Wild Orchid

During an earlier walk along the water to Otres beach I discovered a small bar in the middle of nothing in particular. Little did I know when I walked by there the first time that the Blue Orchid bar would play a major role during my stay in Sihanoukville. My favorite Beach Road staff member worked during the late afternoon and into the evening, the other Estonians were usually sleeping off a hangover or off sailing and several friends from my first trip to town had gone home. For all of those reasons I had time to myself. A lot of my spare time was spent enjoying the amazing view, comfortable chairs and hospitality of the staff. The couple working the bar have been traveling the world selling jewelry and picking up odd jobs for almost 5 years now. All those experiences equipped them with many stories to tell. My favorite evening at the Orchid happened when they handed over control of the iPod to yours truly. It became obvious after only a handful of songs that barman Adam and I grew up on many of the same bands. It became a tribute to the rock of the early to mid 90s that featured several enthusiastic air guitar sessions and was highlighted by a top of the lungs version of Bad Habit by the Offspring. Silverchair, Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins rocked the little bar until Adam’s co-worker and girlfriend, Mouette, was sick of us old guys and our “classic” rock. She switched the tunes to Spice Girls and other awful late 90s pop. I guess that was my cue to leave. Many fun evenings were spent at the Orchid which cemented a place in my traveling hall of fame for the lovely couple.

As March drew to a close so did my 30^th year of existence. After celebrating my first 30 birthdays in Canada with friends and family this one was spent 13,000 KMs away. The massive week long birthday celebration of last year would be followed up this year with a much smaller gathering. My Sihanoukville best friends Sandra, Adam and Mouette did their best to make me feel at home. I started off the day feeling a bit down knowing that I wouldn’t be seeing the regular cast of characters of years gone by, but that soon faded as my new family took excellent care of me. Its becoming clearer with every stop on my journey that a physical location is only as good as the people you are with. I guess it was lucky that I managed to meet such wonderful people in such a fantastic place. Thank you Sihanoukville for making my 31^st bday one to remember.