Sihanoukville Cambodia

[TotallyOz]

I am thinking of a trip to Sihanoukville after the New Year. Are there any hotels there that have really good high speed Internet? What are the best places to stay there? Any other recommendations?

[Guest HeyGay]

GT said :- As far as being coddled, you are full of shit! Plain and simple. Full of shit. Can I say it more bluntly. You are completely full of shit? The only person I have ever coddled on this board is LMTU end quote

 

 

As I keep getting messages you have been coddling me, when I was out to dinner with you the other day, I must say, I did feel a bit wet a sticky, I imagined it was the thought of the wonderful meal that was about to appear, now I realize I have been coddled

 

Ok here is the Info you need to know, John the english owner, has just opened, your love it all brand new, he has not even had time to put in the updated photoes yet.

 

Even if you dont want to stay, they can tell you whats going on in the area.

 

http://www.cheers-ca...page.php?page=3

[Guest]

Thanks for the link to the gay B and B. I can't find the info on their site. Do they have wifi Internet?

[KhorTose]

I am thinking of a trip to Sihanoukville after the New Year. Are there any hotels there that have really good high speed Internet? What are the best places to stay there? Any other recommendations?

 

Only that there is one place that is gay friendly to stay at. Brand new with gay owners, but I do not remember the details and I can not do a google search at the moment. Nor can I remember who told me about it. If you do go I would like a detailed report if you have time. Oh he said easy to meet gay Cambodians there.

 

Just read LMTU's message and he found it. That is the place.

[Guest HeyGay]

Only that there is one place that is gay friendly to stay at. Brand new with gay owners, but I do not remember the details and I can not do a google search at the moment. Nor can I remember who told me about it. If you do go I would like a detailed report if you have time. Oh he said easy to meet gay Cambodians there.

 

 

 

Strange post I wrote at mid-day the link to a very nice hotel there and now you say you know there is one there, dont you read posts here?

 

As your see below Les the owner and john, will be happy to answer any questions, you have about the local area, that is of course very basic at the moment, more like Partaya in the 1970s when I first came here, when Sunee Plaza and jomtien Beach, was a paddy field. But the local people do love to get to know you and your find some very handsome young guys there but very poor and naive, the Islands not to far away are wonderful, if you want to venture that far, you can hire a Boat there, for next to nothing. just look on it as an adventure into the past, not many places as NATURAL AS THIS LEFT.

Contact-Cheers" <contact@cheers-cambodia.com>

 

 

 

may be this will help you :-

 

All of our rooms are Deluxe; there is nothing standard about Cheers. All rooms are en suite fully tiled bathrooms 4-6 metre square with Panasonic hot showers, furnished to the highest standards with furniture from Malaysia, the latest LG LCD flat screen televisions and Samsung air conditioning, cable TV, hand made curtains, custom made beds, in room fridges and free Wi-Fi in all areas.

 

Below is a summary of our rooms. Please click on any of the "more..." links to learn more about the accommodation.

[Guest beachlover]

The Cheers Cambodia Guesthouse posted some information about their place on the Sawatdee Gay Thailand forum here: http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/forum/any-other-country-f15/new-place-sihanoukville-beach-resort-cambodia-t20321.html

 

On the Accommodation page - http://www.cheers-cambodia.com/includes/rooms.php - it says there is "FREE WIFI IN ALL AREAS".

 

GT, let us know if you find any other good hotels there. I didn't make it there when I was in Phnom Penh and am thinking of going back to visit Sihanoukville.

[macaroni21]

Feature story from the Sydney Morning Herald

 

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/coast-on-the-cusp-20110304-1bgok.html

 

Coast on the cusp

March 5, 2011

 

Leisa Tyler explores the long stretch of beaches and islands south of Sihanoukville - unspoilt and ripe for development.

 

When Sydney couple Rory and Melita Hunter discovered Cambodia's tropical coastline, it was love at first sight.

 

Living in Phnom Penh at the time, they hired an old wooden boat from the port town of Sihanoukville for a fortnight to explore the nation's little-known islands.

 

They fished from the deck, lounged on deserted beaches and slept under the stars. ''We just absolutely fell in love,'' Melita says, over a bottle of wine on the deck of their Robinson Crusoe-style house on Koh Ouen, one of two islands known together as Song Saa, or the Sweetheart Islands, which the Hunters now own.

Advertisement: Story continues below

 

It is January 2008 and we have just returned from an afternoon of swimming at neighbouring Koh Rong's six-kilometre Techo Beach, a stretch of white sand renowned for its length and seclusion. The sun is setting over the estuary before us, and behind wafts the smoke from char-grilled lobster and prawns bought from a local fisherman.

 

The process of securing the rights to lease the Sweetheart Islands was fraught with complications and included an agreement that the Hunters would develop the islands for tourism. But the future looked exciting - investors were interested and plans were being drawn for a $40 million Per Aquum resort by hotel architect Bill Bensley.

