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Published: February 22nd 2013
I arrive into Kratie with my new travelling companions, April and Laura from Oz and Rich the laconic ad man from London. It must be pushing 35 degrees and we are hot tired and bothered. What we want, more than anything else is to relax on loungers by a cool sun drenched swimming pool.
The man that has sold us our rooms at our new guesthouseThe Dolphin purports to know of some said mysterious nirvana – an up market holiday resort for rich Cambodians. Its half an hour away in a tuk tuk and we all decide to chip in and make the journey.
The talk in the tuk tuk turns to expectations....
“I'm so excited – what do you think the pool will be like?!” says April.
“I'm thinking – a river with some stepping stones and locals in sarongs.” I reply.
“No! Don't you think it will be a real swimming pool??”
“Life” says Rich... “comes down to expectations.”
if you are disappointed by something its normally because whatever it is, falls short of what you were anticipating. If something brings you joy its normally because its surpassed your wildest dreams...”
The Buddhist way is of course just to “accept” what is. Instead of saying: “This should be” say “this is it.” Or in the words of the Dalai Lama - if you are unhappy about something ask yourself two questions...
“Can you change it? ” If yes – then “don't worry be happy” as the song goes. If the answer is “no” then “don't worry be happy” too because you can't change it so getting upset and worrying over it isn't going to help either!
The tuk tuk driver starts blaring out some hard house and Laura and April oblige by doing the doing the “big fish, little fish” rave dance.
It feels like we have left Kratie behind. As we head out into the countryside hoards of school children lolling on the grass verges at the sides of the road stand up and cheer and wave.
We pass a dubious looking muddy river replete with submerged locals that I assume must be where we are heading but there is a sigh of relief as we hurtle past and pull into the driveway of our destination.
The holiday resort is deserted. The restaurant and cafe
are boarded up and the sleepy shop keeper just about manages to find us a diet coke. There are little bungalows decked in wreaths of artificial flowers faded in the sun and covered in dust. We come across a large fibre glass rabbit sitting on the banks of an ornamental lake stuffed with coy carp and a miniature bridge. At the end of the bridge is a giant clam shell. . . I sit on it obligingly for a photo, then we turn a corner and come face to face with a giant Santa Claus...holding a love heart.
“Jeez what the hell is this place!?” says Laura.
At one side of the complex is a huge hexagonal pool tiled in twinkling turquoise ringed by wooden sunloungers and parasols. Its perfect! Better than anything we could have imagined. We rush over to it in anticipation and three of us peer over the edge. . .
It is completely empty and dry as a bone. There isn't a single drop of water in it.
Not. A. Drop.
“Out of all the expectations I did have...and indeed however low they were. The one thing I was expecting to
see today was....water.” I say.
The tuk tuk driver is making frantic gesticulations on the phone no doubt to the guesthouse who sold us this crazy idea.
“Its ok – they fill for you!” he says.
A gardener picks up a drooping hose pipe and smiles hopefully.
“No, no it would take too long!” we explain.
“ It would probably take three days with that thing.” adds Rich.
We decide we might as well carry on exploring the grounds. A couple of minutes later and we've come face to face with an enormous gorilla with weird,white, listless staring eyes.
“Oh wow this place is giving me the creeps!” says Laura jumping up on his lap for a photo opp.
“Oh my God, I LOVE it!” says April.
All three of my companions have huge grins on their faces. Sure the day didn't turn out how any of us expected it but we've collectively and silently decided to see the funny side of it. A far cry from my travels with dear Christine, the French accountant from Chester. I can just imagine her morose, hang dog expression as she decided to spend
the rest of the day complaining bitterly about the resort, the rip off merchant at the hotel, the time its taken to get there, how hot she is, how the whole day has been written off and indeed even the poor tuk tuk driver would have got the thin edge of the wedge. Its a timely reminder of another maxim on how to be happy from the world of self help. Its not the external events that happen to us that have the power to make us happy or sad – but how we choose to respond to them that counts.
On the way back the roads have been cordoned off and the school children that were lolling on the banks when we arrived have been lined up on either side in flanks by their teachers. It is a proper reception committee. There's no way we can carry on until whoever's coming has passed so we get out and join in.
“Who can it be??? “ says April.... “i'm excited”
“What flag is that ??” says Laura
“Maybe its the President of Malaysia – does Malaysia have a president??”
“Or maybe its the King of
Thailand?”
“Well we know its not the King of Cambodia as he just died” adds Rich.
Turns out its the American Indie cars race. Eventually some big 4 x4 s come rolling through with the drivers in baseball caps waving out the windows. The school kids clap politely.
Ah well - I guess this is a pretty exciting event for the locals of Kratie.
