Sihanoukville Sunset

 

I have stranded myself on the once tranquil beaches of Sihanoukville, Cambodia, but after three years the changes have been so dramatic, I can't help myself but apreciate Alex Garland's "The Beach" even more as before... No matter what in these days of widespread travelling and thanks to not only guidebooks but more and more often the internet and its users all the little patches of paradise on this planet rapidly turn into hubs of paradise seekers and with them comes the opportunism of investors looking for fast cash return and cut-throat profits... I am not blaming merely other people in general, I am part of this system I realize, and because of the changes in Sihanoukville I just became more aware of the impact we are having on our world... Some changes are for the better, and you can't ignore that local people benefit from tourism and all that, but unfortunately it's mostly the rich who make the big money. What else is new... By doing my laundry at a local place that returns it maybe not as clean as the in house laundry from luxury hotels I sincerely hope I am helping the local small investors a little bit... And after witnessing how the girls selling fruit on the beach have changed from teenagers with fruitbaskets on their heads into freelancing "travel-companions" wearing fake Dolce Gabbana sunglasses I find it almost impossible to look at the new kids selling fruit and smile innocently at their efforts to sell their ware...