The talesofasia guide to Sihanoukville and the south coast

by Will Capel

Updated April 23, 2004

Note: Sihanoukville-based writer wanted to update and maintain this section. Please contact by e-mail.

SIHANOUKVILLE

Sihanoukville Guide index page
Introduction
Getting There
Staying There
Eating and drinking
Beaches
Fun stuff
Wat Leu, Cambrew, Phum Thmei aka Chicken Village, the port, etc., Kbal Chhay, Stung Hav, Klang Leu, Independence Hotel, Otres, Ream National Park, Outlying islands, Fishing, Scuba and snorkeling, Catholic church, Casinos, Motorbiking around Sihanoukville

FUN STUFF

Fun stuff in Sihanoukville Municipality
First of all, to be clear, Sihanoukville is not a province, but a municipality, alongside Phnom Penh and Kep. No one is quite sure why Kep gets this distinction since there isn't much there, but I suppose it makes sense to the government.

Wat Leu
This is the temple at the top of Sihanoukville Mountain. The wat itself isn't all that much to write home about but there is a largeish Chinese cemetery near there, as well as truly jaw-dropping sunsets with a view of most of the outlying islands. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Koh Tang, where the Mayaguez Incident played itself out.

Cambrew
aka Angkor Brewery. Alongside route 4. Occasionally one of the bar owners gets in good enough with the fellas at the brewery to arrange a free tour, but normally the place is closed for visits. I'm not a big fan of the brewery for a couple of reasons : the beer they brew is terrible, and more importantly, whenever there is a water shortage in Sihanoukville, the taps get turned on first at the brewery, leaving the rest of the town to bathe in dirty water until the reservoir levels get jacked back up. Next time you're enjoying a cheap glass of draught Angkor, think about the brown tap sludge you got at your guesthouse last night.

Phum Thmei aka Chicken Village, the port, etc
This is one of the two main red-light districts in town, and probably the most accessible to a western non-sex tourist of all the brothel districts in Cambodia. The town's largest disco is located here, Biba, which is a fancy brothel all the same but doesn't mind if you just sit down with a beer or have a dance. Some of the crowds can get a little drunken and rowdy at night but it isn't much to worry about compared to, say, your average crowd of drunken western Saturday sports fans. This is also a good chance to see how the other half lives during the day - this is the oldest portion of Sihanoukville (Phum Thmei means 'new village' in Khmer) since it sprung out of the temporary housing for workers building the port in the late fifties. If you are of the change-the-world mindset, ask yourself why there is so much outreach work done for sex workers in Phnom Penh and so little done in the brothel districts throughout the rest of Cambodia.

There is also a large fishing village directly north of here, along Hun Sen Beach Drive. It isn't much to look at but having a beer near here along the water you can watch the fleet sail out at night. There is allegedly a goat restaurant out here as well but I haven’t found it yet.

Kbal Chhay
Slightly unimpressive waterfall located just outside of town along route 4. You will undoubtedly have motodrivers ask you if you want to see the waterfall while you stay in Sihanoukville. I think it is neat to see weekending Khmers have picnics and swimming in the water, but look closer and you'll see all the trash left over floating around. Yuck. This is also the most obvious choice for Sihanoukville's new and much needed water treatment plant, but all of the land surrounding the stream is privately owned, which means that Snooky is stuck with an overused reservoir near Independence Beach with barely enough capacity now and five years from now, if the population boom in town keeps proceeding, there will be three or four parched weeks at the end of the dry season.

Stung Hav
A fishing village about 25km north of Sihanoukville, past the Sokimex terminal on Hun Sen Beach Drive. For some reason, I really like Stung Hav. There used to be four decaying military patrol boats in dry dock here, but they have been taken away - one would hope for scrap, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them turn up in service again. There is a largeish jetty sticking out in to the Gulf of Kompong Som, which is just what it seems – a working fishing village. Lots of westerners in this Kingdom like to get on their motorcycles and ride out in the middle of nowhere to experience the “authentic” provincial Cambodia, without realizing that there are places with no particular tourist potential, but thousands of people getting on with their lives, all over the place. Stung Hav is an example of this. Stung Hav is also home to the local prahoc factory, so it can get kind of stinky at times. The road to Stung Hav is potholed and heavily trafficked until you get to the Sokimex oil terminal, at which point it turns to decent laterite, wider and fewer vehicles.

