Quote:
Originally Posted by sofocused978
I was watching some youtube vids on Cambodia yesterday and came across a guy(american) who makes vids geared towards the retirement community but he has some very informative vids on both Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville that he just made in the past few weeks. They are both like 2 hours each and he talk throughout both walking around and showing stuff like supermarkets, talking to khmers, and giving lots of good advice on the areas/what expats need to know.
Phnom Penh looks like it would be a great place to set up shop. Lots of western food, friendly women/locals, tons of housing options for cheap($200/month), decent infrastructure. Sihanoukville on the other hand looked very dirty and disgusting. His major complaint was shoddy internet/power all over Snooky, businesses that never shut off their music, and expensive food. He was showing the side of Occethual(sp) beach where the locals go and it was just garbage EVERYWHERE. He seemed to like that area much more than the Serendipity beach area. He constantly complained about being harassed to buy **** and the music. He was staying at some cool Bungalows called the Aquarium for $10 a night and was constantly awoken to techno music coming from some bar out on a pier everyday at 8AM. Only thing he seemed to like in Snooky was the $3 bbq and Otres beach.
His youtube channel is retirecheapjc and his vids are def worth the watch if you are considering a move. Watching them def shifted my focus from Snooky to Phnom Pehn.
watched sihanouk video 1 and 2, started part 3 but wow they are so boring im not gonna make it, interested to see phnom penh but not sure i will
if you dont wanna hear loud music dont stay near a bar that plays music all the time maybe? im right on that road and can see that pier if i go out my hotel, ive never heard music from the pier though its from a bar to the left (where im about to go) called dolphin shack and also from another called JJ's, it goes till 4am, ive never heard music at 8am and if i did i wouldnt stay here, and there is a whole section of the city not on the beach that has places to live also
i go to bed at 4 am, so the music isnt that big of a deal, its a tad annoying because i can tell what songs are playing and its the same ones on rotation, if you like the chronic 2001 cd you will love it out here, or that one jayz/kanye song with the whats drugs my deala line, or that we fell in love in a hopeless place crap, or one other that i dont know the name
if you consider $3 expensive food then im not sure where u need to go live, and across the street from my place i regularly get meals for 2.25 that are pretty good, and even splurge on the $5.50 place next door because the food is good, and pizza for 1.50 right up the street
im as cheap as anybody and dont mind paying that, granted its a bit expensive compared to how much everything else costs around here which doesnt make a whole lot of sense, but come on $3 for a meal.....
theres garbage on the ground in a 3rd world country, shocker
overall i think its cleaner here than PI, but the locals peeing in the sand on the beach is a bit gross
ya there are people trying to sell you stuff, again its a 3rd world country, just say no thanks and keep walking
i found it funny that he went into that one place that was SIX HUNDRED a month and then said it was good value if you were gonna stay long term, right before he talks about the $100 a month places.... the six hundred place was kind of nice, but one place i saw for $150 a month was nicer, but wabby lives in a really nice big house that is 3 stories and has tons of room and it costs him $500 a month, $600 for that place was awful value
where are you from sofocused? do you have experience in 3rd world countries? cuz if you dont sihanoukville would be a much easier place to transition to especially if you are staying by the beach
PP is intimidating as can be, i went there after a week in PI and thought i could handle anything and ended up going back to my hotel room and staying in after a short walk, things here in sihanouk are far more laid back and easy going
o ya and as far as internet goes im not sure why he had so many problems, as ive said many times im very impressed with the internet here, only 1 kinda bad connection but could still get around the web, and with the metfone as backup grinding isnt really an issue