Paradise Found! Then...

... perhaps unsurprisingly, immediately lost again.

Greetings Friends and Family, I'm finally ready to tell the tale of my recent spring break trip to Cambodia.

I arrived in Phnom Penh about midnight following a 5-6 hour direct flight.  I had booked a room for the first night near the airport, thinking I could walk there as I had when I was in Malaysia but I was met by a phlanx of taxi-hawkers who overwhelmed my defenses and talked me into a $3 tuk-tuk ride, which I ended up being glad I took since it did indeed seem to be further than it had looked on the map.

The hotel was nice enough but I had to get up pretty early the next day because my original plan of taking a taxi to Sihanoukville (about 200 km away on the southern coast) got quashed when I found out it would cost $60-$80 instead of the $30 I expected.  So I ended up planning to take the bus after all, despite having read that that was a much longer trip.  But it turned out not to be too bad and quite a bit cheaper ($7.50, though I think they shorted me on the change and I ended up paying $17.50.  Whatever!)  But to do that I had to get another taxi ($5) into the heart of the city to the bus station there and that meant I had to leave by 7:30 to catch what I thought was going to be an 8:30 bus and ended up being an 8:00 bus which I just barely made (and accounted for the rush of purchasing my ticket and not having time to properly count my change).  So long story short I didn't have my time to enjoy my nice hotel room since I was busy trying to get some decent sleep, which turned out to be impossible because of the noises both inside the hotel (outside my room door, in the hall) and outside the hotel, from the dogs barking periodically through the night at the building next door.  At least the breakfast buffet was very nice!

So I spent Sunday getting myself down to Sihanoukville.  It started with the taxi ride to the bus station and then a slow departure from PP (Phnom Penh) through morning traffic.  After about an hour we were passing my hotel again in the other direction.  The bus was comfortable enough though and air conditioned and eventually we made it to Sihanoukville about mid-afternoon.

My original plan was to spend a night or two in Sihanoukville reconnoitering and then make my way out to one or both of the nearby islands, but upon arriving and stepping off the bus I was met by another throng of taxi-hawkers and after some brief discussions I decided to flee all the noise and bustle of the city and just head straight to the island, so my taxi guy took me first to the ferry ticket office to purchase my ticket and then down to the warf area to wait for my boat at a nice restaurant/bar just nearby.  That's when I finally felt motivated to take my first pictures on this trip. 

View from the bar/restaurant where I was waiting for my ferry.

This view shows the ferry dock where I wasn't supposed to go until 15 minutes before my 3:00 ferry, meaning I had about 45 min to kill at the restaurant.  Since I wasn't hungry yet I just had a beer.  I also used the time (and wifi access) to search for somewhere to stay where I was going.  I found something called "Suns of Beaches" where I could rent a tent for $6/night so I snapped that up.

And looking east along the coast.

Happy to have made it this far and be on my way to the island.  I have an ID tag around my neck indicating that I'm scheduled for the 3:00 ferry, and identifying which boat I'm supposed to be loaded onto.

Out on the ferry pier waiting to get on the boat, looking back at the shore where I've just been waiting.  Little did I know that I would end up spending an entire day in the shade under those trees just two days from now.

Finally on our way!  Looking back at Sihanoukville (at least the part near the ferry terminal, it's actually quite a bit bigger than I expected.)

This is the smaller of the two islands, where I did not end up going.

The main dock on the larger island, Koh Rong.  I did not get off here at this point, but I ended up here the following afternoon for my return trip to the mainland.

This is the second doc the ferry went to on Koh Rong, called 4k Beach.  This is where I got off for the walk to my hostel.

Looking back at the dock.  The yellow boat in the middle is the one which was my ferry.

"Suns of Beaches" (the hostel I'd booked for one night) was just on the other side of that forested point.  To get there I had to walk to the end of this beach then take a little trail through the "jungle" over a small hill which then spit me out right where I needed to be.

On the way I immediately passed this place, which was near the doc where I'd disembarked.  I was checking menus and overnight prices because I didn't know if I'd find any food at Suns... and I didn't know if I'd want to stay there more than one night.

Once I arrived at Suns of Beaches I was very pleased.  There was an open air bar/restaurant attached with a yummy looking menu and my tent (the blue one above, "T1" was just what I needed).  They kept a notepad where whatever you got at the bar/restaurant they just noted next to your tent number and then you settled up at the end.

After dropping my stuff off at my tent and changing into my swimsuit I headed down the beach for a refreshing dip.  By now I think it was about 5:00 pm.

The water was warm and delightful, with the biggest waves I'd yet encountered in SE Asia.