Klang Leu
This is the market village on the very outskirts of Sihanoukville along route 4. Not really notable for anything except being the location of Snookyville’s new sports stadium. This is where Sihanoukville’s Angkor Brewery-sponsored football team plays the occasional exhibition match. If you can find out about these – ask a motodriver or someone who listens to Khmer radio about the schedules – admission is free and it is pretty rad to watch the stadium fill with people. The matches usually start out pretty dull, but as Snooky racks up points (we have one of the best football sides in Cambodia) the crowd starts to get more into it. Occasionally, as well, a migrating large waterfowl or two will land on the field halfway through a match, stopping play. I’m not sure if the time spent chasing the bird is counted in injury time or not.

Independence Hotel
In all the guidebooks. At the western end of Independence Beach. They’re renovating it, and it is closed, so you can’t go there. Intrepid architecture geeks have, however, snuck around one of the footpaths that leads from the beach to where the outdoor reception area was.

Otres
The village, not the beach. Approximately 1 km inland is the village of Otres, which is unremarkable excepting a large wat, and a shrimp farm of dubious value. I include Otres here, though, because it is only about 7 km from Sihanoukville city and the kids will come out and wave at you while their parents or grandparents look on from their porches staring – proof that the line separating city and rural life in Cambodia is a lot thinner than may seem while lazing on a beach.

Ream National Park
Lots of stuff in the guidebooks about this – the Rough Guide even declares that the Ream boat trip is one of 24 must-do things in Cambodia. Personally, I’ve never been that impressed with Ream; reports on the boat trips say they are terribly regimented, although there is plenty of opportunity to look at wildlife. If you want to have a look at the native estuary ecosystems (the entire coast of Cambodia is covered with them, and most of it is unprotected wetlands) a better bet is to pony up a bit more money and try Extreme Cardamoms Outwardbound. See the Sre Ambel section below.

Outlying islands
All sorts of neat opportunities here, and one of the highlights of the area. There are dozens of islands off the coast, most of which are deserted except a fishing camp here and there – Koh Rong and Koh Rong Salaam are the exceptions, they have tiny fishing villages that you will have a hard time even noticing since they are on the far sides of the islands. Camping overnight on these islands is great, great fun as long as you are with a good crowd, have plenty of refreshing beverages, and a supply of drinking water. Day trips are possible as well, which often consists of having your guesthouse arrange a fishing boat where the fisherman takes you out and plops you on an island while he goes and ... well, fishes. My personal favorite destination is Koh Rong Salaam; there are I think upward of a dozen seperate beaches and it does get closest to that ‘Survivor’ / ‘the Beach’ sensation you’re probably looking for. Max at the Yin-Yang GH has been running boat trips the second-longest in Sihanoukville and is a worthwhile place to stop in; his prices tend to be cheaper than Claude at Chez Claude, who has been running boats here for well on ten years, runs the classiest operation, and charges prices that match. The two main dive operations in town - Scuba Nation (www.cambodiadivers.com) and Eco-Sea (www.EcoSea.com) run day and overnight trips in addition to their offerings of snorkeling and scuba, and are worth checking in with to see when they are going out next.

Fishing
Ask around; the obvious choice is at Fisherman’s Den, which owns a really nice fishing boat with wet bar and western toilet. A couple of more die-hard fishermen, uh, western fishermen, charter boats from fishermen, uh, Khmer fishermen.

Scuba and Snorkeling
There are currently 4 dive operations in Sihanoukville, two of which are certified PADI dive centers – Scuba Nation, located on Weather Station Hill and at www.cambodiadivers.com and Ecosea at www.EcoSea.com. I don’t dive myself. But I have been on a chartered boat with Scuba Nation when they took divers out and was impressed with their professionalism above water; my friends, learning to dive on that trip, were impressed with their professionalism below. Fully insured as well. Cambodia being what it is, there is none of the overdiving that has taken place in places like Thailand or Indonesia. However, there is constant overfishing, dynamiting of reefs, and lovely, lovely pollution. Most of the good snorkeling is on the off shore islands as well; whoever organizes your boat trip should have a clue where they are, and make sure their snorkel equipment isn’t falling apart – there are a couple of people out there with some pretty dodgy gear.

