Travelfish #366: When good places go bad: Sihanoukville

Everywhere is on the way to somewhere Hi everyone, This week I’m kicking around on the Cambodian coast. I commenced with a quick and rather unpleasant spell in Sihanoukville (more on that below) and have since moved onto the islands, which are a pretty significant step up on the enjoyment front. I hope the changes that have hit Sihanoukville so hard don’t hit the islands as well—that would be a great shame. In other news, we have added a donate to Travelfish page. If you’d like to make a one-off (or regular) donation, [please see here](. Thank you! [Meet the new Otres 2. Photo: Stuart McDonald] Meet the new Otres 2. Photo: Stuart McDonald If you’re heading to Thailand for the first time, you may enjoy another newsletter we have called “Welcome to Thailand”. It starts with a series of daily emails, each covering an introductory aspect of Thailand. Then it switches to a weekly (Tuesday) instalment, each recommending a destination or attraction in Thailand that you may not have heard of. The newsletter is very much aimed at people new to Thailand, so if that is you, you can sign up here. All subscribers also get a complimentary PDF itinerary for Southern Thailand. [Sign up here](. Good travels, Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish crew Support Travelfish! If you'd like to chip in (if you haven’t already) for using the site, we'd love you to sign up for a year-long subscription for just A$35. [See more here](. First time for everything When good places go bad Sunday morning I left Sihanoukville aboard a ferry for the Cambodian island of Koh Rong. From the boat I took a photo of the built-in-two- years towering skyline and thought, “Good riddance!” [Good riddance. Photo: Stuart McDonald] Good riddance. Photo: Stuart McDonald Sihanoukville will be the first destination that we remove almost entirely from Travelfish. It is just that bad. [Much has been written]( over the last few years about [the boom the town has seen]( off the back of Chinese casino tourism. I’d read the stories and it would be fair to say [I had low expectations]( but it was still staggering to experience firsthand how bad it is. Areas like Occheutual, Serendipity, Otres, Independence, Victory Hill and Sokha are unrecognisable. Generally low-scale development has been replaced by tower after tower and casino after casino. Littering many areas are the ruined shells of backpacker stalwarts. Rubbish, some from construction but much of it not, piles high by the roadsides. Where I stayed, in what was once Otres Village, the smoke from piles of burning rubbish stung my eyes. [Oh the serendipity ... at Serendipity. Photo: Stuart McDonald] Oh the serendipity ... at Serendipity. Photo: Stuart McDonald Many backpacker bars are in ruins. “For rent” and “For sale” signs are everywhere. A business still hanging on had “Move out!” spray-painted on an exterior wall. Many businesses, especially restaurants, carry Chinese-only signage — not even anything in Khmer (just as bad as backpacker haunts in English-only!). I hired a motorbike driver for the day and rode around old haunts. The change was mind blowing. Almost three-quarters of the businesses we listed when we last visited two years ago were gone. Not changed hands, but gone, or in ruins. Where did those jobs go? Locals [are paying severely in social and environmental costs](. The racket from heavy construction is everywhere, just like the dust. Yes, everywhere changes. Places develop over time and [sometimes not in the best way](. In the case of Sihanoukville, it feels like a decade of development has been jammed into two years and there is no end in sight. Active construction sites, many vast in size, mar almost every beach. [Backpacker ruins. Photo: Stuart McDonald] Backpacker ruins. Photo: Stuart McDonald Cambodia’s despot leader Hun Sen recently banned online gambling. Talk is that as a result of this, Chinese tourism to Sihanoukville is falling. Who will stay in these hotels, apartments and shitty casinos blighting the landscape? Not the backpackers who have underpinned Sihanoukville’s tourism scene since the late 1990s. It's popular to say destinations should focus on “high-value” tourism, but high value for whom? I didn’t see much “value” for the locally run guesthouses and restaurants bull-dozed to make way for this. For me, “value” has always meant more than just dollars. There’s the whole other value not enough people talk about: The value in getting to know local people and their ways (and quirks!) of life, and them ours. In a world where it seems we could all do with more understanding of one another, this is worth something. [The scene that greets when getting off the ferry. Photo: Stuart McDonald] The scene that greets when getting off the ferry. Photo: Stuart McDonald I didn’t meet a single Cambodian who had one good thing to say about what has happened to Sihanoukville. It is a disgrace. While I know it had its fans, Sihanoukville in fact has never been close to my heart. But that is just me—different horses for different courses and all that. Before the islands took off, it made for a relaxing and affordable beach break for Cambodians as well as backpackers. Not anymore. What will de-listing it achieve? Not much. In making the decision, I thought of the few remaining businesses. Don’t they deserve our support? They do, and we’ll mention some in a revised and crisp write-up which is coming this week. To be honest though, I don’t know how many will still be there in a year. Our number one priority though is, and always has been, our readers, and our take is: Don’t go. If you’re island bound, you’ll need to pass through. So we'll focus on how to spend as little time in Sihanoukville as possible. [Back to the town, the beach is still ok. Photo: Stuart McDonald] Back to the town, the beach is still ok. Photo: Stuart McDonald Maybe in five years, the construction will be finished, the roads will be fixed and the trash will be taken out. Places can always change and the bad can turn good. Let's wait and see what Sihanoukville is like when the dust settles—if it ever does. If you want to assist an organisation doing work with those most in need in Sihanoukville, [M’lop Tapang]( is a long running organisation based in the town. As they say on their website: “Today we work with over 5,000 children, youth and families in the Sihanoukville area. M’Lop Tapang provides disadvantaged children and families access to the learning tools, specialized services, resources, and opportunities they need to build a better future. We offer regular meals, safe temporary