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A sleepy, charming
seaside town
 A
sleepy fishing village and almost forgotten container port on Cambodia's
short coastline, Sihanoukville became of enormous interest to the
government in Phnom Penh in the sixties, when the usual trade routes
up the Mekong were suddenly cut because of the Second Indochina
War. With large quantities of American aid to build a fast road
from the capital and develop the local infrastructure, the Cambodian
King founded Sihanoukville in 1964.
The port facilities at Sihanoukville have recently
undergone a US$5 million refit and the area has developed a large
fish canning facility. The Angkor Beer brewery is also based here.
However, the town is also pursuing an entirely different area of
development.
For many years, Sihanoukville's pristine, peaceful,
white sand beaches have been a secret of a few hardy travellers.
Though not in anyway the equal of Thailand's magnificent beaches,
the palm-dotted sands surrounding Sihanoukville are nevertheless
uncrowded and unspoilt by the mass tourism monster - all this is
about to change. With the cessation of hostilities throughout the
country and a desire to encourage tourism, foreign investment is
being channeled towards Sihanoukville, with the intention of making
it a popular destination for gamblers. A US$400-million casino resort
on nearby Naga Island, with its own international airport, is one
of several plans on the cards. Soon the sleepy fishing village will
be nothing more than a very distant memory.
Sihanoukville was avoided by tourists for many years
in the past because of the security situation. 245 km from Phnom
Penh, this small, little-known, resort offers beach holidays to
suit everyone - particularly those who are weary of overcrowded,
overbuilt and over-commercialised Asian resorts. Tourists have started
to return to Sihanoukville now that the situation is secure.
About 1,500 rooms of all standards are currently available
to all tourists who need sea breezes after tiring days spent exploring
the temples of Angkor. Although Cambodia's beaches are not as exotic
as those of the Maldives or Sri Lanka, the water is clean, the people
are friendly, and mass tourism refreshingly absent. Visitors can
enjoy the nearby Kbal Chhay waterfalls, the Bokor Hills and the
Ream National Park with its stretches of coast and mangrove forests.
From Victory Beach, about three or four km away, boats can be hired
to picnic on uninhabited islands where there is excellent snorkeling.
There is a ferry and bus connection to Trat in Thailand, and the
local Express Bus takes around three and a half hours to reach Sihanoukville
from Phnom Penh.
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