Catholic Church
Designed in the early 1960s and still serving a largely Vietnamese flock under the tutelage of a French priest. Leaving religious implications out of the whole equation, the church is a fascinating example of the indigenous Khmer architecture that blossomed after independence and before the civil war. Located off Boray Kamakor St. on the way out of town, near the Jin Ding Casino and overlooking the port.

Casinos
Thanks to the downturn in tourism during 2003, specifically from Thailand, most of the casinos have shuttered in town. The remaining operation is at the Holiday Palace, which remains a fun place to watch Cambodia’s ruling elite gamble away all of those lucrative aid packages that we westerners seem so keen to keep donating. Or is that a bit harsh? Decide for yourself when that green Landcruiser pulls up and you see the fella drop $200 per spin of the roulette wheel.

Motorbiking around Sihanoukville
Special note written February 2004 : Just an aside, there have been about five serious motorcycle accidents in Sihanoukville involving westerners in the past month – various combinations of alcohol, driving too fast, and hitting other people – involving both tourists and long term residents. One moto driver is dead, a couple of trips were cut short, and one resident is currently in a hospital in Singapore. Traffic in Sihanoukville is increasing almost exponentially, and while we can complain that Khmers don’t know how to drive, it still remains that if there is an accident, as a tourist, it will be your fault, and assuming you live, the bills can run into the thousands of dollars. I hate to sound parental, but, for chrissakes, be careful. End of lecture.

As every guidebook, website, and clear-headed individual will tell you, CAMBODIA IS NOT THE PLACE TO LEARN TO RIDE A MOTORCYCLE. Having said that, uh, I kind of learned to ride a motorcycle here, and if you are stupid enough to lose your moto virginity in Cambodia, Sihanoukville is probably the place to do it. But don’t. I’ve got a nasty scar on my leg and a month-long stay in a Bangkok hospital to show for my inexperience at the time, and most expats on two wheels throughout Cambodia have a variety of gashes, not to mention our friends who have lost their lives while riding.

Warning out of the way. The quality of rentals in Sihanoukville varies; generally the 100-110cc stepthrough scooters are about $3-$4 a day and are usually in decent nick, while the 250cc dirtbikes can suffer from extremely poor, even dangerous, maintenance. If you want to hire a scooter, which is all you really need to putter around town and the surrounding area, most any of the rental shops will do – just pick one closest to your guesthouse or hotel.

The quality of 250cc bikes in Sihanoukville varies wildly depending on what time of year it is, who had the bike last, and whether it is a full moon. At the time of this writing (April 2004) the end of the tourist season has brought the overall quality of virtually all trail bikes in town down to deadly – the last rental I putted around on had no back brakes whatsoever, and when I pointed this out to the rental shop, they just shrugged and put the bike back out for hire. Best bets are the Bayon on Weather Station Hill or the small rental hut next to Mango’s in the center of town. Rental on these bikes is usually $8-$10 a day; you are much better off renting a bike in Phnom Penh.

Every guidebook, website, and clear-headed individual says this, but it bears repeating : medical services in Cambodia are laughable. You do not want to hurt yourself here. If you are serious about learning to ride a motorcycle in Sihanoukville, take a trip to the Sihaoukville Municipal Hospital and see for yourself if you really want to lie on a bed there until you can be taken to Bangkok or Saigon.

Sihanoukville Guide index page
Introduction
Getting There
Staying There
Eating and drinking
Beaches
Fun stuff
Wat Leu, Cambrew, Phum Thmei aka Chicken Village, the port, etc., Kbal Chhay, Stung Hav, Klang Leu, Independence Hotel, Otres, Ream National Park, Outlying islands, Fishing, Scuba and snorkeling, Catholic church, Casinos, Motorbiking around Sihanoukville

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The text appearing on this page is © 2003 - 2004 estate of Will Capel. For the rest of the website, unless otherwise noted, all text and photographs © 1998 - 2006 Gordon Sharpless. Commercial or editorial usage without written permission of the copyright holder(s) is prohibited.