We get back and head for dinner. Kratie is a small sunbaked town and the central square consists of not much more than the obliagatory indoor market jammed with cheap t shirts, baseball caps, toiletries ( the asian woman's quest for whiteness knows no bounds) and a range of stands selling strange school kid toys and sweeties.
Many of the women here both working in the market and outside seem to be wearing pyjamas. Loose fitting, often multicoloured and garishly patterned flannel two piece pjs!
“whhhhhy – I need to know!” says April. So we google it. Turns out the women of Cambodia have found the humble pyjama the pefect solution to the challenge of dressing both comfortably and also preserving modesty in this very traditional and respectful society. They
don't shie away from the bright mismatched colours either, there's something rather glorious watching women going about their daily business, running their stalls, riding their motorbikes and nursing their babies in their pyjamas.
We arrive at a restaurant ...
“Is the restaurant we ate at yesterday when the two big cockroachs ran over our feet?” asks Rich.
“Oh yeeeahh” we all agree, as we collectively pull out our chairs and sit down.
“Wow that is hilairous! Imagine us doing that in London. Amazing how one's standards relax overseas isn't it?!” says Rich.
The next morning we are up with the lark to go and see the rare Irawaddy dolphins. This almost extinct bottle nose dolphin can only be found in two locations, 4000 islands off the coast of Southern Laos and here in Kratie. There are only about 50 left. We get up early and take the half hour tuk tuk ride along the river banks of the Mekong to the pier where our boat will depart. The air is still cool as we leave the town behind and head off down a rural road with the bright navy strip of the Mekong running along side us. Traditional bamboo huts on stilts are set away from the road amongst the broad leafed banana plants and enormous ceramic urns tadorn the villagers porches. Their inhabitants squat outside on their hams lighting their little early morning bonfires. We arrive around 8am with the sky and river an intense navy and the sun burning in the sky. We are shown into a bright yellow painted row boat and and our oarsman starts rowing us down the river. The Mekong has remained a persistent muddy brown in Laos but for the first time here it glimmers a bright sapphire, banked with palm trees - it looks inviting enough to dive into . We get out into the middle and then he drops the oars and lets us float. After a few minutes a couple of sharp little fins cut the air and two snubb little noses burst through the ripples, jump a neat little arc and then submerge themselves again. As ever my camera and I are pretty useless and i'm still not in the running to win “wildlife photographer of the year” award any time soon. These dolphins are rare and from Laos. So let me manage your expectations now and tell you they are not the brash American show offs of Miami's Sea World. They won't be soaring out of the sea to perform pirouttes and somersaults only to crash back into the waves and reappear for an encore... Their appearances are discreet and genteel. Often in twos – the most we see is a glimpse of their shiny snub noses, or their sleek flank as they crest the waves in a delicate arc and splash back into the water It is worth it though. As always ...getting up close and personal with nature is a privelege. We spend a happy half hour trying to take photos and predict which side of the boat they will be appearing from (and failing dismally ) then make our way back to Kratie.
Back at the hotel Mr Dan the man who has sold us the half hour tuk tuk to the swimming pool with no water – has offered us a good discount on our next excursion to make up for it. Just as a precaution we decide to compare his prices before we book and realise that he's lied and is still charging us above average prices and it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. So we move out of the hotel en masse and go and decamp for breakfast down the road. Suddenly I feel a sensation and realise he is sitting behind me. I'm slightly unnerved – how did he suddenly materialise so silently.
“The fact is you lied. You told us we could swim and we could eat and we coudn't do either. Then you told us you would give us a good deal and its more expensive than other hotels. So we don't trust you any more!” I say.
“Oooh Dominique, you summed that up perfectly!” says April. Hmmm years of practise dealing with that kind of person I expect.
He wrings his hands, but he knows he's been had.
It is our final day together. We wander along the Mekong and then sit on the riverbanks to watch as the great coppery sun melts into the horizon. Asia really knows how to pull out the pretty with the sunsets.
“I'd love an old fashioned ice cream!” says April. And as if by magic an old fashioned ice cream van appears. They seem to do only two flavours – coconuty condensed milk and nutty condensed milk garnished with nuts and...condensed milk. But its delicious creamy, cold and sweet.
Tomorrow we part company – April and Laura are heading back to Oz via Bangkok and Rich and I are travelling onwards up to Siem Reap - to experience the temples of Angkor Wat together.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
"Its not the external events that happen to us that have the power to make us happy or sad...
but how we choose to respond to them that counts." Exactly right! But if I can change things, I try...not just accept things as they are. And if I can't change things, I may accept them for a bit, but I move on. Keep on blogging!