2 days at a beach in Sihanoukville

The City of Sihanouk ville

Yesterday we arrived in a small city named Sihanouk ville. We are staying here two nights in Bungalows right on the beach. The weather has been very hot, but the sun is always out. Yesterday I sat on the beach with my friend Joesph and had some drinks. He said he recognized me on the beach by scanning the horizon and seeing a bright white glow (that was me due to my paleness). I was constantly being accosted by the locals, beggars and simple beach goers. It seems as though everybody is attracted to my pale skin. If I lived in Indochina I would simply drive the women crazy.

The people in my group are fun (for the most part). Joesph, the Canadian, and I hang out a bunch, it doesn't seem to matter that he's got 7 years on me. The kid from is always shopping and buying things. He came with 1 roller suitcase and now has more than doubled that since arriving in Bangkok. I have a little crush on this German girl (she's maybe 27-29?). Too bad she's only with us till Ho Chi Min City (or Saigon), which is in a few days. We loose several people but pick up 4 more at that time. When we get to Hanoi everyone except for 6 of us will travel through Lao. We have to take a 15 hour bus trip the first day of that Lao leg of the trip, which I am dreading.

The women here are very attractive, enough said... :)

So back to the beach yesterday...I was sitting down with Joe and women kept coming up to me and commenting on my chest (how I had trimmed the hair). They were rubbing my chest and saying something about waxing? I wasn't quite sure what they were saying, because their English is very broken. One woman brought out a spool of thread and said "[She] try on [me]." I say I have NO money, which is the truth. She says not to worry and that it's free of charge, and no money. I say, "um... ok?". She begins my wrapping the thread around her fingers on both hands and bites onto another piece. She then begins to tweeze individual hairs on my shoulder, VERY WEIRD. I tell her thank you but I'm OK and I have no money. She continues and then says she'll finish me and I can go back to my room and pay her. I tell her no, I do not consent. She didn't understand. I asked if she gave massages and of course she does, EVERYONE appears to. I had been wanting a massage (I'll be getting one today too), so I tell her that she Finnish my back and then give a 1-hour massage on the beach and that I would barrow money for her. I did barrow the money and after the 30 minutes of hair removal and 1 hour of full body massage (beach side mind you), I paid her $9. A very good rate, as I may get another massage today along the road for about $6/hr.

Last night after dinner and 3 beers Joe and I split from the group and went along the beach to check out the night life. Their were all you can eat BBQs that included Fish, Chicken, Beef, Pork, Seafood, Corn, etc. ALL FOR $3. Cocktails were between $1.50 and $3 and I stuck with Anchor beer on Tap that ranged from $.25 to $.75. We saw fireworks, very dismal.

We went to a bar and sat outside, about 15 foot from where waves stopped. We saw the Couple from Australia, Shelly and Michael. They were quite tipsy and had ordered a happy pizza. Joe and I looked at each other and laughed. They apparently did not understand why the pizza was 'happy'. When they asked the waiter he returned, "you mean you don't understand". They said no. He picked his fingers up to his mouth and side special ingredient. The Aussies then laughed at it a little skeptical and said they were fine and that they should continue the order. Joe and I also ordered one. It was essentially a pizza with cheese and Spaghetti-Os. I was tired to start with and we walked along the beach some more. We saw people doing tricks with fire twirling and heard all types of music. I heard Coolio, Led Z, Sublime, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the like. Some bars were themed in special ways, other more generic. We went to one and sat down on a mattress with pillows. Everyone looked at us and it soon became known to us that mostly everyone else was either with a prostitute or making out with their 'mate' on these cushions. Joe and I laughed it off and ordered a few drinks. I was very tired so we called it a night.

NOTE TO ALL: everyplace here has skype so if you'd like to talk to me, as I would you, give me your skype name and let me know if you want to set up a time to talk...it's free ya know.

see video of me eating a cricket below...

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