Paradise postponed

We spent 2 glorious days in Kep. Kep is even more French than Kampot. French Colonial that is. Beautiful roads lined with trees. Old mansions that have seen the days of history when the Khmer Rouge were here. Pockmarked, dirty and now desolute empty. New coming from old with an injection of renovaters money. The atmosphere is very relaxed and resort oriented. Not many resorts but lots of backpackers waiting for which ever bus will take them where they wanted to go. It seems Kep is a waystation from the border with Vietnam just down the road. We rode out to another set of caves some 18km from Kep. Very interesting limestone cave with a very special sink hole in the middle. It is used as an elaborate bhuddist temple thingy. Very interetsing. There was a pool that you could swim in if you were brave. I was not that brave.

We have been on Rabbit Island for 2 days now. It is even more relaxed than Kep. It is not the deserted Island of my dreams. A lot of other people have found out about it too. The beach is literally covered in  huts, chairs and resteraunts. You can engage in any watersports you wish  except blessfully for jet skis. I reckon it would safely compete with any of theThai Islands. Sad really. But at sunset and sunrise the Island comes into its own. The day trippers have gone and the stalwarts take back the beach. It becomes paradise for just those few hours while we remain awake. A swim in the morning on an empty beach filled with tourist expectation is very very pleasant. The water is mirror smooth and this morning it was high tide which led to greater enjoyment in the swimming department. Yesterday we walked right round the Island. It was about 7 km and took about 2-3 hours. The thickness of the surrounding jungle was notable, the various beaches we crossed were interesting and the whole walk exhausting. We really enjoyed our cocktails at sunset.

I have to say that we have consumed  a lot of cocktails on this trip. They are cheap as chips and  are generally sweet and refreshing. I am now very familiar with the Pina Coladas of this world, I have also tried Mai Tais, and Tecquila sunrises. My favorite on Rabbit Island  is the AK47 served at the bar at our place. There are at least 7 "places" that completely line the beach. There will be a reception hut which also serves as a Kitchen. Attached to this in some way will be a bar. Then surrounding this will be an assortment of huts in varoius states of display. Some are bamboo some are wood planks. They all have a varanda with the obigatory hammock and chair. Most have on-suite showers (cold) and toilets (squat style with ladle and bucket of water). If you happen to have brought toilet paper with you it must be placed in a convenient basket left for the purpose. The waste system can't cope with the paper. I am beginning to wonder how the whole eceosystem copes with the hordes that turn up daily for an "Island paradise experience". When I say hordes I mean hordes! They begin arriving at about  9am and there is a constant back and forth of boats chugging between the Kep wharf and the Island beach. Each boat carries up to 20 odd people at a time. At about 3 - 4 pm they start to go back home. By sunset all the day trippers are gone and the beach is taken back by the overnighters  and the stalwarts who are regulars that come usually on an annual basis and are very comfortable thank you very much. We, I consider myself a bit of  a jack of all trades in this situation, sit around the bar after dinner, consume cocktails and share travelling and life stories. It is ALWAYS convivial and interesting and fun. You learn alot about peoples lives in this way.

It is  now the beginning of our forth day here. The tempo remains unchanged. The sun has just got up and the roosters from all over (there are a lot of them) are reminding us that we really should be getting up in that persitent way that roosters have of letting rip right under your window. Last night before we went to our huts Jacqui was quite adament in her critisisms about thier behaviour. I fear for thier lives if they get too close to her hut this morning. It maybe chicken on the menu for lunch!

So another lazy  day will pass as I prepare myself for going back into the world. I don't think it will be as easy this time. This lifestyle really agrees with me. I am still committed to looking for ways that will allow me to continue this journey. I have my bike on Don Det to retrieve, I still have yet to get to Banlung and I still want to do some Khmer cooking lessons. There is so much more of Vietnam to  check out. Having the bike makes all the difference, the independance of movement makes it possible to see anything anywhere. All possibilities are open, my only barrier is the language and I'm working on that one. It is time to finish this blog. Not so many left to go chaps.

"This cocktail is delicious!

This is our first night in Kampot and we are sitting in the forecourt dining area of the Bokor Mountain Lodge a very inaccurately described resteraunt and hotel on the Kampot riverfront. The atmosphere is old french and the decor similar. Very colonial my dear. There is a market area and boulevarde behind that is so classic of french colonial architecture around about the turn of the century 20th that is.....1900 or there abouts. The whole town has this flavour, I keep expecting to bump into Jean Paul Belmondo playing a sultry colonial in some french period movie!

