My 4rth trip to Cambodia
By Doug Mendel |
As I had visited Cambodia 3 times previously (6/97, 11/00 and 6/01) I had fallen in love with the people, culture, history, handicrafts, food and the weather. I had decided for this trip (2/1-2/13), I was going to help the people in Sihanoukville, a city South of Phnom Penh (the Capital). Since I had visited the fire station in Sihanoukville on my last trip, this trip I brought 3 boxes of clothing and boots to donate to the wonderful firefighters in beautiful Sihanoukville. The following narrative are from emails I sent to friends and family while I visited February of 2003.
It took 46 hours from when I left my home in Silverthorne, Colorado to when I arrived in Sihanoukville, Cambodia with my 3 boxes and 1 carry-on bag. All went well, I was tired, hungry and sweaty in the 80 degree and humid heat. Before arriving in Cambodia, I had a stopover in Bangkok, Thailand. When i arrived at the airport in Bangkok, I retrieved my boxes and with the help of a person I met on the plane, she wheeled a cart and I wheeled the other baggage cart from the baggage carousel to outside customs where I got a van to the Asia Airport Hotel. The hotel is kind of depressing with no character (long hallway corridors, blank walls). The continental breakfast was very good. The van ride to and from the airport was effortless. Took the 1 hour and 15 minute flight to Phnom Penh and was impressed with the new airport !! In years past, I would walk from the plane on the tarmac to the airport terminal and it was a free-for-all handing of passports to the customs people and getting the passport back with the visa stamped inside. This time, it was very orderly and professional. Once outside the terminal, my 3 boxes, carry-on bag and me were crammed inside a Toyota and off I went to the bus station to take a bus to Sihanoukville, about 4 hours south of Phnom Penh.
I arrived in Sihanoukville on Monday afternoon the 3rd of February. When I got off the bus, a motodriver asked me where I wanted to go. I said the'Melting Pot Guest House'. I told him I had 4 pieces of luggage, he didn't understand 'till the bus left and there were 4 pieces of luggage in the road. He conferred with 3 other motodrivers and they all put a piece on each 125 cc Honda Dream motobike and strapped them down with a rubber bungee cord. I asked how much it would cost to take my luggage and me to the guest house (it is always better to agree on a price before a ride), and the lead driver said $4.00. I said o.k. and off we went the 3 miles to the guest house, but not before a picture was taken of the boxes on the bikes.
On the way to the guest house, my motodriver was in the back of the pack, so that afforded me the opportunity to take several pics of the 3 bikes ahead with my cargo...in case they were thieves, I had their license plates !!!
We arrived at Melting Pot and the guest house was full. I had chosen Melting Pot because I had stayed there on my 2 previous trips. We all went around the corner until there was a vacant guest house. I took a room with 2 beds and a bathroom for $4/night and the owner seemed delighted to hear I might stay 7 nights !!! I settled into the room, rested and later went to the Melting Pot for dinner of Indian food and BEER ! A cold Angkor draft (or 2 or 3) hit the spot for my tired and thirsty body. The suspense continues...
During the next several days, I rented a 100 cc Honda Dream motobike with a helmet and cruised around town and also visited Ream National park, about 12 miles North of Sihanoukville. I had visited the park in June of 2001 and was impressed witht he beauty, the white sand beaches and the unspoiled nature of the preserve. It is a young park, having been created in 1993. The bike also allows me to cruise into town to have breakfast at the Starfish Cafe, a little place that is run by volunteers and all the profits from the baked goods and t-shirts help pay the salaries of the disabled Cambodians that work at the cafe. It had a very relaxed setting in the trees and there is a pond in the front yard where a duck makes its home.
After about 5 days or so, A khmer person named Sarin, who works at the Starfish Cafe and speaks good English helped me deliver the boxes to the fire station. Sarin met me at my guest house and along with 3 other moto drivers we drove to the fire station. It is only a 2 minute ride from the guest house to the fire station. The 3 motos take off first, and then I on the back of Sarin's moto. Sarin and I get to the station, but the motos with my boxes are nowhere to be found. Hhhmmmm....hhhmmmm...hhhhhmmmmmm...what to do ? I was thinking I get all the way to Sihanoukville, Cambodia and then at the last moment, the boxes get 'snookered' by 3 motodrivers that think they scored it rich with boxes of unknown content...stay tuned...Oh T hE SuS PeNSe...
Well. after Sarin dropped me off at the fire station, he said he would go after the motos, that maybe they got lost or went to the other police station in town ( the fire station that I was delivering the boxes to also 'doubled'as a police station). As luck would have it, after about 3-4 minutes, I see off in the distance one moto with a box and then the other 2 motos with the boxes coming my direction towards the fire station. Lo and behold, it was miscommunication...THE BOXES WEREN"T SNOOKERED !!!
That all happened by 11:10 a.m. Sarin and I were hoping to deliver the boxes in the a.m., but there was only a ploiceman and his wife at the station. They siad to come back in the afternoon. We left the boxes in the cheif's office and were told to come back at 3 p.m.
When Sarin and I went back to the station at 3 p.m. later that day, we went in to the office where the boxes were and Sarin started to explain who I was and what was in the boxes. A small crowd started to peer in the room from the outside doorway and the few people in the room waited while the boxes were opened with scissors. The windbreakers (36), pants (7), shirts (11), and boots (17) were put on the floor and the people just kind of rummaged thru it all. I couldn't understand the words that were being said, but I did see smiles and the chief took the bag of 8 baseball caps and put them aside for who knows what !!! Sarin basically said that they appreciated it all and one person said they needed 5 radios as they only have two. I took note of the brand and said I would be back in a year with the 5 radios. After some pictures and questions from them to me, Sarin and I left and all-in-all it was a successful event.
As I would be leaving Sihanoukville in 1 1/2 days, I had some more fun cruising around on the motobike, and started saying goodbyes to the people I had met. Also ate a couple more Indian dishes at the Melting Pot (Dahl Amitsari and Garlic Parantha) the night before I left.
Monday morning (2/10), I took the bus to Phnom Penh with 2 empty boxes so I could buy handicrafts at 2 markets and to take them back to the states. Once in Phnom Penh, I recognized a motodriver from my 2 previous trips that I had used in the capital. I actually emailed him (Buotana) before I left on this trip, but the email was returned to me. It was such luck that I would see him at the bus station. I had him 'drive' me around for the handicrafts (silk robes, chopsticks and jewelery boxes). I was able to fill the 2 boxes without a problem. I had brought tape with me so I could seal the boxes after my shopping was done. I left Wednesday the 13th for the airport in the evening and was on my way to the states via Bangkok-Tokyo-Seattle-Denver. It would take about 36 hours to get back to Colorado. Needless to say, I was tired when I finally arrived home. Great trip indeed !!!!! |
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