Going East

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Oct 30: Went into Rayong this Sunday morning to meet Pern, a Thai who worked as a General Foreman for me in the Congo. I went to the bus station to meet him as that was the only place I knew there. As I waited, I had my first proposition from a lady who wanted to come with me – for free. As we all know, there is nothing free in a woman. Sorry girls. Pern showed up and we went first to see a friend of his, Krithong, a former construction hand who has given up the trades and started his own restaurant. I had the best Thai noodle dish so far. Then we went and picked up his wife and we drove around seeing the sites in the area. Then down to the beach area where we had more food, an excellent fish dish and some giant prawns, all fresh today. Pern was actually working today, but as he was the Superintendent, he just called in once in a while, or they called him for information if necessary. The funny thing was I found out who his boss was, Kittypong, and I just asked Pern to say hello from me the next day, when he actually called to tell Pern not to forget to come back to the jobsite in time to clock out for the day.
Oct 31: Left for Trat this morning, a 2 ½ ride East. Got a room at the Ban Jaidee Guesthouse. Good, clean, free Wi Fi. What more can you ask for $6. Went and saw Wat Banphuran and Wat Lumduon while here. I had gone and booked a ride to the Cambodian border and on through to Phnom Phen for tomorrow and asked how to get to Wat B. The husband of the lady booking my ticket said he would take there and back for 80 baht. It was actually quite a ways. On hops his 5 or 6 year old daughter in front of him and me behind and off we go. He was really worth it as he knew a lot and also was explaining to the girl. I asked him to stop at a stand and I would buy the girl a drink and some water for me. That’s when he went a different way back and took me to the other Wat also. Everyone in this town seems so friendly. Not many people stop here other than to change buses to go to the Island beaches. What a neat little town. If I hadn’t booked onward I think I could hang here for a few days. Had a good Penang curry with rice that was a work of art in its presentation. Sorry Gretchen, I forgot the photo until I was well into it. Different coloured and different rices stacked in a pyramid. Cool.
One thing to note for the uninitiated. My spelling may change, but no two Thais will spell the same thing the same way. I came from Ban Phe today. The travel shop here spells it Baan Pay. That’s how it sounds to them. The Wats are spelt different in the books and internet also, but mai bin lai.
Anyway, got out of Trat @ 5 AM give or take an hour. If I was in the Amazing Race, I would have to want to have a Thai taxi driver (except the Bangkok ones who are all on meter). Lines or oncoming lanes mean nothing but I guess if you know how to honk your horn properly and use your turn signals and mirrors properly it works Got to the border at Hat Lek (Thai) – Krong Koh Kong (Cambodia) and through with a couple extra baht payoff (not worth the hassle over a couple of bucks that everyone expects).
Now I arrived at the border at 7:00 AM but as I stepped across this border it was like night again.
1: The road went from a highway to what the Cambodian Tourism Branch calls a good highway – at places I think you could charge extra at the PNE for the ride. This road? took more than ½ the travel time, but was only about a 1/3rd of the distance. 2: The litter took me back to the mid 80's in rural Thailand when plastic bags were everywhere although here it is plastic bottles and everything else that doesn't seem useful anymore. Garbage everywhere. Even most of the places that did take some pride just pushed it away from their place. I should not shit on everyone, but it was disgusting. It reminded me of when I was in Borneo at a street vender built on stilts over stagnant water. All scraps went over and when you ordered coffee they scooped the water from the same slough. (That time I changed my drink to a coke.) I think Thailand is tidier than Canada is now, although I haven’t been up North or South yet on this trip yet – KUDOs Thailand. The garbage went on even into Phnom Phen. I was thinking I made a mistake coming here. 3: The other big noticeable thing was the housing. Again it took me back into the past. Old wooden houses on stilts (easy to get rid of the garbage). The fact that they were old and wooden is not ment to be derogatory, but Thailand has become modern, whereas Cambodia is a generation back, but with today’s world, is that more than a couple years?
I was seriously thinking of catching the next train out of Dodge. (Almost forgot – Vancouver, you don’t got NO traffic jam). But then we got to the last few blocks of the trip. Have already extended my stay here. I LOVE it. The area around the river LIVES! Food – you cannot get better food even in the countries the recipes were invented. Wine, so cheap. But I suppose that should be no surprise as everything else is also. A note: For anyone coming to this part of the world; borrow your travel books from the library and buy them here – bought my new edition Lonely Planet book for $2.50 - $ 26 CDN. Same, same for the other countries. Now I am not saying these are rip-offs or knock-offs, I’m just saying………
For us BC people who talk of the mighty Fraser River, don’t get caught in the flow of the Mekong or tributaries without a huge anchor at this time of the year. Going one hell of a lot faster than that bus I took to get here.
I am staying at the Velkommen Inn here in Phnom Phen. It’s not the cheapest by any means ($20 a night) but is right where everything is happening but is so quiet. It is run by a Norwegian and his Cambodian wife ( 6’4” – 4’ fuck all) very nice people. They also have another spot that is a Guesthouse (somewhat cheaper).
For those of you that I didn’t contact otherwise, my friend in Bangkok got water in his house today and it is still rising. A dyke was breached. Even though high tide has passed, Bangkok is in trouble. The water in the streets is NOT CLEAN. Hope for the best.
Well I will leave off here. This will be my first real attempt on the Blog site, so a couple of you please let me know if this works (Gretchen, for one). As I am not sure of my next steps or when: Remember – I was born a Ramblin’ Man, along with – I must a got lost somewhere down the line.
Enjoy the rain, snow and freezing temperatures.
Maybe next timeI'll figure out how to send a picture.

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