Life's a Beach

Over Labor Day weekend, Jeremy and I took our first trip to the Cambodian beach.  We chose a quiet little beach hideaway outside the city of Sihanoukville.  Although I guess it wasn't much of a hideaway since five other embassy families were also staying there!

The highlight of the weekend was a private boat tour to nearby islands.  Our voyage began with the boat pulling right up to the beach at our resort.  Talk about door to door service!

We headed out to sea towards the closest island.  The boat crew cracked up when I took this photo of the captain's backside as we approached land!

Instead of going onto the island, we anchored slightly offshore and snorkeled around.  I didn't see much and struggled with a leaky face mask before quickly calling it quits.  Jeremy and our friend Rich had better luck venturing to a nearby reef.

Then we were back in the boat to hit the next island.  This time we went ashore and tossed a frisbee in the shallow, calm water.

Having had our fill of sun, and realizing it was time for lunch, we boarded our boat and returned to the resort, where we enjoyed some refreshing cocktails with our meal.

Worst Things About Phnom Penh

My last blog post focused on the best things about Phnom Penh.  Now it's time for the worst...

The worst thing about Phnom Penh is the prevalence of bag snatching.  I've been here just over 7 months and I already know 7 people who have been victims of attempted or successful bag snatchings. The most common snatching scenario is you'll be riding in a tuk tuk or walking down the street, and someone on a moto will drive up close, grab your bag, and speed off.  Whenever I'm out and about with a bag, I'm on high alert.

So, if I'm worried about bag snatching, why don't I just drive more?  The next worst thing about Phnom Penh is driving.  I've already talked a bit about the driving in a previous post.  In addition to the fabulous habits of turning into oncoming traffic and only looking forward (never to the side or heaven forbid in the rearview mirror), Cambodian drivers are compelled to keep moving forward into all available space, even if it is completely unsafe, inconveniences others, or snarls everyone into a traffic jam.  The other night, I was in the far left lane with my left turn signal on, waiting for an opening in oncoming traffic to make my left turn.  However, motos kept coming up from behind and passing me on the left.  You seriously need to have nerves of steel and eyes on the back of your head to drive safely around here!

Back out of the car, I find myself on foot.  Sadly, walking is only slightly less worse than driving.  First, there is the aforementioned bag snatching concern.  Second, it's rare to be able to walk a full block on the sidewalk, due to drivers parking on the sidewalk:

or creative gardeners planting vegetation smack in the middle of the sidewalk: 

These obstacles mean I'm constantly having to weave back and forth from sidewalk to road.  Added to this, it's nearly impossible to enjoy a quiet walk without being hailed by eager businessmen:  "Hello! Tuk Tuk?" or "Moto Madame?"

All of these factors play into what could be the worst situation.  It's very easy for me to ride my tuk tuk into work, stay in the Embassy building all day, carpool home with a colleague, and then spend the entire evening in my 8th floor apartment, avoiding all bag snatching, driving, and walking, but also not interacting with the city around me.  So, that will be my challenge:  to rise above these annoyances - possibly even embrace them - to enjoy the many good things Phnom Penh has to offer.