Join me while I go cycling in Sihanoukville:

One of the smartest things I did when I moved to Sihanoukville was bring my mountain bike with me. A beautiful aluminium frame Gary Fisher, the fact that it is rust proof has been greatly appreciated because with our long rainy seasons and crowded house, it rarely gets respite from the weather.

A mountain bike is not a necessity in Sihanoukville, but it is a bonus. We have few hills and those that we do have are not steep, but a mountain bike’s fat tyres allow me to ride on bumpy dirt side streets and sometimes sandy track with relative ease. You can stick with the paved roads, but there’s nothing I like more than literally getting off the beaten track and cycling around the fringes of the city.

I started my ride at ten past four, a perfect time to go cycling in Sihanoukville. At just about that time, a coolish breeze kicks in and the long shadows provide occasional respite from the sun. My ride started, as it usually does, with a short cut through a vacant block of land to a dirt road in our neighbouring village.

The second photo is of my favourite crossroads. A left turn takes me through a long stretch of empty land that is primarily used as cow pasture, with one corner reserved for an improvised volleyball court. If I go straight, after passing the entrance to the huge Pearl City construction project, I reach the beach road and a left turn there takes me to Sokha Resort and on up to the Golden Lions roundabout.

I chose to make a right turn because I wanted to give you a glimpse of Pearl City few see. From the beach road or the big dirt road, you can’t see the massive shopping centre that is nearly completed behind the main complex. When you get up close to the shopping centre, you can see the escalators, the big modern brass sculpture and the cavernous size of its interior, but I’ll leave that till later. The road I was on when I took this photo used to be a simple motorbike track, but it has been widened and is now in the early stages of being paved.

I could have continued on to a main road, but chose to make a left turn down a long dirt road that leads to one of my favourite villages. A remnant of old Sihaoukville, I sometimes wish I had discovered it when I was looking for land, because it is a real oasis of village tranquillity and just a stone’s throw from the beach.

After passing through this small village, I came to a bitumen road that took me down to the beach road just in front of the Holiday Casino. I continued up that road, intending to go straight to the Small Beach Bar, but decided to go through a break in the green fence instead. That was a good move, because after dangling along the little track on the still vacant land which is slated to eventually be an enormous complex (hence the green fence), I discovered that the tide was low and I could ride back up the beach to the Small Beach Bar on hard packed sand. There’s nothing I like better than riding my bike on the beach at low tide.

I took a break at the Small Beach Bar. where the staff kindly looked after my bike and camera while I went for a swim. Since the sun was getting low on the horizon, I cut my swim short, got on my bike and began my return trip home, this time taking the beach road to save time.

Making my way up the now wide dirt road in front of Pearl City, I stopped to take a photo of the sunset and remembered when that road was a bumpy one lane short cut through what was previously only pasture. Just five years ago, Pearl City was a pipe dream no one really believed would be built. Now it seems to be becoming a reality. Personally, I wish Sihanoukville was downsizing, but there’s nothing I can do about it and all the changes are fascinating to watch and make Sihanoukville a very interesting place to live.

And that was my afternoon of cycling in Sihanoukville. I arrived home at six, so the whole magical experience, including frequent stops for photos, a swim and a coke, took less than 2 hours. Next time I’ll show you an easy route you can take on a rented bicycle. If you want to see a side of Sihanoukville few tourists or even expats get to see, see it by bicycle.