Arriving in Sihanoukville

I stayed in the Orchidee Guesthouse in Sihanoukville, in a little neighborhood a couple blocks from the beach. I was disappointed when I couldn't book myself a beachfront property, but when I got to the beach, I realized why it was so difficult: the beach is covered in bars, right up to the water. There are places to stay, even free places to stay, but anything with any amenities (like a real bed or a private bathroom, let alone a pool or a tv) was off a ways from the shore.


This is the neighborhood I was in. It looks really nice from these pictures:




This seems a little more accurate. There was a bunch of construction right next door going the whole time (never bothered me, though), and the rest of the street is significantly less polished than the couple hotels immediately surrounding the guesthouse.




Driveway:


Restaurant (free breakfast):

Upper deck:


Cycle port:


I didn't take any pictures of the lobby, come to think of it. It was small and nothing special, though. You walked through a hallway to get to the pool:


And then there was a lot of corridor action:




And a lot of barbed wire action:


I was on the second floor. The room was decent, especially for $22 a night, most especially considering it was New Year's Eve during my stay, when apparently a lot of places tripled their prices. Prebooking pays off.




This little tv got tons of English channels, a lot more than I get in Korea. I was kind of pissed, actually. I try not to watch too much tv, but it's nice to have the option. Anyway, I didn't watch much of this tv, but I did catch a bit of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and all of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I think that's what it's called. Terrible movie.


This painting haunts me still. It's freaky, and ugly.


This bed had sheets. Almost a first for me in Asia.


First hot shower in Cambodia, and given my problems at home with hot water, first hot shower in like a month:



That was kind of boring, so I'll leave you with a nice sunset over Occheuteal Beach photo:


Isn't that special?