Sihanoukville

Try saying that one three times fast!

We've made it to the beach! Perhaps I should backtrack a little bit though. Although we're missing home a little bit right now, we managed to celebrate Christmas complete with a turkey dinner. On Christmas Eve we enjoyed a turkey feast, complete with potatoes and vegetables, wine and excellent desserts! It was a real treat...even in our wildest dreams we didn't think we'd be eating turkey.

We found this quite ironic. This Christmas tree was in our guesthouse, and in front of it is a Buddhist shrine used to honour a family's ancestors.

Christmas Day was a pretty laid back day and we spent some time at a very nice pool, at what was most likely Cambodias finest hotel (we paid to use the pool, but we didn't actually stay there). The unfortunate part of this is that Brian got sick from his lunch....and wasn't able to eat dinner that night. It was pretty ironic that he got sick eating at a hotel where rooms ranged from $150-1200/night, and we normally eat on the street and we're fine (most of the time). So, I enjoyed an Italian dinner while Brian looked on in jealousy with a rumbling tummy.

We left for Sihanoukville yesterday morning and arrived early in the afternoon. The challenge was trying to find some accomodation as it's quite busy in this part of Cambodia. Hotels have really raised their prices, which is too bad for us. A room that normally goes for $15, is being rented out for $45. Last night we stayed at a Bungalow on the beach. It had excellent views and a nice little veranda, but that was about it. The Dutchman in Brian couldn't justify paying $20 a night for a nice view, so we moved to a place just off the beach with airconditioning and a tv for $19 a night....what a great deal :). It's actually quite nice.

Brian enjoying the view from our beachside bungalow.

Last night we really found out why everyone heads down here. It's a nice beach, but it really shines at night. The beach is lined with lounge chairs, candles and tables, all offering bargains if you agree to sit down. The main thing here in the evenings is the BBQ's. A seafood BBQ will get you your choice of 3 different types of seafood including barracuda, snapper, shrimp, squid, etc. Or you can opt for the meat BBQ of chicken, pork and beef. All meals come complete with vegetables, bread and potato or rice. The best thing is, the most you'll pay is $3. It's literally right on the beach....the tide is lapping at your feet. We don't think it will be too hard to spend some time here!

Brian picking out his tasty dinner!

I opted for only shrimp. Once you get past the eyeballs, the meal was pretty excellent. I'll save you counting them, there are 10 shrimp there. What an amazing deal!

More tomorrow!