Serendipity

We're on another bus today, leaving Phnom Penh towards Sihanoukville and its Serendipity Beach. The journey takes five hours with one stop for food where Rachelle and I shared a chicken and vegetable fried rice. The bus's air-conditioning was so cold that Rachelle spent the entire journey sat in her raincoat. We hadn't packed jumpers into our hand-luggage, so it was all she had. I refused to look as stupid and suffered the cold instead.

We arrived at the bus station. It was necessary to take mopeds to Serendipity Beach. The guesthouses and nightlife are on Serendipity Street. We choose a guesthouse and dump our bags in the room before getting sandwiches. They forgot Rachelle's order and then served her the wrong sandwich. She wasn't happy. She did have good reason to be sad, because we discovered she lost her phone, and now, of all things, she wasn't getting the food she wanted. We don't know where her phone was lost, but it's not at the guesthouse back in the capital, because we called and checked. We spent some time canceling her contract so that if someone has it, they can't use it. International calls are expensive.

Trying to forget our troubles, we head to the beach. It's lined with bars who let you use their beach loungers for free all day if you buy one drink. The sun is out and we have Angkor Beer for a measly 50 cents each. I gulped down the beer because I wanted to get into the sea. The waves were huge; some towered over my head. The water was the perfect temperature too; just right. Wave Games change when the size of them is as big as this. It's more a game of staying on your feet. The afternoon was spent lounging and playing in the waves. Whilst Rachelle was reading, young boys came up and hissed at her, which is strange. In fact, a lot of people here seem a little odd. The place is reminiscent of Vang Vieng (the tubing party town) except it's also mixed in with families on holiday.

In the evening we get some food and cocktails before hitting some bars. Having walked around a little, we have been given flyers for free drinks at three different bars. There wasn't even a requirement to buy a drink; you can just get your free one and leave. We had seven drinks between us and only paid for two. It was a cheap night out.