Sihanoukville. Planet of the Apes.

January 23, 2017

21:00 o'clock

Blog Entry No.12

Daily Temperature 32 degrees

(Sun & Clouds)

Sunset at 18:05 o'clock

Rain probability 10%

Actual rainfall 0%

The hairstyle is perfect...

Here we are again, ladies & gents.

They say, "Those who rest, rust..." And I must say, I now understand what they mean. :)

We have been in Sihanoukville for 4 days and we are really not doing much.

Exactly what we planned.

And also without rain

And (almost) without adventure.

Just chilling on the beach or riding on a scooter, which we also rented here, of course.

And I must say, it's really enjoyable.

Even though this slowed pace of our previous journey is not something for me in the long run... At the moment, it's just the way I/we like it.

On the 1st day, we rented a scooter to get oriented in our new environment.

A red Honda.

I liked it immediately.

It looked good and had power.

And if it hadn't kept stalling, we would have rented it for a few more days for sure.

But a machine that stalls in the middle of a roundabout and then doesn't start again...

Imagine this:

123000 other road users coming towards you.

From all sides.

You're already giving up on life and all...

.Ah, no.

That can go... :D

By the way, the next one we rented had a broken speedometer.

When we asked if we could get a new scooter, they answered that we could regulate it with the handlebars!?!?

Evveeeerrrythiiiiiiing's cleeeeeear....

So, on the 1st day, we explored our new surroundings and were really impressed by the variety.

Negative. Positive. Neutral.

One thing that stands out immediately is the poor infrastructure.

I'm not surprised, no.

But it's definitely interesting when you have a super smooth road for 1 kilometer and suddenly... it just ends.

And either you can't go any further and have to turn around or the road turns into a dirt road or a gravel road or something like that.

Everything is somehow included....

(Family outing in Cambodian)

And then there's the sea here.

There are beach sections that are completely messed up, totally dirty and overcrowded.

But if you take detours, you can reach sections that are empty and no one is sitting right next to you.

The water is clear, although not like on Koh Rong.

When we've had enough of chilling, we hop back on our two-wheeler and just ride around and take everything in.

The paths sometimes seem endless.

The landscape changes.

There's lush green.

Rocky paths.

Palm trees.

And suddenly you feel like you're on "Our Little Farm," because suddenly there are horses standing around.

Water buffaloes.

Cows.

Stray dogs.

And unfortunately, there are children everywhere who really have nothing.

And when I say 'nothing,' I mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

We pass by actual slums.

Next to them, giant hotel complexes.

Impressive casinos.

Normal roads again.

Then suddenly cracked and broken roads.

Everything changes.

On a road right by the beach, we discovered THIS:

(So, if you want to vacation at Castle Frankenstein, you have to come to Cambodia!)

......................................................

By the way, we can only say good things about the people here so far.

Really.

They are very sympathetic.

Kind.

They smile a lot.

However, today we witnessed the police arbitrariness here.

We were just driving into the roundabout and there were uniformed officers at every entrance and exit.

And since we are only tourists and, of course (unlike many here), wearing helmets and obeying all the rules, we naturally weren't waved out... Haha, yeah right.

Of course.

We had to pull over, of course.

And they demanded my driver's license in broken English.

Of course, the German one is worthless.

And in that moment, I was really glad to have gotten the international driver's license shortly before departure in Germany.

Since there was no objection in that regard, they had to come up with something quickly.

And well... something was found.

The criminal Germans were driving with their lights on.

In broad daylight.

My oh my.

And for this "offense," they wanted cash in their pocket.

24000 Riel.

Equivalent to 6 euros.

Well.

Bye bye, money. 💸

But what's much more interesting:

It's forbidden to have the lights on during the day.

But it's legal to drive at night WITHOUT them!!

Really.

Well. Different countries, different customs! (as the Japanese would say) 😑

--------------------------------------

And today, folks.

Today. The day of days, no question.

(I'm quite a little rhymer)

Okie dokie. The day was uneventful in itself. The mood was good though.

We read that there is a huge horde of monkeys somewhere in Sihanoukville.

Actually, not just somewhere.

We knew roughly where it was.

So off we went there.

Jule shouldn't leave Asia with a fear of monkeys.

The encounter on Lanta was still on her mind :D

1 negative experience erased by a positive one.

That was the plan. 😏

So, we drove quite a distance on a country road.

And yep. There they were.

3,...5,...9...15 monkeys and more.

On the road.

On the fence.

On a car.

Everywhere.

Small, big, medium, mini.

Everything is there.

And since you shouldn't get too close to wild monkeys and definitely not feed them, we naturally threw our previously bought peanuts across the road....... from a proper distance. 😏

Yep. All the monkeys came towards us. With a roar.

Okie dokie. Without it.

But there really were a lot of them.

And more kept coming.

They were all over the road.

Many came up to us.

Some were already under us.

And others just stayed right in the middle of the road, blocking the traffic.

Some people honked.

Some almost ran over the monkeys.

Some stopped and pulled out their cameras, just like us. 📷

And Jule.

Well.

Jule overcame her 'fear' and was quite taken with her new buddies....

.....At least......

...until she only wanted to offer the "boss monkey" a few crumbs.

Every monkey got a nut or a cookie and this one was actually supposed to be satisfied with CRUMBS.

He briefly showed his teeth.

And wanted to help himself to her backpack and make sure there was nothing left inside... So, Jule just reached in and when she tried to pull the backpack towards her, he made another brief threat gesture. 😂

If she hadn't held onto it,

...I swear... That monkey would have been gone in no time with the bag...

Yep. I always laugh at the wrong moments (by the way, while writing this too) and fuss - I know how you're looking right now 💙, but man... Jule's facial expression was sooo funny

And the whole situation... 😁

You can't imagine how quickly Jule was by the scooter saying, 'let's drive now, Vivien!' 😂

Afterthought:

The big monkey wasn't angry because he didn't get anything except crumbs.

But because everything he had previously eaten was gone.

Used up.

Eaten up.

Jule just corrected me.

But of course, it doesn't make it any less funny for me.

🙈🙉🙊

________________________________

That's about it.

You're up to date.

Bye. :)

Oh, before I forget.

Isa, just for you :

☀