shelter, medical care, education and training, counseling, family support / reintegration and protection from all types of abuse as well as increasing community awareness about issues relative to child safety and child rights.” [You can make a donation to M’Lop Tapang here (we did!)](. Make a donation, however small, email me proof of the donation, and we’ll extend your Travelfish membership for a year. It’s not just us that feel this way. I chatted with Lina who runs the expat guide [Move To Cambodia]( and who once, many moons ago wrote about Sihanoukville and the islands for Travelfish. She is likewise in the process of removing her coverage. Says Lina: “Most expats in Cambodia always considered Sihanoukville a mixed bag and either loved it or hated it. I fell firmly on the side of loving it, despite its seediness. But my last visit earlier in the year changed my mind. I stood on Serendipity Beach Road, covered in bedbug bites, and watched Monkey Republic, a long-time backpacker institution that had recently been sold to Chinese investors, being razed to the ground. It felt like the end of an era. Travelers visiting Sihanoukville now are basing their travel plans on old guides and old advice. But the city is changing at a pace that is impossible for writers to keep up with, and every change makes it less appealing to the sort of visitors who read my site. So in line with Travelfish, the Sihanoukville guide on Move to Cambodia is coming down. I don’t want to present out-of-date information that might convince someone that Sihanoukville is worth visiting. For now, anyway, it’s not.” [Learn more about Move to Cambodia here](. So have you been to Sihanoukville? Way back when or just last week? Email me with your thoughts on the place, be they good or bad, and I’ll publish the best in next week’s newsletter. Good travels Stuart Premium members only: Book a round the world with [roundtheworldflights.com]( (must travel from the UK via Asia, Australia, New Zealand AND the Americas) and get £30pp off your trip. Offer valid for departures to December 2019. Log in to the Member Centre on Travelfish now for your coupon code and [start designing your own round the world trip »]( Ten (well this week, twelve) things worth reading Vietnam’s super sandwich that took on the world “Along with pho, the noodle soup, banh mi is [one of Vietnam’s most famous culinary exports]( – a French-style bread filled with rich meats and zingy, fresh vegetables and herbs.” Thai beef noodle brew has been simmering for 45 years “The result is an aromatic blend of spices, herbs and beef — one that has been drawing repeat business since his grandfather started making the soup at the original shop down by the Chao Phraya river [more than 60 years ago]( A digital echo of the Khmer Rouge haunts phones in Cambodia “While these were the first arrests definitively linked to phone tapping in over a year, Cambodia has a long history of [pressing criminal charges over private phone conversations](. ” When Penang became a Spice Island “Spices were much sought after, not only to tempt Europe’s tongues but also to cure its sick who were suffering from the plague and other nasty diseases. Among these spices, the most expensive were nutmegs and cloves, which back then were [worth more than their weight in gold]( Makers of Oreos, KitKats among brands linked to Indonesia forest fires ““Companies have created a facade of sustainability,” she said. “But the reality is that they source from [the very worst offenders across the board]( Palembang to Bandar Lampung by train – riding the coal-subsidised railway of South Sumatra “The good news is that a section of this future trans-island railway [is now operating]( in South Sumatra between Palembang and Bandar Lampung.” Vung Bau beach: Go now “For now, there are only a handful of small resorts and a couple of new, high-end developments. But most of Vung Bau Beach is still undisturbed. However, this is likely to change very soon, and when it does, there’ll be nothing left of the long, 15km stretch of public beachfront (and the forests that bordered it) between Cua Can village, to the south, and Ganh Dau Cape, to the north. [Go now.]( "Sumba: The world as a reflection of the ancestors “Though small, the island [was anything but homogenous]( – it seemed like every district had a different dialect, and often a different language. ” Troubles on the Mekong “Aggressive infrastructure development on the Mekong [will worsen the effects of climate change](. But China has many such projects in mind. Within its own borders, China has already built at least ten large dams on the main trunk of the river.” Folktales and customs of the Water Festival “Then the rabbit jumped into a fire to kill himself [so the old man could eat him]( Behind the insurgent attack in Southern Thailand “It remains to be seen whether the 5 November attack was an aberration or [sign of renewed insurgent potency]( Indonesia wants ‘Halal Tourism.’ but some want to wrestle pigs “Lake Toba, the world’s largest volcanic lake, is the historic center of Indonesia’s indigenous Batak people, most of whom are Christians, and they make up one of the country’s largest minority groups. But the area has also been designated by the government as [one of the country’s next tourism hot spots]( Something to read Hun Sen’s Cambodia As the title suggests, Sebastian Strangio captures Cambodia’s modern political history through the prism of its long-term leader, Hun Sen. Drawing on a vast array of resources, and writing evocatively, Strangio creates a colourful and multi-layered portrait of Cambodia that [will add to the knowledge of even the most avid kingdom-watcher](. Travel shot [Cheap dorms: Photo Mark Ord.] Cheap dorms: Photo Mark Ord. Till next time [Sam and Stuart.] That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia. Travel light! Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team [( You're receiving the Travelfish newsletter because you signed up at Travelfish.org. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe Instantly](. Make sure you're getting our emails! If you're a Gmail user and would prefer your Travelfish newsletter in your Primary in-box rather than Promotions, just drag this email from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab, and click "yes" when it asks if you want to do that for all of our emails. Better still, [read this newsletter online.]( [Disclosure]( | [Privacy]( | [Unsubscribe]( We want travellers to love Southeast Asia as much as we do. 9 robinson close, hornsby heights, nsw 2077, AUSTRALIA [Unsubscribe]( | [Change Subscriber Options](