 

Cambodia's 443-kilometre coast, peppered with quaint villages flanking perfect white-sand coves, is a reminder of how south-east Asian beaches used to be before mass tourism. In Cambodia's halcyon days in the 1960s, this coastline was the place to be seen, attracting glamour cats such as Jacqueline Kennedy and Catherine Deneuve, who holidayed here. Then came the Khmer Rouge, the brutal militia that had a particular dislike for the languid coastal towns and their voluptuary lifestyles, and all but razed them. The inhabitants fled - villagers to hidden coves on neighbouring islands, the bourgeois to safe countries abroad - and the jungle reclaimed the towns.

 

But by the summer of 2008, Cambodia's south coast had been rediscovered. The country's property market was booming and the coastline was being touted as ''The last undiscovered paradise! The next Asian Riviera!'' Companies from Malaysia, China, Russia and France were competing for leaseholds on the nation's 60-plus islands and carving off tracts of beachfront on the mainland. Hundreds of residents were evicted and plans for everything from racecourses and billion-dollar casinos to multiple-resort complexes were declared.

 

''We want to build a tourism corridor from Thailand right through to Vietnam,'' tourism minister Dr Thong Khon told me in 2008.

 

Then came the global financial crisis, promptly bringing the majority of projects - and rumours - to a halt.

 

To continue reading, go to:

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/coast-on-the-cusp-20110304-1bgok.html

[pong]

and you believe (still?) anything in a newspaper?

-and you are not aware that this artcile-recent news, was from 2008? (and-it firmly reminded me of nearly the same scripts from various other newspapers/mags from even older years)

-and you are not aware that travel-reports are the most notorious for being ''bought''-directly or by pampering a journalist/or a group of (BTW-the TAT here is also quite good at that-must nicely fit in the fame of the everlasting corruption and how to play that game here in LOS)

-no not grumbling-I just try to point at the other side of things-some people may make a balanced opinion. For a generally objective and mildly positive description, read any recent guidebook-like Lonelyplanet and the like. Most other Qs you may have are also answered by that. The main drawback to the o-so spoilt gays (not able to sit more as 30 mins in a thing called bus), is that there are no air-services. Nearest airport is PnPn-some 4 hrs away by bus (the road is good). They even seem to renovate the crumbling decrepit railway (Sih is also Camb's main port) and there may even be a new passenger service in a year or 2-3-4. TRAT airport in Thailand is even shorter by, but as you need to cross border, connections are worse.

[Guest]

I am thinking of a trip to Sihanoukville after the New Year.

 

Did this happen?

 

Obviously Siem Reap & Phnom Penh are the most popular Cambodian destinations, but it would be interesting to know if anyone has ventured further afield this year.

[Guest]

Visiting Sihanoukville

 

I finally made it to Sihanoukville, several years after originally planned.

The town has at least 5 beaches. Ochetual seems to be the most popular, or at least the lower end of it is, with a string of thatched huts providing seating & refreshment to tourists. The far end of it can be very quiet. The other beaches are quieter & victory beach probably had no more than about 20 people on the whole beach when I visited, with perhaps a few more eating in the huts just off the beach.

 

I stayed at the Cheers Hotel, which charges $39 a night upwards for rooms. This has almost everything most people would need. Spacious rooms, clean comfortable beds, nice bathroom, wifi & a quiet backup generator for the frequent power cuts that affect this town.

Unfortunately there is no room safe, but the cupboards have locks, which can provide some low level peace of mind.

The gay bar is run by the hotel & is located at the rear of the building. The bar staff are quite cute and also they put on some rather good dance shows around 9:00 pm every night. A few local freelancers visit the bar & one or two may join the dance show.

 

There are several local Islands & it is possible to either join a boat trip for around $15~25, or better still hire your own boat for around $50~60. That way you can time things to be the only person on some of the Island beaches.

 

Cheers Hotel Link

 

Getting There

I believe the direct buses from Phnom Penh are about 5 hours, but I took the opportunity to go from Phnom Penh via Kep and Kampot.

This month, flights from Siem Reap have started, so there is an obvious opportunity to visit Angkor Wat & then travel south to relax on some almost deserted beaches.

 

Leaving

I was quoted about 10 hours for the bus trip to Pattaya & as flying from Phnom Penh would be no quicker, I decided to travel by bus ($25)

Depart8:15

12:20 Stop at bus companies cafe 2 miles short of border

12:50 leave for border

13:20 Crossed border, in Thailand.

At this point, we were exposed to the total shambles of the Thai Minibus operators, with no clear indication of which buses go where. Worse still, it was something like 2 hours later by the time the minibus actually left for Pattaya, arriving at 8:20 pm. A regular on the trip advised me that if there are insufficient paying customers, they take them to Trat bus station and put them on the service bus, which can arrive at around 9:30 pm.

 

If you have to do this bus trip, I suggest:

1 Buy ticket to the border town only (~$7)

2 As soon as the bus stops at the restaurant, jump on a moto or tuk tuk to the border (maybe $2~3)

3 Cross border ahead of other bus passengers.

4 Try to buy yourself a ticket on the fastest mini bus to Trat.

Apparently there is a "quick" bus leaving Trat for Pattaya at 3:00 pm, so it may just be possible to catch that, if you move swiftly. That is what I would aim to do.

