Tropical Paradise

Now that I’d experienced Cambodia’s cities and jungles, with just a few days until Songkran – my deadline for getting back to Bangkok – all that was missing was a tropical, white-sanded beach.

Last stop: Sihanoukville.

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As you can see, I didn’t quite make it as far into Camb...

Luckily, Sihanoukville has a direct link to Bangkok, so...

Sihanoukville’s main beach is really quite touristy, re...

However, I was here for something different, so after a...

Myself and Thomas, a guy I met on the bus from Phnom Pe...

Our destination: Otres Beach, a more far-flung stretch ...

What we found was nothing less than pure…tropical…parad...

For just $14 a night, I got myself a private little bun...

It was exactly what I was hoping for.

Day or night, nothing but the sound of crashing waves a...

Yet amazingly, despite its isolation, the spot had virt...

How does this look for an ideal office? :D

Plus, although well out-of-reach of Sihanoukville itsel...

This meant that after a quick 20 minute stroll…

We could have our pick from a half a dozen other restau...

Or play a game of pool with the locals.

I truly believe that we found Otres at just the right t...

One season earlier and none of this was here – 99% of t...

One season later and I’m confident that much of its “fa...

When I was on my way to Otres, I planned to stay for ju...

(I literally took the last possible bus to Bangkok, on ...

And while I was honestly a bit apprehensive about joini...

In a place like this, having a friend with whom to toss...

Because believe it or not, during our whole three-day s...

…Except for a quiet Ukrainian couple who were (get this...

Still, that doesn’t mean we were lonely at all, because...

A cheeky group of locals almost exactly our age…

…Who became instant friends, always up to hang out duri...

(…which were pretty damn spectacular, by the way.)

Yep, I’d say Otres Beach was the perfect way to wrap up...

I’ll be back, Cambodia. Even after more than two month...

Note: These posts are behind realtime; the above took place in April, 2012.