It's a walk that every visitor to the seaside resort is likely to take, so much so that Sihanoukville elicits comments, surprises and reactions.
From the Hotel Indépendance, whose merits, welcome and beauty we have praised, it is possible to walk a few kilometres along the beach. The intention, of course, is to find out what happens ‘beyond’ this beach, where those imposing hotel buildings stand that have caused a lot of ink to flow in recent years, and still do today.
Although many agree that the once bohemian destination is probably on the road to recovery after several turbulent periods. In fact, Cambodians have made it their favourite weekend destination for some time now.
In the early hours of the morning, very few tourists venture onto the seafront. Simple reason: until nine o'clock, the province's cleaning teams are busy clearing the sand of bags, bottles and plastic thrown away by careless visitors. On the hotel beach, they are busy preparing a spotless site and even the foliage is being swept up.
Just off the jetty, as you leave the private beach, there is a cluster of small Cambodian restaurants offering seafood, local dishes and cold drinks, as in the old days.
This is also where a number of jet-ski hire companies rev up their ‘water horses’.
However, jet-ski enthusiasts can spend an hour for $50. As for the food, the quality is uneven, and it's hard to miss the days when independent saleswomen would go around with their grilled langoustines and calamari to be enjoyed on the beach, although there are still a few of them circulating among the restaurants.
Further on, the extremes to which the country has often accustomed us are revealed. There's nothing extraordinary about them, apart from the fact that these almost-finished or unfinished hotels stand in stark contrast to the rest of the landscape. A few Buddhist monks have chosen the early hours of the morning for a walk, during which novices will be allowed to take a morning bath.
Close to an almost impeccable beach stand the large, ambitious facades of a number of palatial hotels, whose construction began during what might be called the ‘Chinese era’. In recent years, the city has experienced a spectacular property and hotel boom, with a massive influx of Chinese nationals attracted by the seaside destination and eager to indulge in the pleasures of the casino.
In January 2020, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced an end to the issuing of licences for gaming establishments, which led to a massive departure of Chinese investors and customers.
This Chinese craze for Sihanoukville had unfortunately also attracted criminals specialising in online extortion, and the local police intervened on numerous occasions to put a stop to these practices.
After the shock caused by the health crisis linked to COVID-19, everyone thought that Sihanoukville would remain nothing more than a vast unfinished site. This was indeed to be feared, but the provincial authorities and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) signed a contract with a Shenzhen consultancy firm which spent 18 to 24 months carrying out a study aimed at ‘cleaning up Sihanoukville's somewhat tarnished past and transforming the town into an industrial city with services, technology and tourism’.
Returning to the street side of l'Indépendance, the contrast is striking: lots of buildings, hotels and wide pavements bustling with provincial service workers and a few ragpickers. Surprisingly, there are also a few hotels open, clearly catering for a business clientele.
Sihanoukville is still in the throes of change, but we are a long way from the uncertainties and chaotic developments associated with the casino era.
The few hoteliers still in business are cautiously optimistic, while property experts say that the destination is promising, arguing that the land has increased in value with the construction work, that the coastline has retained much of its appeal and that the infrastructure has considerably eased traffic and access to the beaches, not to mention the expressway linking the town to Phnom Penh in just two hours.
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