Sihanoukville Cambodia

from the city we took a 6  hour bus ride to the south part of the country to a town called sihanoukville.  a lovely little town, with a nice beach perfect to help shake off the horrors that we had just experienced.  we spent 5 nights here.  we rented bikes, went on a tour to a national park via boat and had a few days of lounging on the beach. 

a feast

the national park is heavily guarded by rangers.  there is a lot of problems with people cutting down trees in the park and in return getting a good profit.  we were able to spend some time with one of the rangers who gave us some insight to the situation, and how dangerous an encounter can be for a ranger.  we enjoyed some more great cambodian hospitality and felt refreshed as we headed for the vietnam border.

bike ride to the beach

impressions of cambodia include: a discombobulated border crossing and an incredibly rough and slow bus ride into angkor wat, open and enthusiastice people, beautiful and impressive architecture of the temples, the horrors of the khmer rouge but also of the other atrocities endured by the cambodian people at the hands of the french, vietnamese, us, chinese, and others, the land mine museum and the uplifting work they do, the refuge of the south and its beaches and parks, and the friendliness of the people.

boat trip to the national park

cambodian beach

local lady on the beach