I had some yummy food and several beers for dinner and made plans to join a snorkel boat tour the following day then headed off to my tent for bed well satisfied.  In the middle of night I woke up to a fabulous downpour, and took a video of it:

The next morning I woke up in an idyllic setting.  I must have retired earlier than everyone else because I was the first one up and stirring (other than some of the staff) and enjoyed the early morning quiet.

I took a walk along the beach and was struck by this 'found art'.

Looking back at the smaller of the two islands.

Back at Suns... , inside the restaurant looking out, thinking about some breakfast, I've already decided I want to stay here at least two more nights and have told the staff that so they can make note and not give my tent away to anyone else.

I'm waiting for the snorkel/boat tour to depart around 10:30.  I've got some time to kill so I spent it going around cleaning up the area.  It hadn't been well maintained, possibly because, as I'd learned the night before, the hostel had lost their lease and they would only be operating for a few more months.  So maybe people didn't feel invested in keeping it nice anymore, but I enjoyed tidying the place up.  If you look at the picture before this one you'll see some dead, downed palm fronds lying on the ground in the space where this picture was taken.  I started by getting permission to haul those off to the dung heap and, as happens, once I started I noticed many more organic things (sticks) to clean up as well as lots of trash (bottles and cans and random plastic) so I asked for a trash bag to collect all that.  I felt pretty happy having been able to help out in that manner, and I was planning to suggest a bonfire on the beach that night with all the deadwood I'd gathered but that was not to be.  I hope they thought of it on their own.

I took this picture because I was specifically thinking about the wine bottle I'd photographed earlier on the beach and the danger of glass on the beach.  Foreshadowing?  I meant this picture to illustrate what probably seemed like a neat idea at the time (mortar a bunch of used bottles together to make a bar) which I imagined would be very dangerous when it finally fell over some day and started breaking apart.  Events would soon possibly prove me correct.

A job well done.  Time to get on the boat for the snorkel tour.

After I helped our guide Kensey load our beer, water, life vests, and snorkel gear on to the boat we departed.  Our first stop was a nearby resort where we picked up some additional passengers.

Panorama version of the shot above.

Next we stopped in a bay where we transferred to kayaks and made a short trip up a creek through a mangrove forest to this resort where they gave us lunch and some of us played volleyball in the hot sun, which I thought was crazy.

Sitting around waiting for the volleyball players to finish their game.

After lunch and volleyball we returned to the kayaks and went back down the creek to the bay where our boat waited for us beyond a sandbar.  The sandbar was shallow enough that we had to get out of the kayaks to get over it and I decided to swim the final stretch out to the boat and let my kayak partner (who had been in the bow the entire time) have the fun of paddling the kayak on her own.  Also it was hot and I wanted to cool off in the water.  I was the last one arriving at the tour boat.  Everyone else was already on board and the kayaks were tied alongside.  I figured I'd just jump up over the stern of my kayak and then get in the boat from there.  But as I tried to jump out of the water (I don't think I could touch at that point, or else I was just on my tiptoes, I can't remember) I somehow hit my left foot on something sharp and cut it to the point where as I was getting in the boat everyone was aghast at all the blood covering my foot and running down my leg.  Kensey (our guide) took immediate charge and washed the cut with some bottled water and inspected it and then wrapped it up in strips of someone's torn t-shirt and said I was going to need some stitches and suggested I just go immediate back to the mainland for medical assistance, to which I agreed, being primarily concerned about infection.  As a result the boat took us back to Suns of Beaches where I stayed on the boat (so I wouldn't have to get my foot in the water again) and someone at the hostel packed everything from my tent in my backpack and brought it out to me (along with my credit card and the receipt for my bill) and then we went back to the main dock of the island so I could catch a the return ferry to Sihanoukville from there.

While I was waiting for the ferry (I had about an hour) I went to a local pharmacy where a really nice nurse cleaned and rebandaged my foot.  She offered to stitch it up for me as well but I figured I was going to go back to the mainland anyway because I wasn't going to be able to go in the water anymore on this trip (or even walk properly) so I didn't want to just sit around this part of the island because I'd heard it was a pretty loud and trashy party-area.  So I decided to just go back to Sihanoukville and get further medical attention there.

Getting off the ferry on the dock I'd departed just 24 hours earlier I was again met by taxi-hawkers but this time I was delighted to see them.  I asked to be taken to the IMC (International Medical Center) as recommended by Kensey, and where I was hoping I could use my global insurance, but they didn't seem to know what that was and took me instead to CT Medical, where there was no wait, and a male nurse was fluent in English, and they looked it over and stitched me up and gave me some antibiotics, inflammation reducer, and pain meds.  I also asked for a tetanus booster since I can never remember when I had the last one of those.  Maybe now I'll be able to remember though!  At first I had asked about using my insurance but they said they'd have to write up a report and wait for 1 - 1.5 hrs to get approval from the insurance co. and I didn't want to mess with it so I just paid out of pocket: $187 for all the above (consultation, 9 sutures, meds).  Nice to be a relatively rich westerner!  I used some of my waiting time (and the wifi) to book myself a hostel for the night near the tourist center of Sihanoukville at a place call Mick and Craig's, which I ended up really liking, and staying three nights there.