Jacqui and I spent 2 nights in Sihanoukville on a beach that I still can't pronounce let alone remember the spelling of. Sihanoukville is everything everyone says about it. It is a contradiction within its own contradiction. On the one hand it is the vulgar expression of tourism, right in your face! Byron Bay by 1000%! It is also bloody good fun and a very decadent way to "chill". It is the perfect place to people watch on a multicultural scale. The experience on reflection was very very interesting. We had the opportunity, vacarious though it was to observe groups of various different people going about thier lives. One night we were assailed by a group of, for me very young Cambodians determined to have a really good time. And boy did they have a good time! I was proud for thier age, they did very well. They were a group of teacher students from Siem Reap.There were a number of observatIons that could be made easily; Men treated women with a great deal of respect. This was obvious in thier behavior. Mind you like all young men with burgeoning hormones I am willing to bet that in thier minds were all of the negative aspects that give women grief. It is one of those  "human "  things that men don't seem to be able to control. Other things on notice were the cultural aspects of interaction. How, when individuals were communicating the body language had no parrellel in the west. Some one with a severe case of homophobia would say that by the way men danced with other men ( a common occurence)  that they were all raging queens. This of course is not true in any shape manner or form. It is just that men being used to dancing with men, as they are, they are much more relaxed and uninhibited. Thier dance of course gets the young ladies fired up. Then the games begin. After very loud dancing music, time got on so they moved to the beach with a huge great fire. I kept expecting to see Anette Funicello or Gidget somewhere in the crowd. The previous evening we had the privilige of the lives and living of expats in southern Cambodia. The life is good by all accounts. While in Sihanoukville we took a drive out to the national park in the area. It was a 30km terrifying ride out on the highway to Phnom Penh. Mad truck and bus drivers, I swear to you Cambodians are the worst drivers in South East Asia, diabolical! They should be banned from all forms of transport except a 2 wheeled machine. After all they drive everything as if it was a motorbike! Truck, bus whatever!

Back to Kampot. People this is the place you wanted it to be! Beautiful with lovely french colonial architecture, a bit raggety, a bit worn at the seams but lovely all the same. We had a bit of a downer on arrival... no cooking  lessons and it looked like Rabbit Island may be full! I was quite down at heal. Disappointed for the first time on the trip. My disappointments were very short lived. The morning brought on our desire to press on regardless and follow our plan to go cave tramping. We mounted up and rode out of town. We roared down the road and in no time we were in Kep! We had indeed roared past our turn off some 15km before! Rather than waste the moment however we decided to "sus the crack" with regard to Kep and the mysterious Rabbit Island! Turns out this was a really good move; we organised accommodation for 5 nights on the island, we organised the return boat trip, we organised somewhere to store the bike and we booked 2 nights accommodation in Kep. Then we paid for the lot! Done and dusted an elated Lionel sat down to a really big and strong coffee and realised that life was really wonderful and keeps giving you good times. If we hadn't got lost and missed the turn off we would not have got the rest of the trip absolutely sorted! Kismet at work again!

We finally found our cave and did the exploring thing. We then got the "gen" where the other cave with a temple inside of it was. It is a 7th century building from the Funan period. A Temple to Shiva. We had lunch in Kampot and then went to the temple and elephant cave. It was extremely interesting. Jacqui and I enjoyed ourselves, clambering up and down irregular stairs. We checked out the temple that felt like a miniature of that famous one in Jordan and managed the small horde of children haggling for whatever.

I am now off to cocktails by the river see youse soon.

Peel me a grape Scotty, there isno intellegent life force here!

We are sitting on a beach  in very comfortable chairs after having consumed a very nice Amok fish and Amok seafood. We have had 2 cocktails so far. Jacqui a Mojito and then a Pina Collada and me a Mai Tai and a Pina Collada. We have just ordered 2 more. Life is grand, life at the moment is very decdent and I am enjoying myself bathed in "bloody luxury" (spoken with a liverpudlian accent).

We are in Sihanoukville in the deep south of Cambodia and it is everything people say of it. Vulgar oppulence is a useful term. The centre of town seems to be on top of a hill and is a hodge podge of buildings selling and doing everything. The market is huge and seems to go on forever. We will be visiting it tomorrow. Not having a detailed map made our entrance to the place very confusing. Victory Hill where we were headed turned out to be a little sleazy so we haded for town centre. This was just too full on and hectic so we tried for the beaches. After getting lost and finding dead end streets  we finally made it to a beach and a resteraunt/bar/juice place right on the beach. We had passed a little boutique hotel some 20m previous to the beach so after a fortifying mixed juice shake we booked in for a dose of unadulterated luxury. The place even has a pool! I tried it out, it was very pleasant. We are now back at the beachfront bar/resteraunt/juice bar/anything you bloody well want place. There are tourists, expats and locals in equal numbers. As the sun sets Jet Skis roar in like returning sea birds. Music, generally reggae blasts all around and the whole place has a very decadent feel with a beautiful sunset. The food is excellent, the cocktails cheap and life is very very good. I can understand the purists critisisms of the over the top nature of the place but right now it is just fine by me, just what the doctor ordered.

