In Asia, patience as a virtue is of particular value. After visiting the unique temples of Angkor Kwat on our last day in Siem Riep, we decided to get a little closer to our island and drove 12 hours yesterday from Siemp Riep to Sihanouk Ville in Southern Cambodia - a coastal town near the border to Vietnam. This morning, we boarded an old wooden ship with 11 other travelers and wandered through the waves of the Thailand gulf for two hours (half got sea sick). We eventually reached a tropical archipelago, where three of us went for a dip while others went snorkeling. Since Imke had gotten her diving license in Oman, she was part of the scuba diving group. The snorkel group had fun too! A wonderful water world populates the Coral Reef. Fish and coral of all sizes and colors of the spectrum bathe in the crystal clear water.
The two dives at different sites were ended by lunch on one of the islands. We let our souls relax in a hammock.
The group was amusing: French, Belgian, Chinese, and Spanish. The two Frenchmen, both from Paris, are staying at the same cheap hotel as us ($6 per room, cold shower, no AC), where we met the night before. Imke and I got invited to spend a weekend in Paris. Besides this invitation, they are a very nice couple who have been traveling and diving around the world together for 34 years.
But not everything is sunshine here in Cambodia. The rain is still very pleasant, especially since it only appears sporadically and briefly from the clouds. Cambodia fulfilled its southeastern cliche as a destination for sex tourists. In short: Dollars will allow you to do whatever you want. Whether it be shooting cows with bazookas (if you hit a cow, you have to pay for it), “Sir, Tuk Tuk, please?”, or the repulsive phenomenon of poorly tattooed men looking for the charismatic girls who pay on a daily basis. The mutilated red Khmer, or mine workers, only see a small fraction of these dollars.
When one travels, one becomes part of this world, with all of its bright sides- and dark sides. It is sometimes a challenge, but always enriching, and an an opportunity to find one’s own standpoint.
Tomorrow, we are going to Kep, a little further south on the west coast. From there, we go directly to Koh Thonsay, where we will spend 3 or 4 days back in a bamboo hut on the beach.
The two dives at different sites were ended by lunch on one of the islands. We let our souls relax in a hammock.
The group was amusing: French, Belgian, Chinese, and Spanish. The two Frenchmen, both from Paris, are staying at the same cheap hotel as us ($6 per room, cold shower, no AC), where we met the night before. Imke and I got invited to spend a weekend in Paris. Besides this invitation, they are a very nice couple who have been traveling and diving around the world together for 34 years.
But not everything is sunshine here in Cambodia. The rain is still very pleasant, especially since it only appears sporadically and briefly from the clouds. Cambodia fulfilled its southeastern cliche as a destination for sex tourists. In short: Dollars will allow you to do whatever you want. Whether it be shooting cows with bazookas (if you hit a cow, you have to pay for it), “Sir, Tuk Tuk, please?”, or the repulsive phenomenon of poorly tattooed men looking for the charismatic girls who pay on a daily basis. The mutilated red Khmer, or mine workers, only see a small fraction of these dollars.
When one travels, one becomes part of this world, with all of its bright sides- and dark sides. It is sometimes a challenge, but always enriching, and an an opportunity to find one’s own standpoint.
Tomorrow, we are going to Kep, a little further south on the west coast. From there, we go directly to Koh Thonsay, where we will spend 3 or 4 days back in a bamboo hut on the beach.
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