The rest of the week (this was only Monday evening, and my plane didn't leave PP until about late Friday) I just sat around eating, drinking, watching the street life pass by, and reading e-books on my Kindle app.  I was actually able to walk pretty easily by using the outside of my left foot and limping, which got less pronounced as time went on.

Doesn't really look so bad now that it's cleaned up.  What's all the fuss?

My new view from my room at Mick and Craig's

Sitting outside my room on Tuesday morning.  My room is at the far end of a line of rooms at the back of the property behind the kitchen and staff residence area.  I really kind of liked it.  Very peaceful.

The bugs were pretty weird in Cambodia.  Some of the mosquitoes were tiny and hard to spot but others were practically as big as flies and slow.  I remember slapping one of the latter and being grossed out because it felt so solid.  This was actually the first time I experienced a lot of bugs in SE Asia.  There were also sand flies on the island which were pretty nasty because the wounds they left were open and oozing and itchy and if you scratched them they got infected.  I saw more than one person with part of an arm or leg wrapped in bandages due to infected sand fly bites.  They also had very large strong ants.  I remember one of these was biting my arm one time and I went to brush it off and it didn't go!  It just hung on biting me!  The gall!  That was all during my brief time on the island.  I was prompted to recall it though when I became fascinated by this ant hauling what I at first thought was a dead worm and later realized was some sort of centipede (after I noticed the legs) across my patio.

The street view in front of Mick and Craig's

Sitting having a cup of coffee.

This is the main  bar/restaurant area of M + C's

Nothing for me to do but watch life go by (and read my book).

Some of the staff playing pool.  These guys were really good and fun to watch.

My (first) room was the last one on the right.

A day after I got the sutures I went back for a checkup but they said it was too soon (some miscommunication - I thought the doctor had told me to come back after one day) so I didn't go back again until Wednesday morning.  At that point it was looking pretty good!

After my checkup I had my taxi guy (the one I had used that first night back in Sihanoukville had given me a piece of paper with his name and phone number on it so each day I had my concierge call him up for me and he took me on whatever errands I needed to run) take me back down to the ferry area where I'd first hung out because I wanted to eat at the restaurant I'd waited in that first day but didn't eat at because it was early in the afternoon and I wasn't hungry, but I had looked at the menu and noted several yummy-sounding dishes at reasonable prices so I wanted to hang out down there for the day (having already spent one day hanging around M + C's).  I figured I'd just walk back up the hill to M + C's later in the evening since it was only about 1 km from the ferry.  But when the scooter-taxi guy dropped me off he insisted I go down the beach and since I'd wanted to see what was down there anyway I did, figuring I'd check it out and head back to the first place after he left.  But as it turned out he was right and I really liked the place I found a little way down.  There were "papa-san" chairs (I remember having one in Mountain view in the late 1980s) out in the shade under the trees and the food and drink were excellent!  I spent the entire afternoon there.

You can see the ferry dock on the left side of the picture.

While I was there a woman came by and asked if I wanted a massage.  I thought she said 'foot massage' so I explained I couldn't do that because my foot was hurt so she suggested a shoulder massage for $5.  I thought that sounded pretty good since a massage was one of the things I was thinking I could enjoy in my condition so she started in on my shoulders.  As she was working on me a second woman showed up and wanted to see my hands, after inspecting which she said I needed a manicure because I hadn't cut my cuticles.  So the next thing I'm getting a massage and a manicure.  Then this third woman shows up (I think it was all planned) and offers me a leg massage.  Why not?  Now I'm really in heaven, getting worked on by three ladies.  After the manicurist was done she decided I needed to have my check hair depilated, which I tried to refuse saying it would just grow back but she persisted and used a loop of strong thread held cat's-cradle like twisted between the thumb and first finger of her hands.  As she drew the thread across my chest she reduced the separation of her fingers so that my chest hair got caught up and wrapped around the thread and pulled out.  It was painful!  That part of the the treatment I could have done without!  But now I'm bare-chested again for better or worse.

This was a yummy calamari in garlic dish I had there.  The coconut was brought to me that day, unsolicited, by my friend the scooter-taxi guy, because he remembered I like them from the day before when he'd taken me to the clinic for the check-up which didn't happen but I asked him to pull over so I could have a coconut on the way back.

This was a pretty amazing dish: Barracuda Carpaccio!

It may not have been what I expected from my vacation, but it was pretty nice!

