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Published: February 27th 2006
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JimHotel
This creepy ghost hotel is straight out of Scooby Doo OK we made it off the beach and are now in Vietnam trying to figure out the curency, where to go, what the custums are and all the other confusing things that go along with visiting a country for the first time....
OFF THE BEACH
Leaving Khins shack was hard...well not for me, but more for Leigh, they coaxed us into staying one more night, but I was determend to leave the next day...having your bed room 20 meters away from beach and water with cheap drinks and good food is a hard thing to get away from...We organized a Share taxi to take us to Kampot for 8 in the morn...the girls all got up early to see us off, made us presents (bookmarks) and we left...
We thought that we were leaving but, of course we had to stop at the taxi stand and wait for more people to share it or would have to buy the whole thing...(25$)..we watied for an hour and thankfully a 2 girls came by and we were off...
We arrived in Kampot 2 hrs later and Leigh says that she read somewhere that the Mealy Chanda hotel is
leigh monkey
Leigh and a Monkey good and is a good place to do to tour to Boker station. I thought I had heard the name as well and we took a room...this was the start of a bad realtionship with the pricks at Mealy Chanda.
MEALY CHANDA SUCKS
There is a family that runs this buisness called mealy chanda that has guesthouses and hotels in several cities throughout Cambodia...To quickly sum them up they are the type of outfit that is really nice to you and gets you to stay at their place and then as soon as you have paid, the service becomes horrible.
We got a room, I was suckered in because the bed sheets had Denver Bronco's logos on it.. Leigh was feeling sick* and just wanted to lay down and relax..I go to turn the fan on and sparks and smoke appear...we ask them to fix it, 4 hours later it aparantly works...later that night after dinner we come back to our room, and we notice its full of bugs...the flyscreen on the windows is ripped and there are a bunch of mosiquitos in the room, (and a ant colony on the floor), plus the room is
Old Church
Me at the old chuch on Bokar stinking hot cause the fan doesnt work right..
I go downstaris to ask for a new room....they say they dont have one...I say could they at least bring me a fan..they say no...now Im faced with a decision...I can accept it and go back upstairs to face a food poisned, hot and bothered, been traveling all day Leigh or leave......... I opt for the later...
I ask, "you cant bring me another fan?"...they tell me no...I proceed to tell them, "well we are leaving then" and go up to the room...the guy then follows me and starts telling me "no, no, no,...we can get you a fan"...this pisses me off and I tell them forget it we are leaving....we pack up, go down staris and I was prepared to just leave without paying....then I remember that we have already booked and payed for a tour with them for the next day...so I dont want to piss them off too much...I offer to pay half the room rate (it was 9pm)....an argument insues...I start to get angry, but keep my cool...realize that Im arguing over 2$..pay the man and get another hotel..
The other hotel was pretty good,
preacher jim
me giving a sermon in the old church had a sleep and got up at 7 to do the tour of Bokar hill station
BOKAR HILL TOUR
In 1924 when Cambodia was still a French colony, the French built a small town/outpost at the top of this mountain range looking over the Ocean. The town had since been abandoned and all the buildings are still there. Its like a ghost town. The 2 main highlights are the hotel that was built right on the edge of the cliff and the old church.
We booked the tour which was supposed to include a 1.trip to bokar hill, 2. A jungle treck to a watefall 3. Tofu curry lunch 4. Sunset boat trip with drinks
We hopped in a 4X4 truck, 3 in the front, 8 people sitting on benches in the back...started our way up the worst road in the world....at one point it was paved..but now its just potholes...2 and a half bumpy hours later we were at the top...got out for the jungle trek..our "guide" had a meat cleaver and didnt know where he was going...it was pretty awsome actually cause he would lead us one way..stop..scratch his head...then head another way, occasonaly hacking through some bush with his butchers knife...he changed directons about 12 times....then I realized, we are in Cambodia..one of the most heavily mined countries in the world...and I mentaly prepared myself for watching him detonate a mine...20 minutes later the trek was over, no waterfall and it was time for sightseing at the church...which was cool
Lunch...I think lunch was a replicate of the Jungle Gruell that the Kymear Rouge used to eat when they were really desperate..
The hotel was really cool and it had a verry errie vibe to it...especitally when the clowds started to roll in...just big and old and empty..
We headed back down the mountain..went on the boat tour, which was ok, no drinks though..but we saw a great sunset and met some cool people and went out for drinks....
BORDER CROSS 2
We met some girls who were going to Vietnam as well and shared a taxi with them to the cambodian border...the taxi ride was awsome, he took a back way and we drove through great villages and saw tones of cows, pigs chickens and horses..
the immigration was a pretty simple process and we were doing great time...but when we got to the Vietnam side, we ran into a little dificulty..
We were greated by about 7 moto drivers offering to drive us to Chau Doc (where I am now) for 8$ each...now i have learned that you never take the first offer, and never take the first price...chau doc is only 30 minutes away and we werent going to pay 32$ between the 4 of us when we just rode in a car for 3 hours for 21$..I told them no and we started walking to the small border town...it was a long hot walk we got there, had a drink, and realized that there were no cars or buses in this town and we had to get a moto..the good news is that after all that we got it for 5$ each..still too much, but better....apparantly the border that we crossed at is brand new and not a lot of tourists use it so there is not a lot of easy public transport....
Anyways I just realized that I have rambled on for way to long here, this blog is too long, so I'll cut it short by saying that we are in Chao Doc in the Meekong Delta, trying to decide how to spend the next couple weeks...
Hope everyone who was bored enough to read all of this is doing good..take it easy
JIM
*A suspected bad pork spring roll bought from the spring roll lady In snookyville, it probably was sitting in the sun all day cause she bought it at 4pm...
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Garland
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Cheers
Dude! The gay cowboy movie has made you soft. The Olson Twins could not drag me to that shit. Take care guys!