After Kampot i moved down to the well known area of Sihanoukville by the coast. The place was created by bull dozing through the jungle to make a new town by the sea by the French. The town grew as a resort for the wealthy French and Cambodian until the Khmyer Rouge shot it to pieces during their reign. It was rebuilt with the birth of backpacking and became full of bars and hostels.
Its a very touristy place but as its the beginning of the rainy season it isn’t packed with people. The beach front is full of timber shack bars which are apparantly are on short term leases as some shady deal has just been struck with the government and property developers to develop the whole beach front.
After a few days in Sihanoukville mixing with the ex pats and watching the last few games of the world cup i thought it was time to move on again.
Being the start of the rainy season the weather was a bit hit and miss, it could absolutely tip it down at a moments notice but might only last half an hour or it could rain all night. There are some nearby islands off the coast but what with the unpredictable weather i hadn’t given it much thought about trying to see them. Just before i was about to leave i checked the weather forecast and it showed a break in the weather, i found a dive place that had a few bungalows on Koh Rong Saloem island. It was about an hour offshore by fast boat there were only a few places to rent accomodation and the dive operator had its own private beach. The bungalows were simple affairs but a lot better than others i had seen, double bed, hammock on the verandah, ocean view, all for 15 dollars a night.
Hi Simon, ouch – that looks sore.
Just done a bit of research for you for future reference – apparently the things to use are firstly, warm salt water and also shaving foam (apparently). The list of things not to do is headed by Don’t Apply Vinegar as it can make the sting put out 50% more venom! In case you were tempted the second thing not to do was apply urine. Also warm non-salty water is bad as well. John Latham (not a qualified doctor)
Well i know now for the future !! Only thing anybody seem to know was to use vinegar !! I think i’m going to pack a small tin of shaving foam as it bloody hurt !!
I just got stung by jellyfish off KRS Saracen Bay as well during hide tide this afternoon. I was stupid, should have swam during low tide instead. Though i must say, the pain isn’t nearly as bad as yours! And I was out at sea last night to catch the luminescent plankton, everybody jumped off the boat (except me) to catch the plankton and two ladies got stung by jellyfish in the dark waters…