told me that hotels are very easy to find, prices are all listed in the central bus station. I guess he hasn't went back home for a while. When I get there, I was tired, it was dark, and I couldn't find any signs at all, all I could see was dozens of moto drivers asking you where you're going. I then tried to leave the scene, but one guy kept following. After a while, I realize I had to take a moto because it doesn't look like any hotels are near by. After a competition came in, I was able to get $1 US until I could find a hotel room. Lucky I took that offer because all the guest houses were full! We drove around for more than half an hour, until we got to this very old looking basic hut which called Lovely Guesthouse. There was 1 room left, in the far end corner. Inside was everything but 'lovely', the walls and ceiling are pealing off which seems to be from heavy leaking during the rain season. The room cost $4, cold shower, no AC, no mosquito net. Again, out of desperation I took it, and also because I prayed about it when on the moto. I think the name 'lovely' though is used to describe the people working there. It looks like a family run business. They all seems very caring, and not because they wanted extra money, especially when they saw my legs full of mosquito bites. The mom taught me to use blankets to cover the windows to prevent mosquitoes, the older daughter (the only one knew English) cooked me dinner, and later arranged the bus for me to Siem Reap for $7, and even called the guest house at Siem Reap for me. At the Lovely Guest House, I just didn't wanna go anywhere else...

But of course I had to go out. The next morning, I've booked for a scuba diving trip. The very same moto driver was there waiting for me! I thought it was a nice karma, and he looked nice enough, so I hopped on without asking how much. Big Mistake! I made a mistake in the location so we made a longer trip, at the end he charged me $4! Later I realize, he probably wanted to get back the money he wasted on fuel driving me around searching for a room last night! Lesson learned. Always always ask how much first!

At the diving center, no more scams, however the water wasn't exactly nice. The water looked nice enough from above, but when you get down there, the visibility was only like 3 - 4 feet. I felt I had a better experience in HK! Luckily, there were only 1 other client that day, and since I haven't dived for a while, since when I first got my PADI 5 years ago in HK, I needed the extra care to relearn almost everything! I didn't realize this until I was putting on my gear and ready to go down. I know, I'm always like that! :P Luckily my guide from Germany and the other client Ruth from Switzerland was very nice and didn't show any faces. Ruth even taught me few tricks afterward because I looked like I was struggling :p I did miss some of the dive because in the first round I did something wrong with my BCD, I lost control of my buoyancy and floated back up. Lucky we weren't too deep! And since the visibility was so bad, I don't think I missed much. Anyway, it was nice for me still, at least it was a good chance to practice diving again, as I don't have much chance to dive, and it's too expensive back home.

After diving, I took quite a hike through the rocks went to one beach to another, and finally went to a more quiet one, called Independence Beach, and sat down and enjoyed the sunset. I think it's the first time I ever sat in a pure white sand beach looking out at the endless ocean, with a direct sunset view! It was very nice! Few things I've noticed though, the sand in the nicer part of the beach seems to be imported in as it changes color in different area. Also there were security guards, and seems that locals were kept off the nicer parts. I sat in a lounger, which looks like belonging to the hotel behind, but since nobody came ask me to leave, I stayed there until the sun went down. Almost completely down, as I still have to get back before dark, before the burglars come out...