Sihanoukville

I took the bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. It was nearly 6 hours in this overcrowded vehicle over a bumpy road, but we finally made it. Found a hotel near the bus station/market and overnighted there. I sniffed out an expat bar nearby while there.

The next day was another bus from P.P. to Sihanoukville...about 4 hours. The port town of Sihanoukville was carved out of the jungle in 1959 and is Cambodia's only open-water port. My main purpose of coming to here was to locate a friend, Bob Pipinich, who used to manage the Phuket Fishing Lodge where I lived for over 2 years while on Phuket. I had heard he opened a bar restaurant in the town and it was my goal to find him.

I arrived about noon and rented a motorcycle checking out the local places looking for Bob with no luck whatsoever. It was hot and I was getting tired of not being able to find Bob. Finally, I stopped in at the Anchor Arms pub and spoke with the manager, Bret. Yes, he knew Bob and his place was just two doors up the street. I was in luck.

I finally connected with Bob. He's just opening his bar/restaurant called Club Sandwich. It was a great reunion and later he introduced me to the expatriate community there. This was as close to traveling in the 70's as I've been since that original time.

Essentially, the place is undeveloped for tourism, the airport is shut and prices are SO cheap. These guys I met were the pioneers: starting resorts, restaurants, bars, internet cafes in a newly discovered area. I fit in immediately and made dozens of friends. Hard to leave that place. I could move here with no problems.