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Living in a Provincial Cambodian Town

Who was the suburban philosopher who said, well everyone has to be somewhere, and I am here? After a life of relative normality in the west, I find myself living in a provincial seaside town in Cambodia. So what is that like? Let me try to picture it for you.

Well firstly moving to a seaside town is probably no real surprise to me. I had lived on the Gold Coast in Queensland Australia for a quarter of a century or so, and so it was natural I suppose that I would gravitate to another place near the ocean. Actually my town, Sihanoukville sits on the edge of the south eastern part of the Gulf of Thailand, which strictly speaking is not an ocean. While there are what you could term waves, there is no surf as such, so no healthy looking dudes with boards are seen on the beaches. It is those beaches that Sihanoukville, (or Snooky to the locals), is known for. It also happens to be Cambodias deep water port, and although that fact undoubtedly brings in much needed trade, I would not think it adds much to the tourist numbers!

So what is it like to live in Sihanoukville? I find it is like stepping back in time in a delightfully inconsistent way. You see, while mobile phones are everywhere and there is an ATM up the road, there are also brahman cows mooching along that road, and a man selling charcoal off his pushbike. By walking down the same road near where I live, I can go and put money into a slot machine at the casino if I want, or visit a Buddhist temple over a thousand years old, and feed the monkeys that roam semi wild all over the ruins. The casino has not seen me for ages, but the monkeys grin and chatter when they see me (and their bananas) approaching.

I also find it has the right feel about it. If I want to pull the blinds on the world for a while I can. It certainly is not necessary to read email or even drive a car or bike, but I can do all those things if I want. I know there is an international airport three hours up the road, but I certainly do not hanker to go there every other day, and I have never seen an aircraft even fly over this town come to think of it, which I find relaxing in itself!

As is the case in all the parts of Asia I have travelled to, the daily necessities of life can come to me if I want them to. I know that on any given morning several ladies will walk serenely past offering everything from pedicures to coconut bowls of delicious hot soup. A boy will cycle by on his pushbike, selling fresh crusty baguettes his father made while I was fast asleep, while several others carry shoulder baskets of fresh fruit. If I occasionally become lulled into regarding these services as normal and expected, I only need to recall the recent past and my life in the west. The now seemingly pointless and wasteful car trips to some hideous mall to buy a few plastic covered morsels to keep life going. Sitting in traffic jams stressing about the work day ahead in some soulless cubicle. How silly it all seems now, sitting here watching two teenage kids herding their goats up the roads grassy verge.

Australia will always be home, but this little place will certainly do for now!

Article Source: http://www.articleresourceindex.com

Nick is an old Asia hand who writes boutique articles for the places he really likes, like this great little guesthouse, the Ochheuteal Guesthouse, near the beach in Sihanoukville Cambodia. Click there now, and prepare to be fascinated and motivated to grab a ticket!

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