Forums

It’s Monday morning, I’m finally feeling better and Nat is supposed to pick me up for our trip to Sihanoukville. I don’t know much about the agenda yet, just that brother #1 has a friend who owns a hotel there that we’re staying at.  He arrives two hours late, very much the worse for wear, being driven by sister’s driver. He had been visiting friends the night before and overdid it.  The drive down is pleasant, nice modern toll road the entire way. Turns out that the friend’s hotel was actually a new resort a couple of miles outside the city, on the bay of lights. The resort consisted of new two bed A-frame cabins, with a/c and an open air bathroom. They were really cute. The resort was called Summer Bay, and is set up with a lot of family entertainment, both on land and in the water. I’m surprised on arrival to see Mommy and Daddy, along with brother #2 and family. I didn’t know the entire clan was coming. For dinner we all pile into cars and head into the actual city, which is just as ghastly as everyone says, and eat at a fancy oceanfront seafood restaurant that is owned by a different friend of brother #1. Brother #2 and his wife enjoy teaching me all the dishes and how to eat them. It’s decided that we’re not going to go to Kampot, as the road is under construction. We head back to the resort following the waterfront, and you can see glimpses of what the town must have looked like before the Chinese, it’s really sad. We head back to PP the next morning, with a detour up a mountain to a resort where we have a long lunch and the kids can swim in the pool for a while. I get dropped off at my new hotel, Palace gate Hotel and residence, not to be confused with Palace gate Hotel and Resort. It’s a very nice colonial style hotel where I get a big room with kitchen overlooking a beautiful temple. The only downside is that those monks get up at 5am and start chanting, fortunately I still have the earplugs that Japan Airlines gave me.  I have one full day and night in PP before I go to Thailand, and I am determined to get to Space Hair before I leave. Around 7pm I head over, knowing that it’s probably going to be empty on a weeknight that early, I am correct. That doesn’t really stop the fun though, as 2 hosts, SamUn and Pov, are on duty and sit down and chat. I try to get info about gay life in PP, but they don’t seem to have much to say about that. Soon a third host, Harry comes on duty and joins us. He is wearing a toga, which is apparently the uniform costume for tonight, and SamUn gets up to change into one also. We spend a pleasant three hours together chatting and drinking, with Harry sitting next to me being very affectionate the whole night. Around the time I get ready to leave another customer comes in and sits down and a fourth host comes on duty and introduces himself to me but as it’s clear I am on my way out he sits with the other customer. I have to agree with everyone who sings the praises of Space Hair, I look forward to coming back.   And so ends the Cambodia part of this trip. I have some random thoughts about it all that I will write about tomorrow. Here’s some pics from Space Hair that I've been given permission to share.      

Day 3 in Siem Reap has the four of us hitting a noodle shop for breakfast. Every shop in Cambodia seems to have a parking attendant, whether they have their own parking lot or not, lol. If you drive up to a place an attendant finds you somewhere to park. Then we hit a couple more temples and then ended up at an outdoor restaurant that surrounded a beautiful pond where each group is assigned a raised thatched roof hut with hammocks and a table in the middle and you just order food and drinks and you can just sit there all day if you want. We just ate and slept the afternoon away while it rained off and on. Really pleasant. The plan at this point is to go back to Phnom Penh the next day, spend 3 days there and then go with brother #1 to see Sihanoukville and Kampot. I will have some city time while Nat spends some time with his daughter. So I’m surprised when Nat announces the next day that we’re going to head up to some mountain town where his stepbrother lives. I put my foot down on this change of plans, I was starting to have stomach issues and I was looking forward to some days to myself. I let Nat know that I'd just take the bus back to Phnom Penh, and he was free to go visit more people. He decides to go back to Phnom Penh. On the way back we stopped at a shed on the side of the road that is semi famous for their beef shank soup. And believe me, when they say shank they mean it. I felt like Fred Flintstone eating this thing. Unfortunately while delicious it didn’t help my brewing stomach problems.  We get to PP and I find I’ve made my first hotel mistake for the trip. One of the nephews had suggested I try out Bassic Lane, which is a trendy group of small streets and alleys filled with bars and restaurants. It’s indeed a fun place to stay but the hotel I picked, the Times Hotel, was not. The only cleaning that seemed to be done to my room was a change of linen, but I was feeling really sick at this point so I decided to just make due. I last 2 of the four days I had paid for and decide to blow the last of my Accor points at the Novotel, and eat the loss. I learn to always check tripadvisor, don’t believe Agoda. The Novotel in BKK1 was heavenly. I spend my days visiting the pharmacy and sleeping, so still no gay nightlife for me.

Handsome guy. His position in the Thai/Cambodia conflict seems als to be clear 😉 

Works almost 100% of the time 👍

While I have posted my comment here already but polysome I can confirm what you mentioned are 99% accurate compared to what I experienced. I do like Yesildirek tho but mainly because of the space. I can breathe there lol. Everthing else is the same as you mentioned