We awoke in the morning feeling refreshed. We were promptly informed by the miserable receptionist that we need to get out because they are fully booked for that night. We later discover this is because they booked out all of the rooms for a family do. Their own family do. It was nice of them to tell us this when we checked in! I wasn’t too bothered in any case because the whole lot of them are miserable as sin, and the room wasn’t that great.
So with that, we headed out.
The Otres beach area is basically a stretch of dirt road maybe half a mile in length. It runs next to the sea, with a row of guest houses and bar/restaurants on each side. It’s not built up at all. Quite the opposite: the road doesn’t have any tarmac on it and there are cows and chickens running about all over the place. It’s quaint and rustic but I got the feeling that it wouldn’t be long before it became built up.
About halfway along the “strip” we stopped for breakfast at a bar called Richies on the beach side. A scottish family were running it, so and had quite a few home comforts on the menu. I immediately ordered bangers and mash and devoured it the second it arrived. I quickly warmed to the place. It felt a bit like the cheers bar. Well: Maybe if the cheers bar had been made of bamboo, built on a beach. And you could smoke joints at the bar.
It had a family of multinational bar flies who all got along in the interest of the common good, which I gathered to be getting stoned and going for swims in the sea. In fact this lifestyle I gathered was typical of the Otres beach area. It had a strong community feel with the ex-pats and Cambodian nationals getting along in the sunshine.
Something that had been on my mind was that there were only a few days to go before the Christmas and New Year season kicked in. My vague requirement was that I spend it somewhere sunny by the sea, but was aware that lots of people might want the same thing, and so rooms might all fill up. Otres beach seemed to fit my requirements very nicely, though. Pat seemed to be of the same opinion, and so with that in mind we decided to find somewhere to stay for Christmas, which would then take us up to the end of our Cambodian visas.
After some reconnaissance we found “Lim Hour” bungalows which had rooms free. They said they were ok with us staying there until after new year, although we were warned that prices might increase a little as it gets busier. We’re cool with that so take a room. In order to try and save money we decided to share a twin bungalow.
And thus we had properly settled at Otres, our home for the next month.
So with that, we headed out.
The Otres beach area is basically a stretch of dirt road maybe half a mile in length. It runs next to the sea, with a row of guest houses and bar/restaurants on each side. It’s not built up at all. Quite the opposite: the road doesn’t have any tarmac on it and there are cows and chickens running about all over the place. It’s quaint and rustic but I got the feeling that it wouldn’t be long before it became built up.
About halfway along the “strip” we stopped for breakfast at a bar called Richies on the beach side. A scottish family were running it, so and had quite a few home comforts on the menu. I immediately ordered bangers and mash and devoured it the second it arrived. I quickly warmed to the place. It felt a bit like the cheers bar. Well: Maybe if the cheers bar had been made of bamboo, built on a beach. And you could smoke joints at the bar.
It had a family of multinational bar flies who all got along in the interest of the common good, which I gathered to be getting stoned and going for swims in the sea. In fact this lifestyle I gathered was typical of the Otres beach area. It had a strong community feel with the ex-pats and Cambodian nationals getting along in the sunshine.
Something that had been on my mind was that there were only a few days to go before the Christmas and New Year season kicked in. My vague requirement was that I spend it somewhere sunny by the sea, but was aware that lots of people might want the same thing, and so rooms might all fill up. Otres beach seemed to fit my requirements very nicely, though. Pat seemed to be of the same opinion, and so with that in mind we decided to find somewhere to stay for Christmas, which would then take us up to the end of our Cambodian visas.
After some reconnaissance we found “Lim Hour” bungalows which had rooms free. They said they were ok with us staying there until after new year, although we were warned that prices might increase a little as it gets busier. We’re cool with that so take a room. In order to try and save money we decided to share a twin bungalow.
And thus we had properly settled at Otres, our home for the next month.
No comments:
Post a Comment