When we first landed in Cambodia we rushed our way to Sihanoukville as we were taking part in a volunteering program in a yoga centre over there. Thanks to camboticket.com we were able to book our itinerary beforehand and managed to get from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville in time for the volunteering program.
While we won’t get in details about our volunteer work, we would like to share our experiences during our 1 month stay in Sihanoukville.
Downtown Sihanoukville
Sihanoukville is a very touristic area as you find many foreign establishments such as restaurants, hotels, casinos and so on. So living there is pretty comfortable and easy. During our time off we mainly used to go to Dao cafe an amazing vegan restaurant that serves the best banana pancakes in the world – literally! Not to mention the huge and Delicious pizza at Olive and Olive, a Mediterranean restaurant right next to it. After a fine fulfilling dinner, we used to go to Top Cat Cinema – the so called movie theatre of Sihanoukville – to watch a movie in a private room with comfortable couches, blankets and snacks. We had the freedom to select any movie we wanted to watch. How amazing is that?
Daily yoga at Independence beach
As part of our daily routine also, we used to go down to Independence Beach every morning for a relaxing yoga practise and some occasional acro-yoga fun sessions. Independence beach has a long stretch of silver sand and when the water is quiet and the tide is low, many rocks emerge out of the water which gives it a magical looking aspect and a perfect playground for local fishermen.
Beach bungalows of Otres Beach
Sometimes we used to go for a whole day trip to Otres Beach to relax in one of the beach bungalows while reading our books and enjoying fresh coconut juice. Many local handcrafts artists or fishermen will be roaming along the beach selling their products.
“Open your heart! Open your wallet! ” one lady said to us once, making us laugh our heads off! She did win our hearts that day and opened our wallet in return for some amazing bracelets.
Another mesmerizing day trip involved renting scooters and heading to Kbal Chhay waterfall, 30 minutes away from Sihanoukville. As it was the rainy season, the waterfall was strong and scary. Yet we managed to climb down and sit right next to it. You can literally feel the ground shaking from underneath as water poured heavily all around us. Awesome landscape!
All in all
We are so grateful to have had the chance to first discover Cambodia in Sihanoukville: A great city with a great vibe. Even though it can get too crowded especially during the high season, it remains one of the cities that have a special place in our hearts. We will definitely come back to Sihanoukville as we still want to discover it more and visit the Islands of Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem, something we didn’t have the chance of doing yet 🙂
Bea and Elie are a young Lebanese couple who is travelling Asia looking for adventures. As bloggers, you can follow their tracks in their website I Got Your Backpack, “A couple’s journey into the free world”. Click here to read the article Six Reasons Why Should Take the Bus in Cambodia.
We wish Bea and Elie the best of luck in their journey!