Shianokville is Cambodia’s main beach resort so we headed down there next for some sea, sun and sand. The long beaches filled up at night with chairs, tables, BBQs and touts from the bars and restaurants that lined it. Because the rainy season had started the resort was fairly quiet but the sensation of swimming in the warm ocean to escape the cold rain was certainly interesting! While enjoying some cold beers at one of the more lively bars we were approached by an America called Dana who came to tell us about his boat that he co-owned and proudly built with a Bavarian guy. He offered an all day cruise where we would have breakfast and lunch on board, along with stops at the nearby islands for swimming, snorkelling, fishing and kayaking. We considered briefly and then Chris with his finely honed bartering skills managed to knock some money off his price and get us vouchers for a few free mojitos. We were sold.
We got up early next morning and jumped in a tuk tuk to the docks to see the ship. It was wonderful. It was very clean and new and consisted of three main decks; the lowest held the galley along with comfy sofas and chairs around a few coffee tables, the mid level housed a very well stocked semicircular bar with stools, soundsystem and more chairs. The top level was a spacious sun deck 7m above the waterline. The main material was wood, all painted in a rich mahogany colour with blue and red metal details.
As we arrived at the pier we were greeted by our cordial Bavarian host Robert and went straight to grab ourselves a cup of coffee to be met by the ship’s dog – a lovely Rottweiler even friendlier than her owner!
We set sail, unfortunately the weather wasn’t brilliant but with the covers down to keep out the rain there was a lovely atmosphere on the boat as we left the port. After cruising for about 3 hours, enjoying the unlimited coffee and cakes, we escaped the clouds and anchored off an island. Without delay our hosts stripped off and dived from the railings of the top deck down into the sea. Chris, Rob and Brian quickly followed suit and before long we were all in the water. We snorkelled for half an hour, entertained by the colourful stripy fish playing in the coral, while all the time watching out for the many spiny sea urchins! It was only my second snorkelling experience and it was equally as enchanting as the first - again, as in Thailand the water was wonderfully warm and clear.
For lunch we were treated to a wonderful Asian buffet prepared by Robert’s wife and the crew, with everything from noodles and rice to garlic bread! Once we had all eaten we set sail again, until we anchored an hour later just a small swim from a beach. I decided I would stay on the boat and have a go at fishing, but my luck must have stayed behind on the shore - it was not to be my day, I spent over an hour being outwitted by the fish who seemed very good at getting the bait off the hook without me being able to land one. I was feeding the fish rather than the fish feeding me! I drowned my frustrations with my free mojito - it’s a hard life!
We then set sail for the long trip back to Shinokville harbour – this is where the fun really began. Robert poured tequila for all and the many passengers on the boat united in a shot, with the traditional salt and lemon. He then asked if any one wished to join him for a dice game of Mexico - with the loser of each game round having to buy a liquid round for all the players. We stepped up to the bar, along with Chris, Brian and a guy from the Cook Islands – aptly calling himself Cookie (it turned out this was his 3rd time on the trip, and he had got this one for free!). After every game a new drink appeared, each more potent than the last - by the time we were approaching the harbour we each had a long island ice tea on the bar in front of us! Robert was in great spirits, and the more we drank the louder his renditions of Frank Sinatra became! When we arrived home there was a mixture of sadness and relief to get off the boat, but with Robert slightly the worse for wear, we got a generous discount for a return trip and decided to come back and do it all again on the very next sailing!! That evening we went for dinner with Cookie and enjoyed an excellent table BBQ and buffet, which helped to soak up the many drinks from the trip!!
Apart from missing our Mexico expert Brian who had to make a start on his diving course, our next cruise on the Sun was even better. No rain this time, and early excitement on the way to our first stop as one of the fishing lines that Dana was trawling from the back of the boat went crazy… After 10 minutes of fighting Robert managed to land an impressive meter long Barracuda! The catch was immediately gutted by Robert, who made the process look very easy, slickly filleting the fish at the back of the boat as it bobbed around. It made up part of lunchtime buffet as small battered fish fingers and tasted delicious!
I decided the Barracuda was an omen of a better fishing day, and indeed it was – using some lucky squid as bait I landed 4 fish myself, some more ugly than others, it was lots of fun and very satisfying. While I was doing this Rob and Chris had swum to the island and were trying to play what looked from the boat like a very unsuccessful game of 1-a-side volleyball. They were soon back on the boat laughing at my puny catches and ordering themselves a beer.
Time for Mexico again and this time we were joined at the bar by Jens from Denmark – who did not necessarily realise that we were by now seasoned Mexicans so he had to stand for more than his fair share of the rounds – thanks Jens! The game was great fun, with most players on a combination of beer and more exotic cocktails, and Robert’s wife playing on behalf of the ship who also stood for a fair few drinks! When we got back to the pier, all the other guests disembarked as we stayed at the bar drinking our many winnings and chatting with Jens and Katrine – it was then that we noticed that everyone else had got off the boat and we were sailing again! Robert poured us another beer and explained that we were going to the docks where the boat was moored overnight. He then offered to take us to a local restaurant and show off some of his favourite parts of the local cuisine – we gladly agreed and followed on. Dinner was lovely, many shared plates of different foods that everyone dug into and demolished. Some more easily identifiable than others! My favourite was a Cambodian speciality of raw shrimps in lemon juice. Drinks were Cambodian style too – Robert ordered several bottles of whiskey for the table which we all shared with our own choices of mixer! After a long evening chatting to an interesting mix of people who seemingly had appeared from nowhere (for example one guy was in Cambodia studying snake venom!) we staggered towards a Tuk Tuk and off home.
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