The night bus from Siem Reap was horrendous. The driver and the crew seemed to be having a party. The bus stopped every hour and I had to share my bed with the guitar and my small pack, which didn't leave me much room. Finally, at 6am I had made it to the bus station, where I hopped on a motorbike. I was at Utopia within 10 minutes. The reception was not open yett, so i snooped around: a pool, food court, bar and $2 dorms. Seemed like my kind of place.
By 7am I got a dorm bed and a locker and soon enough I was on the way to the beach. Had breakfast
overlooking the ocean. Spent the day in the sun, reading and getting mildly harassed by the vendors. Good recovery form the exhausting bus ride. I did learn a lesson though: when a lady asks "If you buy, you buy from me?" you must always say no... I made the mistake of saying maybe later, and ended up getting it from some other lady which got me into HUGE trouble, as the fist lady got very angry and swore at me in Cambodian...ooops. Back at the hostel, I was talking to a guy who turned out to be the owner and offered me a job there: free room, free food, free alcohol and some money, all to work at the bar until midnight. Very persuasive but no way haha. Later that night I met 2 girls from Chile and we went out for dinner together. I had roasted eggplant filled with rice and topped with mozzarella...yum! we decided to go down to the beach to get our free drinks. Serendipity beach is as many travellers call it, a small sized Cancun. The beach is lined with restaurants and bars with colorful neon signs. There were lots of travellers I had met along the way and many other familiar faces. By 11:30pm it was packed and in the midst of the chaos and loud music I looked up and right in front of me were Bonnie and Henri! Needless to say, we ha a wonderful night, ending with the sunrise at the beach.
Next day same sort of deal. Beach during the day, massage, made friends with pretty much all the children on the beach. It must have been quite the sight; white girl surrounded by about 6 Cambodian kids. We played games and they tried to convince me to buy bracelets...one girl made me a free one and when I said no thanks, her response was "relax baby, is good luck" with a Jamaican accent. At night, I went out with the Chilean girls and 2 Dutch guys. We had free drinks at the beach, JJ's and then at Dolphin as it seemed to be the routine. At around 1am a group of us decided to go swimming. The water was just the right temperature, refreshing but warm. Back to the dance floor, then hot-dogs, and back to the hostel by 4am.
The next day I went to get my Vietnam visa, which turned to be a very simple task; drop passport off in the morning and get it back in the afternoon. I decided to go to a different beach for the day, something away
from the tourists and vendors. With my guitar in hand I took a moto to Otress beach. I got off at a restaurant/hostel in the middle of nowhere. As I was eating my fried rice, I saw a big dog in my peripheral vision.. it turned out to be a cow trying to steal my food! how is that even possible!? In less than 5 minutes, the restaurant was surrounded by them. I finished eating and walked along the beach. There was a 4km stretch with absolutely nothing and no one in it (despite the odd cow here and there). I picked a spot by a tree, and finally understood why people yern to have a beach to themselves. In the evening, I went to pick up my passport and then decided to go for a run. As I was finishing up, I ran into Tan, Dan, Bastiaan and Eveline. I went back to the hostel, showered, and we had dinner together. A nice way to end my stay at Serendipity.
The night bus from Siem Reap was horrendous. The driver and the crew seemed to be having a party. The bus stopped every hour and I had to share my bed with the guitar and my small pack, which didn't leave me much room. Finally, at 6am I had made it to the bus station, where I hopped on a motorbike. I was at Utopia within 10 minutes. The reception was not open yett, so i snooped around: a pool, food court, bar and $2 dorms. Seemed like my kind of place.
By 7am I got a dorm bed and a locker and soon enough I was on the way to the beach. Had breakfast overlooking the ocean. Spent the day in the sun, reading and getting mildly harassed by the vendors. Good recovery form the exhausting bus ride. I did learn a lesson though: when a lady asks "If you buy, you buy from me?" you must always say no... I made the mistake of saying maybe later, and ended up getting it from some other lady which got me into HUGE trouble, as the fist lady got very angry and swore at me in Cambodian...ooops. Back at the hostel, I was talking to a guy who turned out to be the owner and offered me a job there: free room, free food, free alcohol and some money, all to work at the bar until midnight. Very persuasive but no way haha. Later that night I met 2 girls from Chile and we went out for dinner together. I had roasted eggplant filled with rice and topped with mozzarella...yum! we decided to go down to the beach to get our free drinks. Serendipity beach is as many travellers call it, a small sized Cancun. The beach is lined with restaurants and bars with colorful neon signs. There were lots of travellers I had met along the way and many other familiar faces. By 11:30pm it was packed and in the midst of the chaos and loud music I looked up and right in front of me were Bonnie and Henri! Needless to say, we ha a wonderful night, ending with the sunrise at the beach.
Next day same sort of deal. Beach during the day, massage, made friends with pretty much all the children on the beach. It must have been quite the sight; white girl surrounded by about 6 Cambodian kids. We played games and they tried to convince me to buy bracelets...one girl made me a free one and when I said no thanks, her response was "relax baby, is good luck" with a Jamaican accent. At night, I went out with the Chilean girls and 2 Dutch guys. We had free drinks at the beach, JJ's and then at Dolphin as it seemed to be the routine. At around 1am a group of us decided to go swimming. The water was just the right temperature, refreshing but warm. Back to the dance floor, then hot-dogs, and back to the hostel by 4am.
The next day I went to get my Vietnam visa, which turned to be a very simple task; drop passport off in the morning and get it back in the afternoon. I decided to go to a different beach for the day, something away from the tourists and vendors. With my guitar in hand I took a moto to Otress beach. I got off at a restaurant/hostel in the middle of nowhere. As I was eating my fried rice, I saw a big dog in my peripheral vision.. it turned out to be a cow trying to steal my food! how is that even possible!? In less than 5 minutes, the restaurant was surrounded by them. I finished eating and walked along the beach. There was a 4km stretch with absolutely nothing and no one in it (despite the odd cow here and there). I picked a spot by a tree, and finally understood why people yern to have a beach to themselves. In the evening, I went to pick up my passport and then decided to go for a run. As I was finishing up, I ran into Tan, Dan, Bastiaan and Eveline. I went back to the hostel, showered, and we had dinner together. A nice way to end my stay at Serendipity.
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