A Change of Guard

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Sunday 23 June 2013

Bustle on the beach at Sihanoukville in Cambodia

  • http://www.news.com.au, Escape
  • June 23, 2013
Bustle on the beach at Sihanoukville
A traditional fishing boat moored at the beach in Sihanoukville
IT IS complete bedlam from the moment we step off the bus. Fighting our way through the throng of tuk-tuk drivers swarming around the bus, determined to pick up a fare, we sprint across the hectic main road.
With no pedestrian crossings, we narrowly dodge speeding motorbikes carrying families of four, small smiling children gripping on tight and fresh produce balanced on the back.
Stepping inside the enormous Central Market, the scene is no less chaotic. Slabs of raw meat and huge fish are slapped on the concrete ground, inches from our feet. Squealing, barefoot children duck and weave between stalls of fresh vegetables and colourful fruits.
And women hack apart chook and geese carcasses, amid the squawks of live chickens and the splashes of fish, crabs and stingrays thrashing in big buckets.
This is Cambodia. It is chaotic, at times confronting, but it's also exciting.
The frenetic pace of the crowded town centre is energising and contagious, if not a little overwhelming.
We are in Sihanoukville, the country's only developed port and biggest seaside town, as part of a 14-day Asia Explorer cruise with Holland America Line.
About 185km southwest of the capital Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville is rapidly growing as a popular tourist attraction and is one of the newest destinations to be added to the cruise line's southeast Asia route. Its white-sand beaches remain less developed and less crowded than the resorts in nearby Thailand.
But it's unlikely to stay this way for long, with the number of tourists visiting Cambodia surging from under 500,000 in 2000 to almost three million last year, according to the country's Ministry of Tourism.
The low-lying coastal town also serves as a launch pad for visiting the many scenic undeveloped islands of Cambodia, with locals offering affordable day trips with boating, snorkelling and scuba-diving.

Add in the town's unbelievably cheap food and accommodation - as little as $10 a night for a standard double room with a bathroom, TV and fan - and it is little wonder the tourism industry is burgeoning.
In a poor nation, enterprising Sihanoukville locals are doing all they can to capitalise on it.
As our cruise ship, Holland America Line's MS Zaandam, pulls into port, we file into shuttle buses to take us into the town centre to explore the Central Market and later make our way to the stunning beaches.
 Holland America Line?s MS Zaandam. Picture: Supplied
One very determined tuk-tuk driver races alongside the bus, beeping his horn to get the attention of passengers.
Necks crane to watch him, beaming and nodding furiously as he waves a handmade sign and motions for us to get off the bus and on to his ride. Braking hard, he avoids colliding with oncoming traffic by centimetres.
Pulling into the town centre, it quickly becomes clear the local population are all too aware there is a cruise ship in town and are determined to make a dollar from its predominantly Western passengers. Wandering the narrow aisles of the thriving, vibrant market we are trailed every step of the way by determined tuk-tuk drivers and tiny children selling trinkets or begging.
The poverty, and seeing young children pleading for you to buy their homemade crafts, is confronting.
But we've been warned on the ship that for every dollar we hand over, or every woven bracelet we buy out of sympathy, more children will remain begging or selling on the streets and beaches because their parents can see there is a buck to be made.
After a good hour wandering the markets in stifling heat we jump aboard a tuk-tuk to explore the beaches.
Our driver is a 24-year-old local named Caka. He has followed us for an hour through the market, chipping in occasional tips about local foods, in a bid to get our fare.
The pandemonium only continues as we take off.
With no lanes on the wide road, it is necessary to grip on tight as tuk-tuks and vans weave dangerously around each other. Horns blast incessantly.
But arriving at Ochheuteal Beach, one of Sihanoukville's biggest and most popular swimming strips, the pace changes immediately. The owner of the bamboo hut bar raises a hand lazily as we wander through to the beautiful beach, settling on comfy sun beds.
The water is clear and the beach almost deserted. The lady who brings us fresh coconuts to drink from the bar tells us it will get busier later in the afternoon.
Holidaymakers relax on Occheuteal Beach. Picture: Supplied
Exploring Sihanoukville's other beautiful beaches is a similar experience. Each has the same carefree vibe and no matter how many people lay stretched out indolently on sun beds, it doesn't feel as though you are sharing this sun-and-sand paradise with crowds.
On the way back to the ship we come across the Cambodian Children's Painting Project.
It is a volunteer-run initiative that keeps children in school and teaches them to play and paint. The fun, colourful paintings are sold to buy rice, fish and eggs for the children's families, who sign a contract promising not to send their children to sell or beg on the street.
As we walk through the centre, kids giggle as they run and play around us. Director Sandi Bassett tells us the program's 153 children are "the poorest of the poor''.
"Our kids would be selling things on the beach or the markets if they weren't in our program, which is a very vulnerable situation with most up staying up until 2am selling to drunk tourists,'' she says. I buy a colourful painting of Buddhist monks by a river as I leave. On the back it says the artist is a 10-year-old boy.
As our shuttle bus rolls back towards the ship, past the chaos of the town centre and markets, I feel glad to know at least one little boy, the artist of my new painting, is no longer caught up in the bedlam.
The writer was a guest of Holland America Line.
Go2 - CAMBODIA
Holland America Line has two Far East cruises visiting Cambodia in December, both on the MS Volendam. A 12-day cruise priced from $1300 a person twin share departs Singapore on December 9 and calls at Koh Samui, Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Sihanoukville, Phu My, Nha Trang, Halong Bay and Hong Kong. A 16-day reverse itinerary departing Hong Kong on December 21 and also calling at Da Nang is priced from $2100 a person twin share.
Ph 1300 987321.

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