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Published: December 17th 2006
Thanks for all the enthusiastic comments. Do enjoy reading them all. It does take a long time though, as the internet here is a slows as a slow boat to China.
We have been in Cambodia for a couple of days. Arrived in the early morning, and went out on deck to see the pilot boat approaching. There were literally hundreds and hundreds of fishing boats just coming back into port. It was a completely amazing sight, and they were all waving to welcome us. We tried to get some shots, but as always the sun was in the wrong place. Well, that's our excuse anyway.
The first morning we were taken on a trip to the fishing village where all the boats had gone back too. There were lots of roadside shops, including a dentist, and a motor bike repair shop. They were all jumbled up together, and were very poor indeed. How the people manage to stay cheerful with such poverty is marvellous. They are desperately in need of help from the rest of the world after what they went through under the Khymer Rouge, who killed between 2 to 3 million of their own people during the 4 years they were in charge. They destroyed all of the infrastructure, and most of the intelligensia, so they are not yet back on their feet. Being made members of the WTO has given them much to look forward to, and we just hope they will not be disappointed.
Then, it was on to an extremely large, noisy and hectic market in the centre of town. Not a very big town, but a huge market. Again the poverty was amazing, and on every corner there seemed to be someone who had had an incident with a land mine and had lost some part of their legs or arms. Tragic what people do to other people.
After this sobering experience, we were off to a Buddhist temple which was being restored, and which housed and schooled over 200 monks, who appeared very smiley and friendly in their orange robes. The site was on the top of a hill and gave very good views over the surrounding very lovely countryside. Lots of big Buddha statues in gold, of course, and incense everywhere.
Today has been a complete contrast and was spent at a very luxurious hotel resort of 5 stars plus, where we were given a buffet lunch and the use of all the facilities. We spent a lot of time on the white beach lounging under the tress - could have been banyan trees, or something lilke that. It was all very very lovely, and the weather was perfect. Clear blue skies - not humid, and a fresh wind kept the temperature down to manageable proportions. There were wonderful views around the bay to the offshore islands, and we felt truly pampered and spoiled. A veritable tropical paradise and a good farewell to Cambodia, which we left around 5 o'clock. We spent about an hour watching the sunset from the bridge, and after this blog we are going to sit on the aft deck and have our usual pre dinner drink, and then the buffet.
We are now on route for Thailand, and would like to wish Richard and Jennie a very happy holiday in Portugal and Spain, as you will not be able to read any more of this blog. Thank you for all your comments.
A big thank you to Julia, Peter, Ceara, Wendie, Nick, Heather, Frans and Scarlett for all your interesting comments, which have been lovely for us.
We only have a short time left on the ship now. Tomorrow is Koh Samui, where Frans and Scarlett recently went to the family wedding, and we are very much looking forward to it.
After an overnight run to Bangkok, we will be offloaded and on Wednesday morning they will send us to the airport. So, in case we don't get another chance to blog, you will know what we are up to. Back home on Thursday, but watch this space for more if we can.
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Scarlett
non-member comment
all's well that ends well
Enjoy the last part as much as you have all the other parts. xxxScarlett