Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Sihanoukville, or "Snookyville" as it's commonly referred to, is on the southern coast of Cambodia, on the Gulf of Thailand.  It's the beachy tourist destination of Cambodia, though still developing.  I predict that in 5 years, Snookyville will be booming.  But as of for now, there are still dirt roads and construction is everywhere.  Apparently, there are beautiful, unspoiled islands just off the coast.  While we toyed with the idea of doing an island day-trip, we never made it out in time.  So, what did we do for 3 days in Snookyville?  Party.  It's our vacation!!  And the party, beachy, dancing scene is definitely happening there.  We met up with Rob and Gary there, and took over the beach bar and nightclubs for 3 nights straight.  So, sorry, not much to report otherwise. 

I will say that at this point, Rachel and I started observing that Cambodians serving the touristy area speak much better English than Thais serving Thai tourist destinations.  There was one funny language misunderstanding, which Rachel and I only were able to clear up in Siem Reap.  At breakfast, Rachel asked for milk for her coffee.  The server was trying to ask her which type of milk she wanted, with one of the options being "breast milk".  I forget what the other option was, but "breast milk" was the obvious choice to go for.  Laughs all around the table.  Non-stop for the rest of breakfast.  Well, later in Siem Reap, the option came up again, but this time, Rachel was able to clarify that the server was saying "fresh milk".  Oh.  Of course.

I also might add here, for those that didn't already know, that they use U.S. Dollars in Cambodia.  It is the preferred currency.  The official currency is Cambodian Riel, which is used at market stalls and for smaller purchases, but especially in tourist areas, the $ is what they want.  So, looking at a menu, you see meal prices listed as $1, $1.5, $2.5, etc.  Seems cheap.  But, it's also a scam in and of itself.  By pricing things in dollars, they can round up or down to the 1/4 $, whereas if the price were in riel, there would be more room for price variations.  However, beer goes for as cheap as 50 cents!  Plus, you must remember, I'm coming from a Thai baht salary, so prices to me alway seem higher than if I came with a wallet full of US $s. 

Gary, me, Rob and Rachel, and two random guys