The Writer is reprogrammed

For the past day I have been in a funk. The world seemed to have conspired against me and nothing was working. I seemed not to understand what was being said to me and people did not understand me. It was extremely frustrating. This all changed this morning with a little good will and a lot of perserverence. I had the probelm of generating a couple of printed documents from my Tablet. To be more precise from my emails. I got access to a computer but could not remember my password. Getting my password was a nightmare that did not finish. The whole thing was finally solved (after about an hour of mucking about to no avail) by this lovelly young lady who 24 hours before gave up trying to communicate because we kept confusing each other. She gave me her email address, I sent her the relevant emails and she printed out my boarding passes and E tickets I had to have to begin the long journey home.

Of course the problem is mine. I am to blame for my own trauma. I need to learn the language! I am also suffering from the ailment which best can be described as "end of travelling blues". In one more day I begin the long trek home. I am happy to be going home in one way.... geting on with my life, registering the car and bike, getting on with the building project, getting Milo back etc etc. I am very sad in another way to be finishing my travels. I have had such an amazing time. The things I have seen and the places I have been have left a deep imprint on my memory. I think I will be dreaming about that trip through the Cardomoms for the rest of my life. Funny, I thought I would never do it again, the afternoon we emerged battered and bruised from the forests. Now I am contemplating what I would need to make the trip easier and more interesting. Battambong was such a revelation and one doesn't need to go over Kep and Kampot to remember the "relax". If I go on to Vietnam memories I will be on this thing till I get home! There is a lot of Cambodia and Vietnam I have still yet to see.

At this stage I can say that  Cambodia has the worst drivers and roads of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. All three are as beautiful and interesting as each other. I find the Vietnamese most interested in making sure you are happy and have what you need. The Vietnamese border guards are the strictest and have no sense of humour followed by the Cambodians. The Laotians don't really care but you need clean and fresh US dollars for the border. I can't rate one better than the other, they are all too fantastic and fabulous to destinguish.

All I can say is a big thank you to the world and all the people I have interacted with here it has been the best!

Paradise missplaced and misunderstood.

I am sitting in  the resteraunt of my "resort" having an evening beer. I had wanted to sit listeqning to some music that is playing outside but the "resort" wanted to charge me extra for the beer so I am sitting in the resteraunt listening to the music on the other side of the wall. This sort  of silliness pervades this place and why I have chosen the above title.

Today I rode from the "resort" to the very south of the island to the fishing port down there. It was very interesting. I then rode to the very far north by the coast road. The first part from the southern tip to Long Beach was all dirt or should I say dust. A bit rough but OK. I had a very nice fried rice about halfway for lunch in an idyllic beach spot that could have been stunning but had not quite been finished off so it was messy. It was a nice lunch though. Travelling on I went through Long Beach and Duong Dong (the city here) and on to a place called Can Cua or something like that. It was very pretty and the beqches even more so. Again though there was something amiss. Rubbish was everywhere except where there was any kind of outlet, food or otherwise. Then it was clean as a whistle and swept regularly to keep it that way. Outside of interest the rubbish is extreme and destroys any feeling of peace and equinimity generated by the beautiful scene. I'm not sure why it is so but the feeling of a misplacement or misunderstanding of what is needed is strong. It is a shame really because the place could be astounding and now it is not. On the way to the far north I came across a Vietnamese version of Disneyland. It was really bizarre to come across this thing in the middle of a rainforest. Suddenly it was there and then it was  followed by a huge golf course with tailored lawns and barbed wire fences, another anachronism. 

Tomorrow I will go exploring again. I'm going into the middle of the island where they threaten to have streams that you can swim in. I will also go to a fishing village on the eastern side of the island. I hope I get a better impression there.

Ahoy Phu Quoc.

My last port of call. Tick off the last item in the list of places and things I wanted to achieve during this trip. The only thing I have not managed to do/see or experience is Cooking lessons in Cambodia. The list was long and it was comprehensive so I am very pleased with the outcome.... alll targets met, most goals achieved.

Jacqui and I finally left Rabbit Island. We both agreed that it was a great time and that we were feeling extremely relaxed and refreshed. This was not hard because we were extremely relaxed and refreshed before we got there. It just added the cream on top. My feelings about the place are  bit ambivalent. On the one hand you can't go past the tranquility and serenity of the place. The atmosphere is sooo relaxed. The sunsets are stunning, the early mornings elevating and  the people very inviting. On the other hand you can't get past the tourist development. Boatloads of tourists start arriving from about 9:00 AM. This continues all day until about 4:30 - 5:00PM when they go home. The boats come back and forth like some kind of invading flotilla. The beach is completely covered in chairs benches and tables. Behind the beach is completely taken up with huts that overnighters stay in. On weekends it gets so crowded that locals put up tents! There is a large Japanese resort being built at the end of the Island and this is being seen as the first! So I am ambivalent. I remember Emilly's description of an untouched paradise. This is lost forever and so I am sad for this loss. Soon there will be nowhere that is not tainted by the Thai disease, curse them.

The trip to Phnom Penh was a bit delayed by Dragon Boat races in Kep. There were a lot more speaches than races but the whole thing was a bit of a spectacle that we could not miss it being the tourists we are. The roads were fine until we got onto National Route #2. It suffers from low status syndrome. The surface in the early part was bad and the width reduced. The traffic was as usual. When we got closer to Phnom Penh the road surface deteriorated markedly. The last bit was about as bad as it gets then add in Phnom Penh traffic. It was nightmarish. Phnom Penh was gearing up for new years. We found our hotel got our bags back and returned the  motorbike and got my passport. I never feel completely at ease when I have to leave it with people, I know it is safe but I still feel a little uneasy. I had decided to spend one day in PP just to get my shit sorted. Clothes washed,  bag repacked, accommodation on Phu Quoc sorted and pepper bags sealed and finally ticket to Phu Quoc booked. Jacqui did the same thing.

Our farewels were said very early the next morning a 5:30AM. I was sad in one way to see her go. She is an excellent companion to travel with. We have  very similar ways of thinking about things, she never moans or  complains despite being in some tough and stressful places and she does not complain aboit the bike when there must have been some times when she was bloody uncomfortable, it happens to us all. I enjoyed her company and her good cheer and I will miss her. I have a feeling that we will travel together again. She went off to see friends in Indonesia, I hope she has a fabulous time and I'm sure she will.

I went on the bus back down to Kampot and Kep and then on to the Vietnamese border. It was very straight forward. Same with the ferry. There was a glitch at the Island side when my transfer to my hotel felll through. It cost an extra 7 bucks to sort it out. I've hired a motorbike for three days and plan to explore the Island. My hotel is is a very isolated area away from the main tourist drag. It is quiet but suffers from the isolation, it is also cheap. They call it a resort but it reminds me of an asian style Butlins.... mostly empty. Fishing on the beach is good apparently. I will see when morning comes.

These are my last days so I am savouring each day like that special bit of food that you love and save till last luxuriating in the taste, hanging on till the final glimmers are gone. I love this travelling, I have to have more of it .