Jaunted - Sihanoukville
http://www.jaunted.com/
The Pop Culture Travel Guideen-usCopyright 2006 - SFO MEDIA2012-02-11T12:18:46ZJauntedJauntedJauntedhttp://www.jaunted.com/images/jauntedw.jpg
http://www.jaunted.com/
Sihanoukville Just Got a Little Closer
http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/1/15/102445/267
Sihanoukville Airport, the gateway to the Cambodian coastal town of Sihanoukville, has reopened after renovations. It's currently set up to only handle small planes flying domestic routes, but there are plans to expand the runway by the end of the year. The town is just 115 miles from Phnom Penh, but you can expect a route between those cities on Siem Reap Airways, as well as one between Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, also presumably on Siem Reap Airways (although the airline's website has yet to post information on the latter route.)
Sihanoukville's tourist facilities are still developing; it's not Phuket. But the comparably so-so beach is perhaps trendier for that fact alone. It takes a real thinking man to love it. And the crap squid helps its cause.
Development is coming! Development is coming! Which tropical Southeast Asian paradise is soon to be overrun with fatties and luxury travelers? Why, it's Sihanoukville, Cambodia's own sleepy beach town.
Jeff Koyen files his dispatch for the Times, showing amazing restraint by mentioning the dearth of hookers but a single time. Perhaps the "happy" pizzas and "happy" pancakes--seasoned with oregano and/or pot--make up for the lack of "happy" endings in town.
Truth be told, it's not clear whether Sihanoukville was all that unspoiled in the first place. Last year, a Sokha Beach Hotel opened--complete with their own private stretch of beach--so it's not just cheap bungalows on the water. Plus, Sihanoukville is Cambodia's only deep water port. That's right: there's just as much Newark as Phuket in the city's DNA.
Now, excuse us while we go cook up a batch of happy pancakes.