Serendipity

Day 72: Kampot (K) – Sihanoukville (K). “Serendipity: Noun. When interesting or valuable discoveries are made by accident”, I recited from the dictionary. Karen, smiled and nodded her agreement as we sunk our toes in to the warm white sands and gazed out over the deep blue seas of the Gulf of Thailand.

A few weeks ago, visiting Nha Trang, Vietnam's premier coastal resort we had felt out of place against the back drop of five star hotels and cultural abstinence. Now, having reached the coast again, we were in a different county on the opposing side of the peninsular of Indochina and our experience was as different as Blackpool is to Blakeney Point.

For Karen and me, Serendipity Beach was much closer to what we wanted from a beach experience: Paradise in its rawest state. Beautiful beaches, warm crystal waters, but without the trappings of tourism. For on this beach, there were no high rises on the landward horizon; just palm trees. No gourmet restaurants serving international cuisine; just shacks selling local produce. No 'beautiful people'; just travellers and locals. No private beaches and protectionism; just freedom for the locals, trying like everybody else, to make an honest living.

With little in the way of accommodation here, we found a simple 'no frills' bungalow on the waters edge for about £7 each a night. Options for food and drink however were more varied, with two dozen or so bamboo huts scattered along the 2 miles of beach offering competitive deals on local beer and fresh seafood. 'Happy Hour 4pm – 9pm', one bar advertised on a hand written sign. '5pm – 11pm', promoted another. 'Happy Hour – all day, every day' said a third. “Happy hour?”, I thought.

With the sun setting behind the horizon, we made our choice of eatery and sat down at a makeshift table with the water lapping against our bare feet. Choosing half a dozen of the largest prawns from a plastic bucket the owner made a fire from some wood cut from an overhanging tree. With the light fading fast we could just make out the sea in which our supper had come from, the boats in which it had been caught and the fire on which it was being cooked. How fresh is that?. And as we tucked in heartily to the bounty of the ocean, Mother Nature decided to put on a display of her power with three or four independent storms lighting up the night sky for miles around. Dinner and a Show – now that's entertainment!

In 10 years time, I'm sure this place will go the same way as places like Nha Trang, and depending on your point of view, that will either be a good thing or a bad thing for towns like Sihanoukville and Cambodia as a whole. But one thing is for sure – if simplistic rawness is your thing then you need to get to see this place now. With two or three bulldozers already parked up at the entrance to town – soon it will be too late.