Sihanoukville – Old & Lost

25 March 2018 – Travel Day – Koh Rong Sanloem to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Day 1

Published on March 25, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

When we bought our tickets to come over to Koh Rong Sanloem, we purchased return tickets. However, we later discovered that the ferry wasn’t all that reliable and could be late or even not show. Since we had a flight to catch, it was a little nerve wracking. Not far from our resort was another ferry and it had one scheduled that was a good hour earlier than what we had already booked with the other company. We decided to get a new ferry ticket. Not only was it earlier, it was a lot closer to our resort.

We got up and enjoyed our last breakfast at the Sara Resort and settled up our bill with the front desk. We had been given a credit of $80 due to the fact that our room had been advertised as having a refrigerator in it and it did not. We still owed a good chunk of change as the meals were not cheap here.

We grabbed our stuff and headed down to catch the ferry. This was a very frustrating experience, as the ferry was late showing up by almost an hour. We actually saw our original ferry booking arrive, and depart, before ours showed up.

Once everyone was loaded, the driver really booted it, but came to an abrupt stop. They pulled the engines up out of the water and checked them. I guess everything was okay as they lowered the engines back into the water and we were off full speed again. It was really hard to get any pictures as we were really going fast and it was bumpy and wavy. Banging across waves. No comfort on this ride. We didn’t end up docking at the port we were supposed to be at and where we had a taxi driver waiting, that the girl from the hotel had arranged for us. I felt really bad about this, but there wasn’t much we could do about it. Apparently, because the ferry had been so late there was no room for them to dock at the intended dock. We did get to see a couple of cruise ships in port as this is where they dock when stopping here in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

Getting a ride to the airport wouldn’t be an issue as there were Tuk-Tuk drivers offering rides left, right and center. We asked one guy how much to the airport. He replied with $US50. I replied “no’. I offered $US20, which I already knew was the going rate. We had checked this out before we left our hotel in Sihanoukville. I always like to have an idea of what taxis should cost. The Tuk-Tuk driver agreed to the US$20 and we were on our way.

Had a short stop for gas on the way, but we still had plenty of time. Turned out this port was quite a bit closer to the airport than the original port was.

We had booked with Air Asia to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It took a little time to get checked in, as there were people who had not prepaid for luggage, and were arguing with the agents that they wanted to carry their large & heavy backpacks onboard and not check them. It was so much cheaper to prepay for your luggage than it is to pay once you get to the airport. I don’t know what happened, as they were still there when we had finished checking in.

Flight was uneventful with the tiny seats. Guess you get what you pay for. Took us some time clearing customs, but had no issues. I always get nervous when having to go through customs. Not sure why.

We purchased a pre-paid taxi voucher as that seemed to be the best method of getting to our hotel. We had booked the Ramada for three nights. The first 2 drivers refused to take us and this was getting a little concerning. Turns out that our hotel was over an hour drive and I guess these taxi drivers wanted shorter distances for the same amount of money.

The drive was really quite pleasant and there were thousands of palm trees along the highways. Our driver was friendly, spoke passable English and we were able to carry on a conversation.

By the time we arrived at our hotel there was a heavy rain coming down. We checked in and went to our room. It was really quite nice with what turned out to be a view of the bar area street.

Once the rain let up, we headed out to look around and get something to eat. Found a large shopping mall that even had an indoor basketball court.

It had been a long day and we called it a night.

22 March 2018 – Travel Day – Sihanoukville to Koh Rong Sanloem – Day 1

Published on March 22, 2021March 24, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

Today was a travel day to the island of Koh Rong Sanloem. We had bought our ferry tickets already, which included a transfer from our guest house to the ferry dock. Our pick up time was 1130 to catch ferry that departs at 1200.

We waited and waited and waited. Saw taxis and tuk-tuks come and go along the street, but none came for us. The owners saw us still sitting there and we mentioned that our ride hadn’t shown yet. Waited some more. Finally the owner got a hold of the ferry company and discovered that they had forgotten to pick us up. By now it was 1155, so the owners grabbed us a tuk-tuk from outside of our BnB/Guest House to get us there. The owner phoned the ferry company back to let them know that we were on our way. They were going to pay for the tuk-tuk as we had already paid for transportation with our ferry tickets, which we had purchased through them. I am guessing that the ferry company will reimburse them the transfer portion. We arrived at the dock around 1205 and the ferry had already pulled away, but was in the process of coming back to get us! Thank God as these ferries fill up days in advance. We had to jump from dock onto the boat, which was about 3 feet, while we were still wearing our day packs. It was scary!! Also didn’t get to take any pictures.

The 45 minute trip was a little rough as we were in a rain storm. Quite a bad rain storm.

Once we arrived at Koh Rong Samloem’s dock we had to walk across a very narrow wooden plank to get from the ferry to the dock. Not everyone was disembarking, as this ferry makes a few stops. The luggage was being thrown off the boat, which was a distance of approximately 3 1/2 feet to a crew member who would catch it before it landed on the dock, not always successfully. A wheelchair came flying out first, barely being caught. It was a scary sight to watch.

It was STILL raining!!!

