Visas

Cambodia was the first destination that we needed to get a visa for. You can get a visa on arrival or you can apply online and save some hassle and possibly some money at the boarder crossing. The online visa requires you to upload a passport type photo (we just took ours with our iPhones) and fill in a simple form. The process can take as little as a few hours or may take a few days. I had mine within 24 hours and Andre received his after 3 days. The only challenging part of the process was finding a place to print them. You are required to make two copies (colour or black and white). The main reason we wanted to get our visas beforehand was to avoid getting a shake down at the border. We had heard stories of people being made to wait exorbitant amounts of time because officials were looking for more cash than what is actually required. This isn’t normally a large sum but it’s the principal and it’s an annoyance.

With Visas in hand we were through roughly half an hour after we arrived.

The Ride to Sihanoukville

We have come to realize that it’s better to organize transport as you go rather than set everything up ahead of time. You will often run into people heading the same way as you and it can be just as economical, if not way more comfortable, to share a cab instead of taking a bus. Ian happened to be on our mini bus when we left from Koh Chang. He is Australian and has friends in Thailand that he visits each year. He has also spent a lot of time in Cambodia. He didn’t have any transport arranged after the boarder so he asked us if we would like to share a cab.

We already had our big bus tickets that would take us to the main station in Sihanoukville. From there we would have to get a tuk tuk to our accommodation. The thing was that the big bus wasn’t leaving for another 2 hours and it’s a fair drive on a road with a lot of traffic. We decided to take the twenty-five dollar loss and put in another fifty to join Ian in a cab. It was money very well spent. Not only did we get a two hour head start but we were also able to pass many vehicles on the road, whereas the big bus would have been stuck in traffic. Our guy was passing people left and right. Literally. Sometimes we were speeding past people in the oncoming traffic lane and other times there was already someone there overtaking so our driver would pass them on the shoulder. It seemed like madness but it all worked somehow.

There was also the added bonus of the sweet techno tunes pumping from our driver’s stereo system, something that Andre could only describe as Electro Cambodian Lil’ Wayne. It was pretty intense, but only went on for about 45 minutes of our four hour drive. During this time we stopped at a couple ATMs. Unfortunately each one was out of money. Luckily we had Thai Baht on us and that would do for the time being. We also made a pit stop for some road side deep fried bananas and barbecued corn. Along the way I noticed something interesting…

Sweet Dreams

I saw a few ladies wearing what appeared to be some sort of pajama set or nurse’s uniform. They were all very colourful with big prints. One had cat heads all over it… At first I thought that perhaps I’d randomly seen a few women who had hit the snooze button one too many times and were late to work so they just said stuff it and ran out as they were. But after seeing many more women in these outfits in the markets and riding on moto taxis I figured this was obviously a thing. A thing I would need to investigate. I am guilty of wearing workout clothes in daily life and I will also fess up to wearing pajama pants to run to the local corner store or to pick up take away, but I have never once left the house in full matching pajamas. This is probably most likely due to the fact that Andre would leave me. I already wear a robe around the house like it’s a uniform (I’m cold a lot and it’s comfy) and I once asked Andre to help me find “dressy sweat pants.” This request was met with a face that was a mix of horror and disbelief between uncontrolled laughter. This was the day my dream died. But now, perhaps now, in this magical land I would have my chance.

Construction Zone

As we neared Sihanoukville the traffic got worse and worse. There were vehicles of every size and shape, many so loaded up they looked like they would burst upon striking the next pothole, which was at most a few meters ahead.

It’s not a great phone pic out a dirty car window, but that is indeed a van fully stacked with three motorbikes secured to the back.

We had heard that in the last few years Sihanoukville had basically exploded because of the amount of construction that had taken place within such a short period (2-5 years). Based on the amount and types of vehicles we encountered approaching Sihanoukville it should have been no surprise to find that the place looked like nothing more than a giant construction zone. A really shitty unregulated construction zone. I had never been to Sihanoukville before but by all accounts from those who had, it used to be a beautiful, quiet, and relaxed coastal boutique resort town. If you didn’t know the Chinese were attempting to make it a bigger and better Macau, it could be mistaken for an area that just suffered a major natural disaster. 

The current situation is a result of rampant unchecked development without proper procedural policies. There have been zero attempts to implement mandatory infrastructure requirements that could support the development. The result is a situation that resembles a construction site/earthquake/war zone. Throughout the city there were piles of garbage everywhere and there is no wastewater treatment system so all forms of sewage freely flow into the ocean. Their once beautiful waters are now floating landfills. Construction and demolition waste litter the roads and building sites. There are frequent power blackouts and telecommunication networks often go down due to overload. Roads have been beat down by heavy load traffic to a point where they are almost not driveable. A lack of regulation has also led to dangerous working conditions and the use of inferior building materials.

In short, this situation has been created by mostly private entrepreneurial Chinese money, both clean and dirty, in order to build a major gambling destination for their people, as gambling is illegal in China. Once they started to build they expanded this plan to include online gambling houses. Many people we spoke to believe it is a way to wash money and several people talked about the Chinese mafia and increased crime. The historically impoverished Cambodian people really can’t be blamed for selling their land for astronomical profits to outsiders. We’ve heard accounts where land that was worth $10,000 to $20,000 US 5 years ago has recently transacted for as much as $10,000,000 US. The Chinese government did step in once online gambling started because they have no way of tracking digital currency. They asked the Cambodian government to assist them and now online gambling is not permitted.

There are many sides to any story, of course. We engaged business owning expats, locals, and a few Chinese people in discussion hoping for a glimpse into the challenges that lay ahead for Sihanoukville and its people. For instance, many Cambodians have left for Koh Rong and other islands in the area because they can no longer afford to live in Sihanoukville.  Many of the business owning expats have had their leases broken or at best have been bought out and have since moved onward to other smaller Cambodian towns like Kampot to start over with the hope that Chinese investment doesn’t ‘relocate’ them again. It’s said that 120,000 Chinese people packed up and left 2 weeks after the online gambling component of the overall enterprise became illegal. Many of the Chinese investors have been left holding the bag with half built buildings and established businesses that specifically accommodate the online gambling component. Regardless, it seems like tough times ahead for all parties involved.

The following videos sum up some of what we heard from people.

 

 

Money

As I mentioned earlier, we were unable to get money from an ATM. In the end we were able to get cash from our accommodation by overpaying the bill on our credit card. The Cambodian currency is the Riel but US dollars are preferred. This is due to large fluctuations in the value of the Riel and the stability of the dollar. When paying for items you may get US dollars back or Riel. It’s important that the bills are pristine. Most people will not accept US dollars if there they’re not perfect (without small tears, writing, etc) because the banks will not give the locals their full value if flawed. There are also issues with counterfeiting, as in any market. It’s important to check your change carefully. You can refuse bills that are not perfect and ask for others so you don’t get stuck with them.

We knew what to expect from Sihanoukville, but it was still shocking to see. Andre did manage to book us a place that seemed to be one of the last remaining guest houses that was sheltered from the chaos. We were both glad that we would only be staying one night before heading to Koh Rong. I took very few photos on our way through because it all looked like rubble. There are some pictures of the drive there and I have put them in the gallery for Koh Rong.

Oh, and after further investigating I found out that daytime pajama sets are a thing.

Dreams do come true.

 

133 days in…

Now to the island of Koh Rong.