 

Finally, if travelling to/from Bangkok, unless you have a VERY limited budget, I would suggest the bus to Phnom Penh and flying to Bangkok.

[Guest]

A photo of the swimming pool at Cheers hotel in Sihanoukville.

Won't win any photography awards, but does show the rather nice pool.

Yes I do recommend this hotel.

 

The most popular beach in Sihanoukville. I must confess this photo is taken facing North, away from the busy area.

 

A nearby island.

[Guest fountainhall]

Nice photos, z909. Lovely clear water. I see you have airbrushed out all the boys and replaced them with cows. No doubt to avoid further nonsense about copyright. But don't you think the cows might object to their faces being recognisable on this site?

[Guest thaiworthy]

Meet Bessie, Betsy and Elsie. All have graciously given their consent to be photographed and their owners vouchsafed that their ages are at least 18. (In cow years, that is.) Hard to tell actually from this distance, so it's a moo-t point.

[KhorTose]

so it's a moo-t point.

 

Eeeuuuu Thats really low ing

[Guest]

Well, Cambodians are quite conservative and tend to go swimming fully clothed, as can be seen by the following photo. Note: Photo does not conclusively identify anyone and is neither on, nor walking past a gay beach. So no risk of a damaging association with p.l.u. B) .

 

Thankfully, Cambodian fishermen do dress to impress, as can be seen by this one in Kep:

Apologies if this photo is a repeat.

[Guest fountainhall]

Beach life in Cambodia is getting more and more tempting!

[Rogie]

Can anyone tell me how to upload photos to the site? The procedure seems to be different since I last did this. Thanks in advance.

[Guest thaiworthy]

Can anyone tell me how to upload photos to the site? The procedure seems to be different since I last did this. Thanks in advance.

 

Rogie, I usually just click on the "More Reply Options" and then use the attach files function at the bottom.

 

However, none of this will work if you are not at least uploading an aesthetically sexy picture like Z has. The software is "content-aware."

 

I'm not sure this has ever changed. Good luck!

[Guest]

Another method of adding photos is to upload them to a site like photo bucket, then insert the IMG reference for that photo in your post.

 

Here's an example. I have deleted the opening and closing square brackets just so it doesn't go looking for the file. Don't bother clicking on the link..

 

IMG]http://i386.photobuc...******/kep1.jpg[/img

 

Obviously it's usually a good idea to downsize the photos to less than 1Mb, but if there are guys in nice swimwear, please keep the picture quality.....

 

Also, take care to select your preferred privacy settings on your photobucket account. The default is usually to make your album searchable by anyone.

[Rogie]

Much obliged to Thaiworthy and z909 for your kind advice. I decided to do as Thaiworthy suggested as I admit I hadn't noticed the 'More reply options' box. Once you click on that it is identical to how it was before the system upgrade, so I had no further problems. I've used a photo uploading site before, along the lines z909 suggests, so I may also try that method in future.

 

Top: z909 photo taken recently

Bottom: Taken by Rogie 2005 minus herd of cows

Conclusion: We may as well wait until the cows come home before we see Ocean 1 tower (a latter day 2001 monolith?) rearing its cocksure head on Sihanoukville beach. B)

 

The most popular beach in Sihanoukville. I must confess this photo is taken facing North, away from the busy area.

 

 

[Rogie]

Top: photo by z909 taken recently

Bottom: taken by Rogie 2005

I thought at first they were taken from a similar vantage point with z's further along the beach but then I realise z's is taken on an island - maybe that explains the beautiful clear water in his photo, or maybe mine would look nearly as good if I had a decent camera!

 

A nearby island.

[Guest]

Note my previous "North away from the busy area" statement should actually read "Facing South East, away from the busy area.

The following picture is facing North West along Ochheuteal. I believe this is in the same direction as Rogies.

Sunlight has a big effect on the colour of the water in these photos, although my current camera also takes better pictures than it's predecessor.

Rogies pic:

 

Mine:

[Rogie]

I stayed at the Jasmine Hotel in December 2005. It had been recommended to me as 'gay-friendly' by the proprietor of the Manor House guest house in Phnom Penh. It is, or was, the last hotel you come to along Ochheuteal beach. Cheers hotel where z909 stayed only opened in 2010 (see earlier posts) - as far as I am aware there was no specifically gay hotel in Sihanoukville until then.

[Rogie]

Here is another hotel you pass on the way to the Jasmine Hotel (see previous post). By zooming in I see it is called the Crystal Hotel. The only reason I took this photo was because of its rather exuberant architecture! I didn't venture inside.

[Rogie]

In common with many beaches around south-east Asia there are a plentiful supply of men and women walking up and down the beach selling things. This young man caught my eye owing to a delicious tray of fruit he was selling. When walking he held the tray above his head, but the photo shows him cutting up some fruit for me. The camera exposure isn't quite right, his skin is not that dark, and his complexion is flawless with lovely smooth coffee-coloured skin.