The breakfast at Reef Resort was certainly one of the best. We could choose from several options, toast was common, I had bacon and double-yolked sunny side up and my dear had scrambled eggs with ham.
The package that we signed up with Reef Resort to spend a day at Saracen Bay (first protected beach in Cambodia) included a 2-way Tuk Tuk transport to Victory Beach where our ferry departed. There was a statue of a cow 3/4 submerged in the waters and lotsa naked local boys chilling around. You won't miss recognising the beach because of its distinct Cambodian lantern-like lamp posts lining the concrete pavement leading out to sea. (It's actually called the Russian Jetty)
The ferry we took was by Sun-Tours and the 3-deck open concept transport put a smile on our faces. We knew almost instantly that we were gonna have a good time out at sea. There were many, almost 90% of the tourists on board were all Caucasians - which meant, they were "siao onz" and really knew how to chill.
Before letting us off at Saracen Bay, we stopped midway where everyone could snorkel. My dear and I couldn't really get used to it initially, because we gung ho-ly jumped into the sea without a life vest like the others but realised it was too tiring swimming against the current... at the same time taking note to breathe through our mouths. It wasn't our first time snorkelling, but we were not pros at it.
After much wave-battling, we decided it was alright to look noobish with our life jackets on. Unfortunately, by the time we got comfortable, we were called back onboard to proceed on to our next destination. I don't recall seeing that many fishes while snorkelling, we got pretty close to the rocks near the island-line (or whatever you call it) but the most enjoyable part was actually swimming around with my dear in the open sea.
Saracen Bay wasn't too far away, but the upper deck was on "fire". During our entire boat ride, we were on the upper decks because there wasn't much space around in the lower levels. And with a few pathetic mini tentages, there was no way one could keep out of the burning sun.
As the boat couldn't dock too close to the shore, we could either take a boat to the island, or swim a good 400m to get there, survivor style. And guess which we chose?
For a miillliiioonnn ... nope there's no money to be won but the experience of swimming over to a desolate island was well worth it.
When everyone successfully reached isolation, it wasn't before long that the guides took us on a river walk. That "river walk" was in fact a mangrove walk, and it's whatever you think a mangrove walk would be. Muddy sandbed, greenish algae-filled waters with God-knows-what's-lurking underneath, occasional "ouchs", "be careful", "WHAT'S THAT?!" live commentary from the tourists, and lotsa rubbish trapped within the vicinity. There wasn't a foul smell or anything, but seeing how dirty the waters were, and that your whole body was partially submerged in waters with poor visibility of what's lurking below, was truly a daunting experience. The highest the water level reached was slightly below the collar bone... and I'm about 1.73m tall... picture that...
The guides sought our help to clear rubbish during our river-walk/tour and it was a fantastic way to engage us free labor to do so... and everyone was surprisingly enthusiastic in reaching out to grab rubbish despite following a "safe" route the guides had paved for us.
It took us around 40mins, to and back the same way, and though we didn't see much, the experience of walking barefooted (we should have brought our slippers along, which we left behind on the boat) and doing good by litter-picking at a foreign place was... ahem* worth it.
We went back to the main beach with its crystal clear waters, a sight totally opposite from the brackish waters we had to endure during the river walk. It was like we were in paradise!
We then proceeded to the next item on the itinerary, a tropical rain-forest walk. (darn, we should have brought our slippers along!) It was a pokey walk and there were piles of animal shit around, which probably belonged to wild boars or something... The rain-forest walk was nothing extraordinary and would prolly appeal more to Caucasians than Asians. All I remembered was being live-bait for blood-thirsty Cambodian mosquitoes and the highlight of one of the tourist climbing up some hardy vines (reminded me of the vines Bear Grylls normally uses to either abseil down a rocky cliff or swing from one cliff to another in his Survivor series, Man Vs Wild) like Tarzan.
When we got back to Sihanoukville, we decided to settle for a Japanese restaurant (by the name of Happa) close to our Resort. The expensive Japanese rice and Agadeshi Tofu didn't taste very authentic to me. Still, at least it was a nostalgic cuisine.
We went back to our Resort for an early rest, all exhausted and "fried" from the day's tour. The day-tour to Saracen Bay was without question the most enjoyable and memorable day during our trip in Cambodia.
No comments:
Post a Comment