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Well I'm definitely not in Thailand anymore!
I was thinking things were going so well having just paid only 1000 baht for my Cambodian visa when I'd heard people were having to pay upwards of 1300-1400B. Plus I was alone since there were no other foreigners on my minibus, so I was thankful to have a painless border crossing. But then, I literally stepped across the border and things were very different. Two kids giving me seriously sad puppy dog eyes begged me for my bottle of water and of course I gave it to them. but then they just pointed at me, snickered and ran off!! Great. So I jump on the back of a motorcycle with a seemingly nice Cambodian fellow and we take a nice ride to Koh Kong (a port town where I'll catch my boat to Sihanoukville). On arrival my "friendly" moto driver proceeded to convince me that I couldn't pay him in Baht or US dollars I needed Riel's(cambodian currency). Now I KNEW this wasn't right, but if anyone has seen how a Hurd gets when she's tired and hungry you'd know that at that moment I really didn't give a damn. I wanted
to get me and my pack out of the 35 degree heat and into a guest house and more importantly EAT. So I don't even want to talk about how atrociously I got ripped off at the "exchange booth". It's still bothering me so I won't go on... but here's some advice: Moto driver's take commission on EVERYTHING so stick to real banks. Lesson learned for me.
Koh Kong is as I later found out termed the "wild west" of Cambodia, I guess because of all the scamming and prostitution. Anways, I was looking forward to my boat ride the next day and sure enough it was a beautiful 4 hours. It's basically a tube shaped boat with bus-like seating inside and a deck up top. All the Cambodians sat inside and all the travellers sat up top and baked. I applied 30 factor 3 times during the ride (8am-12pm) and got a little burned on my arms. The others weren't so lucky. Pretty funny really. I'm sure they get a kick out of continually seeing the backpackers burned to a crisp on the top of their boats and trains.
So I'm in Sihanoukville now. It's a beach resort
on the the south west coast of Cambodia and it's quite different from anything I've seen before! The beaches are PACKED with beggars and vendors. Not the most relaxing time...
I did get the chance to rent a motorcycle and explore the area and not even 10 minutes away are some decent secluded beaches. I also had the chance to visit a waterfall, and since it was a sunday on a longweekend here, it was packed with locals picnicking. I have been spending the last two or three days with a part Cambodian/german guy and his Cambodian father. So I have been spoiled by the dad's generosity and have had the chance to see a lot of things I don't think I could have seen without them. The father moved to Germany before the war to go to school and was lucky enough to avoid all of the turmoil here. Now he is working for a while here (training xray technicians) and he and his wife have also set up a couple of elementary schools. He brought me to one but unfortunately it was a saturday so there were no kids.
But no worries, I get a good
fill of Cambodian kids on the beaches... "you buy my fruit??? Maybe later? You promise? I make you nice necklace if you buy my fruit..." They have forced me to pinky swear that I"ll buy fruit from them, NO ONE ELSE!. And if you don't keep to your promise they pull the most impressive guilt trip I've ever witnessed. That's saying something since I think the guilt-trip skill runs strong in our family!!
Overall I'm not sure if I loved Sihanoukville, but it has had it's moments. I have fun bargaining with the moto drivers. I feel I have been ripped off badly enough once it's not going to happen again! The beaches are not that great, the downtown is pretty sprawled and boring, but there are some great beachside restaurants and overall the people are very friendly and their english is quite good so you can actually have some decent conversations. And the older Cambodians speak french as well so I have had the chance to brush up on it! It's pretty bad though, my khmer probably rivals it at this point!!
Apparently, up until the late 80's french was the language they learned as opposed to english because
of the earlier french colonization. This also means there's quite a bit of french influence in the cooking and you can get great french baguettes in the mornings!
Anyways, I am leaving Sihanoukville tomorrow morning after I pick up my vietnam visa (I attempted that this morning through a severe rain storm only to find out it's frigin' labor day!!! I had no idea that's an international holiday!). I will be heading to Kampot which is about 2 hours east of here. I don't really know what to expect, it's supposed to be a relaxing riverside town, however, I have learned not too expect anything because I have been consistently surprised both good and bad (ie. Koh Kong!!!!) with every place I have visited!!
So we will see, but I am excited to see something new. I don't expect to run into to too many traveller's though, since it seems the low season has definitely begun! Every day it seems to get quieter and quieter. I'm sure up north in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap it's a different story though.
Oh and don't forget to check my pictures site! I have recently purchased a $15 photo card reader to make it easier to upload photos, although at that price I'm not sure how long it will last.
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