Sihanoukville is a city on the verge of claiming an identity. I do not believe that I have ever been to a place so much in flux. The city lies on the south coast of Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand. It was a seaside resort prior to the Khmer Rouge, when every place became topsy-turvy.

Now, Sihanoukville is undergoing a massive transformation being driven by tourism and commerce. The city is the only major seaport in the country and the turquoise waters are suffering from this. The city is also swelling with new citizens seeking job opportunities and tourists seeking the sun. This leads to more garbage and a further degrade in the quality of the beaches.

Meanwhile, the investors are trying to determine what kind of beach town to make of the place. Some are taking the casinos and prostitutes angle, others want it to be a hippy paradise with cheap beer, fire dancing, and mushroom shakes. Still others are planning mega-resorts. It is a bit difficult to say who will win out in the end, but I would be willing to put money on "not the environment" and "not the average citizen."

In the midst of all these forces, I had the opportunity to stay in an oasis of calm. With the exception of regular tantrums from my good friend's infant son, the vacation was idyllic. We spent the majority of our time either relaxing in hammocks, eating and drinking, or sitting in the surf.

As per Asian culture, meals were performed with many dishes and orchestrated by young and old women making sure that plates were never empty. I cannot recall a time when I have eaten so much seafood nor a time when the seafood tasted so good. I have never been a huge fan of crab meat or shellfish, but that mindset melted away on this vacation. The majority of the seafood was cooked over a ceramic pot heated with charcoal. Shrimp and cockles came off the grill with alarming heat. Nonetheless, we snapped off their shells, dipped their sweet carcasses in various sauces, and washed them down with lager.

For all the fun that I had, I can’t say that I was unhappy to leave the seaside city. My legs were becoming polka-dotted with mosquito bites, my clothes were all beginning to smell of seawater dampness, and my nights were being shared with three friends on a wooden floor with a plastic mat as cushioning (two of whom snored and rolled in their sleep).

The great thing about a beach bungalow vacation is that it invites you to do nothing at all except relax, and then it encourages you to return to your climate-controlled home, take a shower, and put on some clean clothes.