Silhanoukville - what to do there?

[kiramoli]

Hello, we are cruising with Oceania in February and will be visiting Silhanoukville. What is there to do? Looking for recommendations for activities or the beach. 

[John Bull]

Copied from my reply to another thread...............

 

Most countries in SE Asia are tiger economies - Cambodia is the odd one out, its still stuck in about the 18th century and it's poor and grubby.

Some folk were shocked by Sihanoukville - they took a  quick look at the town then hurried back to the civilisation of the ship. But it's part of our planet and it's an education to see how the other half live.

 

We shared a van  which we bartered at the port, silly cheap. A great day - a waterfall, a long-tail boat across to a little "resort" island, a stop at Ream Nat Park. And on the way back a stop at a fishing village - fish laid out on the dusty ground to dry, very grubby & unhygienic but very poor.

 

 Bartering is fun, but the driver's needs were greater than ours and we gave him a huge (by western standards)  tip.

BTW, we had to tender in because a  cargo ship had sunk at the berth. Turned out it had sunk several  years earlier. It's probably still there That's Cambodia.

 

JB 🙂

[austromyrtus]

suggest you have a look at entries on the tripadvisor travel forum...

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowTopic-g325573-i9821-k14159564-Sihanoukville_current-Sihanoukville_Sihanoukville_Province.html

 

[Over from NZ]

Go with a good attitude. We were on a ship of mostly Aussies. Their attitude of so many of them sucked and they were seemingly miffed that it wasn't set-up like the Gold-coast. But that can be your average Australian cruiser for you. Yes, it's a poor and grubby looking place in parts. But.. fascinating all the same. We went on an excursion to a fishing village and into the town which was a real eye-opener as well as to some temples. 

[ROCruiser]

Our day in Silhanoukville 2015 here, if interested.

[Over from NZ]

Nice one. That was the same tour driver and excursion we did. It was a good day out.. quite interesting! So glad we didn't listen to all the whining Aussies saying to stay onboard 🤣