Biking in a Monsoon

Our third day in Sihanoukville was similar to our first two in that we were relatively lazy and woke up pretty late. We had breakfast for lunch and hung around the hostel for a few hours. At 3 o'clock the four of us all rented bikes even though it was raining on and off. We cycled our way to Ochete's Beach, about 4km away and continued biking down the road along the beach. A steady rain started so we stopped at a group of bungalows that may have been closed for the season, but the folks that ran it let us sit and served us some tea while it rained and they played pool.  We sat and chatted.

After about an hour we realized the rain had let up and we got back on our bikes and started heading back into town. It was around 5:15 when we started heading back.  Not far in the distance we could see some menacing/ominous/foreboding looking clouds but decided to press on because we didn't want to cycle back in the dark. Towards the beginning of Orchete's beach it started "pissing down rain" as our irish companion would say. The further we went the harder it rained, and we finally took refuge in a small room/shop on the other side of a bridge we crossed. The Cambodians very graciously invited us in, and even offered us some of what they were drinking (probably rice liquor), but we politely refused... however one does without speaking the same language.

We waited in this shelter for about 20 or 30 minutes before deciding to venture out into the rain again. It was still raining hard and very windy, so much so that it sometimes felt like hail. The streets were mostly flooded (as they tend to be when it rains a lot in Cambodia), but we made it home safely around 6:15. It was sometimes scary but mostly fun and unforgettable.