There's another Speedy Ferry (yellow) getting ready to depart.  I feel like James Stewart in Rear Window.

It seemed like rain was moving in (never happened) and I felt like I probably should start heading back toward my hostel.

This was my third night at Mick + Craig's and I had to move rooms because someone else had reserved the first one I had, which had A/C (though it didn't work well).  This room only had a fan and was pretty hot.  During the night the power went out several times and the fan quit, duh, so I took my tablet/Kindle out to the main area and sat there reading trying to catch a breeze.  I didn't want to stay in my room with the door open because I didn't want to attract mosquitoes but it was too hot with the door closed.

Checking my foot outside my new room.  I had been to a pharmacy across the street for a cleaning and they gave me the leftover disinfectant, hydrogen peroxide, and antibiotic cream along with some sterile pads so I started doing my own dressing changes.

Breakfast was "Shrimp Kampot".  Kampot peppers are those little caper-like things.  Delicious!  I'd had a dish like that in Malaysia, I think, and it turned out I was going to head to Kampot itself (another town about 50 km to the east, on a river) for my final night before going back to PP for my return flight.

Having hobbled across the street to take a picture back toward M + C's where I'd spent three days more or less.

A stop while riding the bus to Kampot.  Almost there now.  This is a national park just outside of Kampot.  It was a pretty scene because of the rain clouds draping the hills.  The picture doesn't really do it justice.

My new view from Good Morning Hostel in Kampot.  Very nice room.  A/C actually worked!

 

This wasn't from my room but rather from the hallway, looking out toward the river view at the front of the hostel.  I was on the third floor at the back of the building.

The hostel had this dandy roof-top bar where I enjoyed hanging out.

This is me trying to keep my foot clean and dry.  I did the same thing without the sock the few times I tried to take a shower but it didn't really work and my dressing always got damp which made me not want to leave it on like that so I'd have to redress it and eventually I just quit and wore a sock and tried to keep it clean.  I figured the fresh air would be good for it.

From the rooftop bar at night:

The next morning:

These are all the plastic bags I'd collected just on this trip, and doesn't even include the ones I'd brought with me "to be prepared".  Plastic waste is a serious problem in SE Asia and indeed the whole world.  I just don't know what to do about it.

Friday morning, last day, taking a little stroll along the riverfront looking for somewhere to park for a few hours of eating and drinking before my late afternoon bus back to PP and late evening return flight.

I eventually landed at this place, which was directly across the street from "Good Morning" and was probably the ritzyest of the places but what the heck, it was my last afternoon and it was big, open, on the river, and had this comfy couch for me to monopolize.

I ordered a bottle of wine!

This was a delicious fruit salad with yogurt dressing.

And a fabulous piece of fish with sweet potatoes.

They kept my wine chilled for me!

And when I ran out of other food and still had wine left they brought me these delicious peanuts which had been lightly grilled in something.

That yellow building is where I was sitting having the wine.

Pretty flowering trees and bushes.

 Epilogue:  I arrived back in Incheon early Saturday morning (about 6:00) feeling pretty exhausted, which I racked up to not having slept well, looking forward to getting home and going to sleep.  I noticed some achy joints as I navigated the airport and subway back to my room and thought maybe that was due to having been walking funny (when I'd been walking) due to my foot but I hadn't really done that much walking.  Back at home I went to sleep and woke up a few hours later all hot and sweaty.  I proceeded to sleep most of the next 24 hours, feeling feverish though I couldn't find my thermometer to check.  I also had a persistent headache.  It wasn't terrible but it was unrelenting and moved around to different parts of my head.  I started to wonder if I might have gotten malaria or something because I hadn't bothered to take any precautions for that.  When Monday came around and I still felt the same way: exhausted, feverish, headache, I made an appointment to get checked for malaria.  They took several blood samples, a urine sample, and a chest x-ray.  The next day I went back and I apparently don't have anything but a regular virus of some kind.  It took until Thursday before I started feeling better and I was very relieved not to have contracted malaria.

I still haven't gotten my stitches out though.  I had thought my school nurse could just do it but no.  Not even the clinic I regularly go to will do it.  The hospital said I had to see the plastic surgeon to get them removed.  Plastic surgeon?  Really?  I thought all you had to do was sterilize the area, snip one side of the knot, and pull the rest out.  How hard it that?  The plastic surgeon said I had to go to the podiatrist.  They looked at it and asked how long it had been in.  I said 8 days.  (The clinic in Cambodia who put them in said to get them removed in 7-10 days).  But the podiatrist said they recommend leaving them in for 14 days so they made me make another appointment to go back and get them removed.  Because of schedule issues I won't be able to do that until next Thursday, at which point it will be 17 days.  I'll be glad to have the entire episode over with though.

Ciao!