We walked to the end of the pier only to discover that there was NO ROAD and that we would have to walk down the beach to our accommodations. We were able to find shelter where we converted our big backpacks to back-carrying packs, as we usually just rolled them along on their back wheels. However, the wheels were not good for off road. We had to get the harness out and cover up the wheels. After putting on their rain covers and hefting them onto our backs, we attached our day packs, which also had rain covers to our front. Big packs on our backs and day packs on our fronts, we headed off down the beach. Since my backpacks weighed approximately 51 lbs and Doug’s were lighter, he carried mine.
According to maps.me our lodging was 1 mile down the beach. Surprise! Maps.me showed the accommodations being in the wrong place and it was SO MUCH FURTHER!!

We checked in the Sara Resort. This is a refurbished resort with new owners as of December 2017. It was really quite nice. But not with issues thanks to the big storms that were going on. This was causing toilet issues and the toilet would not fill with water after flushing. Plus all the water was brown.We were hungry and decided to grab a pizza, beer and dessert.

Now it was time to relax and enjoy the sunshine. Watched a delivery arrive which was quite fascinating.We had a nice dinner at the resort, but it was not cheap here considering we are still in Cambodia.We enjoyed watching a kid practice his fire twirling talents.

There was another BIG storm during the night.

21 March 2018 – Sihanoukville – Day 2 – Will it Rain?

Published on March 21, 2021April 23, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

I had a great sleep last night. Probably because I was exhausted and may have taken a sleeping pill. I needed sleep. Woke up feeling like a new person. Headed to breakfast by the river. Breakfast was great. Coffee was dark looking but had a medium taste. Good enough to enjoy a second cup.

The water in the river is a little low but that allowed us to observe tadpoles slithering around. Dunk themselves in the water and back onto the mud. It was quite entertaining.

Saw a few different birds but the Kingfishers were just stunning. An indigo blue colour from the back. It’s as if they knew I was trying to take their pictures as they just wouldn’t let me get a good one.

A few locals were ‘fishing’. He would bonk the fish with his machete type instrument and then throw the fish to his buddy standing on the bridge. A talent I would think not many possess. After breakfast we did some hand laundry.

So hot here we are hoping it will dry…..turned out it’s too humid and not drying. There was rain in the forecast for 10:00 am. Didn’t happen but some dark clouds all day. Guess we’ll be packing some wet clothing tomorrow as it’s another travel day. Sihanoukville was really only a place to stop to arrange the ferry. Turned into a great place to work on our blog as their wifi actually works. Hadn’t been able to upload photos for a few days. Took a few photos of the ‘resort’

We headed out to walk the beach. If we went right it would take us along Ochheuteal Beach and into town. The resort owner, Gerald told us this morning that going left would take us to Otres Beach and was a shorter walk. We opted for the shorter beach to start with. Cambodia along with many SE Asia countries just don’t realize just how beautiful their country is. Garbage EVERYWHERE! Just disgusting.As you get closer to the restaurants and accommodations, the beach was much cleaner, but definitely not clean by North American standards. It is such a shame. Take a week and clean it all up and this would be a true Paradise.We stopped at The Bamboo Restaurant & Bar to enjoy a beverage and just take in some of the scenery. Maybe to relax a little too.

We took a different route on the way back and discovered what seemed to be a little ‘resort’ at the top of the hill. They even had what looked very similar to Canada Geese.

So Our blog name is Old & Lost. We just had a great chuckle this afternoon as Doug is watching the series Lost on Netflix…….OLD (Doug) & LOST (Netflix series). Doesn’t take much to amuse us! LOL. The time we are spending here is rest time. We really need it.

We enjoyed some delicious Spring Rolls and a couple glasses of wine. Later we headed back to the restaurant to enjoy dinner by the river.

20 March 2018 – Travel Day – Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Published on March 20, 2021April 23, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

We had an early pickup for the bus today, so we were up early to get breakfast. Breakfast was once again pathetic. So happy to be leaving this hotel.

The bus showed up 15 minutes early. Good thing we were ready and just about to head down anyways.

We were the first two to be picked up and got to see many new areas of Phnom Penh City. I think we must have been staying in the grungiest area of the city as there appeared to be lots of nice areas. Not that we would ever go back, but if we did, I would stay in a better area. We had chosen our area of town to stay as it was close to the Kings Palace. Guess it was a mistake.

Our drive to Sihanoukville took approximately 5 hours once we got on our way. Traffic getting out of the city was totally insane. Until you have experienced it, you wouldn’t believe it. One way streets and then there is a scooter or a car coming at you. Doesn’t seem to phase anyone except us. LOL. We drove through jungle like terrain with the roads lined with palms trees and small villages. Mountains in the background, with some really beautiful scenery. Driving on the other hand was a little harey scary at times with all the passing going on. No pictures of the passing but saw this on the way. This guy had lost a cushion a few kilometres back.

Even saw a random cow every now and then, either walking along the road or crossing the road. There was pretty much everything on this road.

This is where we stopped for our bathroom break. The washrooms were really nice, especially by Cambodian standards.

Loved their Canadian Maple Leaf umbrella!

The bus took us right to our resort which was great since it turns out we are definitely out of the way. We are staying at Spayhiti Resort. It’s rated #1 of 242 in the B&B / guest houses category on a Trip Advisor in Sihanoukville. Great by Cambodian standards, but not 5 star by Canadian standards. Got all checked in which involved ringing a big brass bell to get service and being shown to our room. Room was nice.

Received our welcome drinks, which were a couple of beers and sat out on our patio to enjoy them. Ordered some food, fish and chips for Doug and fried noodles with chicken for me, which they brought to us, as their eating area is currently being reroofed. Not sure what it’s being reroofed with. I only saw large palm fronds heading in that direction.