Sihanoukville, Cambodia's Link to Canada

We've made our way west along the coast to Sihanoukville. The name suggests that the place is small, but in fact, it's a substantial city. From a commercial point of view, Sihanoukville is Cambodia's gateway to the South China Sea and the rest of the world.

They have a deep water port, where container ships bring raw materials from around the world, and conversely ship product to global markets.

In addition, there are good roads and a railway leading into the rest of the country to serve their factories. In the past couple of weeks, while travelling the countryside, we saw modern factories, often in the middle of what appeared to be nowhere. Though at the time, we knew there were many small villages just beyond our view.

The factories employ thousands of people making apparel products. Their products are sent to Sihanoukville, then loaded onto ships for transport globally. If you check your shirt or blouse tag, you may find it travelled just that route.

Of course, we have all heard reports of some poor working conditions in Cambodian apparel factories, but we haven't seen any decrepit factories to suggest that's the case. We are hoping those are the exception rather than the rule.

The Sihanoukville area also has an important fishing industry. Daily, just before dark, we saw fishing boats heading out to sea, then, in early morning they returned with their catch.

In addition, today, we toured nearby Ream National Park by boat. The River was bordered by Mangrove trees, and busy with fishermen and women tending their nets from their small boats. Our waves were returned with large smiles and waves, even though we had never met them before, and were unlikely to ever see them again. The next time you're shopping in the frozen food isle, take a look to see if your product of choice came from Cambodia.

We've seen other products being made here in Cambodia that show up in Canadian stores like baskets, furniture, mattresses, mangoes and more.

We're looking forward to another day in Sihanoukville, Cambodia's link to Canada and other global markets.

For the next story in this series, click here:
http://travellingwithsteveandmarlene.blogspot.com/2017/03/cambodias-future.html