Cont'd...

Our first couple of days there proved to be more trouble than relaxation. We decided to explore the area, so we rented a motorbike and Jas was given a quick lesson. We spent an afternoon driving around, and went for another ride the following morning. I decided to get a massage, so Jas dropped me off at a decent looking place. My massage ended up being 2 hours of a girl bouncing back and forth between beating the shit out of me and falling asleep. Throw a mosquito attacking my feet while I'm immobilized into the mix, and there you have the worst massage I've ever had! During this time, Jas' experience wasn't much better...he ended up in the ditch! He accidentally revved the bike instead of applying the brakes. He wasn't hurt, but returned to pick me up with a man riding behind him and broken pieces of the bike in the front basket. The tailpipe was also cracked...it cost us $43US to fix everything.

The rest of our time was spent on the beach, rotating between sun, shade, and water. Although we didn't see many aquatic animals, we did see cows walking along the beach. They're everywhere! Many people walk up and down the beach trying to sell you stuff: jewellery, fruit, seafood, hair removal, massage, etc. I got a manicure and pedicure. There are also a lot of poor and disabled people begging for money and food. We bought some postcards from a man who had been injured by a landmine. On our last night in Sihanoukville, we walked down the beach for dinner and ended up at a charity event. A Canadian guy was breaking the world record for swimming handcuffed to raise money for Cambodian children to go to school. You can go to http://www.helpthecambodianchildren.org/ for more info.