The ride from Koh Kong was mostly very easy and no problem. The last bit, on N4, the road between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville was unmitigated hell. Not because of the road but because of the traffic. I was forced off the road by a truck overtaking another truck coming in the opposite direction. If I hadn't gone for the dirt the bastard would have hit me! I spent a lot of time on that road giving people going in the opposite direction the finger. I am not looking forward to the return to Phnom Penh from Kep and Kampot. Main road traffic here is diabolical!

We are spending only 2 nights here in Sihanoukville. We go off to Kampot for cooking lessons and chilling space. Then it is to Kep for the crabs (eating ones that is) and then my planned sojurn to Rabbit Island and fishing for 5 days. I then take Jacqui and the bike back to Phnom Penh and down the Mekong I will go to Chau Duc in Vietnam. From there I will catch a bus to Ha Tien on the coast right on the Cambodian border. I will catch a ferry to Phu Quock Island and hire a little bike there for a few days. I fly from there on the 5th to Saigon and then the next day I fly home. The end of this glorious trip. I have to say I'm ambivalent about going home. In one way I am looking forward to getting home and getting things done (I am not looking forward to going back to work!!) But on the other hand I have had such an amazing time that I would like it to just keep going. The people, the places, the sights, sounds and odd happenings have become the spice of my life. How could I stop that!

Koh Kong Island

Here I sit on the south eastern end of Koh Khong Island. It is peace and tranquility personified. We got here after a 2 hour boat ride across the ocean from the mainland in a rickety boat that we will have to return on. We share this place with about a dozen others just like us. It is interetsting that we don't seem to communicate with each other, rather ignoring each other as if that will make everyone else invisible. I wonder what will happen when lunch gets served? I have already been swimming/snorkeling. The water temperature is warm to hot and it is glorious in. The visibility is dreadful and life on the bottom is sparse. It is very nice though. I just wish I had brought my sunglasses. Silly bugger me left them on the bed this morning in the rush to get out. The salt water and the sun are doing great things to my wounds. The knee is cleaning up nicely and the elbow has stopped hurting except when I bash it.....all too often!

What more can you say about an isolated beach on a far away island. It is  beautiful except for the ever present rubbish to be found in this part of the world. They really need to get thier act together. Hopefully sometime soon the light will go on and they will clean it up! It is really frustrating. When I talk to other tourists/backpackers they all agree the rubbish is bad. When I talk to expats and locals they say no no we do good things with the rubbish and it is not a problem. These two views are clearly incompatible. The reality seen through my eyes is that rubbish is everywhere and it is a big big problem, especially plastic bags and bottles. You see them strewn every where, in towns around the streets and in the gutters in the country you come across piles dumped in the most beautiful areas of bush. Yesterday Jacqui and I rode out to Tat tai waterfall, a really beautiful falls set in the jungle that takes a considerable effort to get to. There were shitty disposable nappies lying around giving off the most horrendous odours. It was so sad. A really really spectacular place trashed by sheer laziness. We still enjoyed the place but it was tinged with tragedy.

Koh Kong has been a magical place, great space to recharge after the marathon that was the Cardomoms. We rode around on the bike visiting places of interest. We went across the bridge in the middle of town to the other side of the river. We had lunch at an idyllic place on the beach lined with coconut trees and bamboo shadehouses with hammocks and sleeping tables. I had the most amazing crab that cost 5 bucks and Jacqui had calamari. More than we each could eat at one sitting. It was delicious and the atmosphere evocative of paradise or a civilised Gilligans Island.

Today we have taken a tour and we are on Koh Kong Island way out in the ocean. We have just had a lunch of fish and veggies that was very nice and now are waiting for the boat to be packed for our trip back. We will get to walk through mangroves on our return which I am really looking forward to. Tonight is
our last night in Koh Kong. Tomorrow we head to Sihanoukville and after that Kampot and Kep. We have heard that Sihanoukville is pretty aweful so I will hold my breath for that one. Anyway that is for tomorrow and the next post, this one is done. See youse later campers.