Beach Escape

The next stop after Phnom Penh was Sihanoukville, a coastal town.

Being the planned and prepared person I am I found a bungalow on Otres Beach on hostelworld for a mere USD$15 a night. It was quite nice, and a decent chance to splurge.

A 15 minute ride on the back of a motorcycle taxi to Otres and I arrived. The photos from hostelworld for Indigo On Otres really did not disappoint.

All of the above photos were taken in and around the bungalow resort. Either from inside or directly in front... 

I later found out that Otres beach is one of many beaches in the Sihanoukville area that is scattered with bungalows of varying quality. The main beach is called Serendipity and is closer to the town centre, packed with resorts and just more. People around Otres hate Serendipity. 

Each of the bungalow resorts around here have their own bar and restaurant with varying levels of nightlife... there is never a shortage of finding somewhere to eat or drink!

I hired a scooter for a day to explore the island. $6 and passport deposit a scooter was mine to ride as I please. I explored more of the Sihanoukville town and a few more of the beaches.

The next day I took a day trip on a boat to three nearby islands - most of which I cant remember the name. The only one I actually stopped off at was Koh Ta Kiev. The tour included a cooked breakfast, barbecue lunch and snorkelling at two of the islands. It feels bad to say but snorkelling just doesnt do it for me any more after going diving!

Ta Kiev is secluded. Proper secluded. The only way there is via a longtail boat and there are only a few places to stay. I plan to head back there for a couple nights just for the experience of having no electricity during the day and no internet.

They did have puppies though!

Perhaps the coolest thing on the beach is the tiny absinthe distillery. An entirely locally made and distributed distillery is just off the beach in a little bamboo shack producing five different types of absinthe. 

Having a 85% black absinthe mixer made properly with a shot, spraying absinthe onto sugar on an absinthe spoon and lighting it so the sugar drips through and adding distilled water was a nice treat and goes down the very well. I'll no doubt have a few more if I go back...