into Cambodia....

---

Back on the ferry to the mainland, only a 30 minute hop. I was approached by a friendly Thai fellow who offered me a lift to Trat (the nearest town) for only 50 baht. Ok, says I. His boss had a van and we wouldn't leave until it was full. Through sign language I explained to him my unfortunate flip-flop situation and he took pity and gave me a lift to a nearby shop where I obtained an ill-fitting pair of flip-flops. I am *really* REALLY starting to hate flip-flops. We had a something approximating a conversation (via thai phrasebook and loads of sign lingo) before setting off to Trat about 1hr later.

In Trat I got a cheap room (200 baht) which was decent enough with hot shower and flushing toilet. I found a restaurant a half block away with free wifi and spent some time there. Met an older chap from London (Mick) who spends as much time as possible in this part of the world - by the sounds of it, he's got a Cambodian girlfriend, maybe even a wife. Trat is only 1 hour from the border, and so I decided why not give it a try? I hitched a ride with another of these quasi-taxis to the bus station and waited until the departed bus had sold enough tickets to make the trip worthwhile. In the hour that ensued I met a retired American gentleman from South Carolina and his Thai wife who had been living together in the states for many years but were retiring to be close to her family, and also because of the economics. (you can build a perfectly servicable house here for $20k including the land...) (( yes, f***-you vancouver ))

The border was a scrum. Mob, even? Overly helpful Cambodian men wanted to carry my bag, help me with my passport, need taxi? It was quite overwhelming. If you're going to Cambodia, I'd advise flying. The immigration officials have a long running scam where they charge you $40 for a $20 visa. After getting my stamp out of Thailand, visa+stamp in to Cambodia, I hired a taxi to get me to the nearest town, Koh Kong, which was a Toyota camry owned by a guy named Alan. I expect he was paid a commission everywhere we went but I don't mind as he was super helpful & set me up in a very nice modern hotel ($15, air-con, sat/tv, pool, wifi). This was paradise after my Gilligan's island experience on Long Beach!!! We shared a couple of beers riverside. They start with a bucket of ice, two glasses, and some bottles of beer. Ice goes in the glasses, and the beer is poured over. He taught me a couple of key phrases in the Khmer language (thank you, give me the bill, cheers, etc) and then we visited a proper local restaurant (I was the only white guy there!) and I observed the Khmer way of eating which is to take some rice, then a little bit of the main dish. Rice on the spoon, push a little of the main onto it with the fork, eat! He explained that Khmer girls love to sing, so we visited a local karaoke. Yes, they do love to sing, and some were quite lovely! I refrained from song, I'm here to absorb some culture, not dominate it.

They use USD in Cambodia, only the poor people use the local currecy (4000 riel = $1). The ATMs give annoyingly large bills. I appreciated that Alan had helped me get on my feet in Cambodia, so I paid him $40 for the taxi ride and the tour which was probably way above the odds, but he was good bloke and spoke pretty good english to boot. He told me he had been educated by monks in his village, and then improved his language skills by speaking with tourists when he left to make his fortune in the city. Now, I'm travelling alone and Alan could have, had he been inclined, driven to some remote spot and robbed me of everything. A good soul, quite characteristic of all the Cambodians I met during my trip. They are very poor but very kind hearted. Alan, I suppose, was a high-roller, he owned a CAR !! I'm sure there are gangsters and scumbags as anywhere but it had been my good fortune not to encounter any. btw, rural Cambodians subsist on $1 per day; the urban waitresses I spoke with earned $50-$75 per month salary, tips rarely. And that much only because they have english language skills. I left $1 under my pillow for the hotel maids every morning. I hope they shared it.

I met a lovely girl named Daa in Koh Kong, we hung out for a couple of days. We shared no common language so it was all gestures and pointing. There was an old silent movie on tv one night, Charlie Chaplin. That really worked! We could enjoy it together as it was all slapstick, sight gags. I did not see any flowers for sale anywhere in town, I would have liked to have left her with one. She came to watch the bus as I departed, tearful.

---