Cambodia is more than just Angkor Wat. Beyond the fabled temples of Angkor is a sunny getaway called Sihanoukville, a popular beach resort town south of the capital Phnom Penh. And we were on our way for a grand stay at the Sokha Beach Resort, the only five-star resort there. There are a lot of beaches in Sihanoukville. But Sokha’s would have to be the best and is exclusive to the resort.

We had traveled a great distance to get to Cambodia from Vietnam. As it turned out, everyone was on their way back to Phnom Penh after celebrating the Khmer New Year holidays in the provinces or in Saigon. So we found ourselves joining the mad rush back and found ourselves over four hours delayed with a six hour trip extended to ten!

After staying a night in Phnom Penh, we finally got on the first bus to Sihanoukville. The ride was a little over four hours, and it took us through the vast Cambodian countryside. At the Sihanoukville bus station, finding a ride to the Sokha Beach was not a problem since tuktuks and motorcycles were readily available.

The impressive Khmer façade of the luxurious main lobby greeted us as our tuktuk entered the vast grounds of the resort. As soon as we settled down in our beach view rooms, we proceeded to the Champa Lounge for lunch. It was a great place to unwind after the long trip, with its warm breeze and wonderful view of the pool and beach.

We were joined by Yoo Souklin position. She shares her thoughts with us, “Sokha Beach is the biggest resort in Cambodia. We have 166 rooms and ten villas. And it’s the only five-star resort chain in Cambodia so it has no competition. Most of our visitors are from overseas, mostly from America and Europe, as well as locals. Peak months are December and January. But the peak season (actually) extends from the middle of October to the end of April. Even if other hotels are in low season, Sokha Beach is still high season.”

She adds, “We plan to construct an additional 100 rooms and a convention center that can accommodate 1000 people. We also plan to build another 100-room hotel in another beach property in Ou Chheu Teal Beach here in Sihanoukville. So we’ll have two resorts here.”

After lunch, we decided to explore the grounds of the 23.5 hectare resort. The resort was so vast in fact, we had to request a golf cart to take us around for the tour. It has almost all the amenities you could think of in a top class resort such as a spa and sauna, fitness center, beauty salon and various sports and recreational facilities. But the highlight of this resort is its 1.5 kilometer private white sand beach.

So the rest of the afternoon was spent sunning and napping on the beach, literally soaking in Sokha. The outdoor massage salas by the beach looked very tempting. But the day simply wasn’t long enough and we were off to Lemongrass, the resort’s beach side restaurant, for dinner.

The Lemongrass is a perfect place to cap the day. As dusk descends, the enchanting lights of the restaurant take center stage with the sea breeze relaxing our senses. They have both outdoor and indoor dining areas and nothing beats a night under the stars like a candlelit dinner by the beach.

In charge of the restaurant is Chef Allan Ho from Singapore who prepared several delectable dishes for us. We had asked him for his personal favorites. For starters, we had the Spiced Barramundi in Chinese cabbage which was served with a lemon grass flavored coconut cream and fresh coriander. It was followed by the fresh spring roll of duck confit and Cambodian seafood Amok which is a local specialty. We asked if they had any specials off the menu, and they presented us with a sea lobster simply seasoned with salt, garlic and pepper.

While dining, we chanced upon the resort’s general manager doing his rounds. We found out that he had been stationed in the Philippines way back in the 1970’s as general manager of one of the plush hotels in Manila back then and remembers Kalibo’s Ati-atihan Festival quite well. He had good words for then President Marcos who he believes was one of our best.

After that fulfilling dinner, we walked back to our rooms. The long voyage was momentarily shelved, but not forgotten, and since I wasn’t feeling that well (we had traveled a great distance just to visit this wonderful resort), I visited their 24-hour in-house doctor for a check-up. After giving me some medications, I was off to bed.

The next day, we sampled the breakfast buffet at The Lotus. The selection was grand and I simply could not decide what to have. If you can imagine it, you would have found it here. After that, we spent the rest of the morning island-hopping since the beaches in the nearby islands are fantastic!

Back at the resort, we took in a late lunch and light snack at the Beach Bar before proceeding to the Water Sports Center for an afternoon of fun-filled activities. Riding the banana boats was a blast and paddling on the kayaks gave me the much needed exercise. Dinner was again at Lemongrass which was right beside the Water Sports Center.

We had scheduled an appointment at the Jasmine Spa, signature spa of the Sokha resort chain, for an evening massage. Just looking at their menu of services was overwhelming since they offered different kinds of body massages, body scrubs, body wraps, special treatments, facials and aromatherapy baths, and spa packages, a treatment for every persuasion. The facilities were top of the line in the Jasmine Spa which is for the exclusive use of hotel guests and members.

Since we were in Cambodia, we tried out the traditional Khmer massage. As the menu of services reads, “This massage is based upon the concept of meridians or invisible lines of energy running along the body. Using a combination of stretching and bending, this massage is ideal for easing sore muscles and for restoring blood circulation.” I enjoyed all 90 minutes of it and it really took away all the stress, more than anything the doctor ordered. After the short walk back to my room, I went straight to bed and off to dreamland.

I was just too lazy to get up the next morning standing up only to catch breakfast at The Lotus. We were checking out by lunch to catch our bus. So I just took it easy the whole morning.

At the counter, I saw the Sohka limousine parked outside the front lobby and teased the front desk if we could use it to get to the airport. They answered, “You could for one thousand dollars!” I’m sure it would have been money well spent. What stories this vehicle could tell.

I enjoyed my stay so much that I’m looking forward to staying at the Sokha Angkor Resort in Siem Reap when I return for yet another visit to Cambodia’s famed temples in the (not too distant) future.

We were back on the road by lunch since in time to catch a 6 p.m. flight in Phnom Penh back to Ho Chi Minh City. Our fingers were crossed the whole time hoping that we would arrive at the airport for the flight, and it was a good thing the bus from Sihanoukville conveniently passes by the airport. And we got there with plenty to spare.