TV stars and island hopping in Cambodia

Sour Sdey,

I write to you, my steadfast confederates, 25 feet from water’s edge, sporting the darkest tan and longest hair I’ve had in many moons. I am in Sihanoukville at the moment, one of the most popular spots on the Cambodian coastline. I’ve chosen to drop my bags on Otres Beach, a much mellower and less crowded area then Serendipity Beach where gap year Brits swarm, pumping their fists to pop EDM.

It is so beautiful here. I have a spacious private room with a queen bed, fresh towels, power outlets (high luxury in this part of the world), and a view of the ocean. How much does this room cost me, you might ask? $7 a night, I might say.

I was in the ocean less than a minute after opening my eyes this morning. Did a bit of crawl, some breast stroke, I tried the butterfly but I never learned it as a kid so what’s the point really. Afterwards I sprawled out on a lounge chair, ordered some food and skyped with my rambunctious little sis. She’s got some big decisions ahead of her and I’m confident she’ll make the right choice (seriously Haley get the mole removed it’s horrible).

From the deck I have a beautiful view of the Gulf of Thailand, to the northeast I can see several of the Cambodian islands on which I’ve stayed over the past week, and to the far east I can see a hazy outline of some Thai islands. If anyone has ever seen The Beach, that’s where I am right now.

I’ve settled in Otres for the last couple of days because I’d been moving around quite a bit. The last couple of posts I wrote were from Don Det in Laos where I stayed for 10 nights, my longest stay anywhere by far. For the next 10 days I was on the move everyday, spending a second night in the same place only once. Here’s how it all                                                                                                went down…

Maurijn and I stayed put in Don Det for an extra week, deciding to separate from the big group for a bit when everyone else moved on to Cambodia. I think Mau’s frustration with the group stemmed from a bike ride we all took together. At one point one of the girls cut him off, forcing him to swerve into a big rock and then wipe out hard. Furious, he picked himself up, kicked his bike and exclaimed, “fuck this I’m gonna be a pokemon trainer!” as he sprinted away into the jungle. We didn’t see him for three days.

When Mau and I were finally ready to leave Don Det we took a van to the Laos-Cambodia border, then switched to an overbooked bus for the next 5 hours to Kratie. It was so overbooked that around 15 people had to sit on tiny plastic stools in between the seats. There was a TV on the bus that blasted music videos at high volume throughout the journey. I had a book with me but was seated in the first row and had no shot at absorbing any of it. The first few videos were all Asian boy bands, and though I’m usually down for that sort of thing, one after another on a bumpy, sweaty bus ride got old quickly. All of a sudden, my silent prayers were answered and the broadcast changed to a montage of Michael Jackson performances. We eased into it with a little Liberian Girl, then cranked things up a notch with Billy Jean, by the time Beat It came on my body was on fire, hyperventilation commenced when Smooth Criminal followed, and when Man In The Mirror began I started convulsing and required immedite medical attention. It was awesome.

We arrived in Kratie in the early evening and it was so boring I won’t even finish thi…

The next day we hopped in a van for a cozy 6 hour ride to Phnom Penh, the capitol city. Quite a place, much like Bangkok but on a smaller scale. (Aside: did you know that Bangkok has roughly the same population as New York City but in only half the area? Yikes.) Similar to Bangkok there was an abundance of both third world poverty and modern opulence. There’s no nice part of the city or poor part of the city, it’s all just jumbled together in an unmethodical, discombobulated urban explosion.

We endured rush hour traffic on a Tuk Tuk ride to our hostel – quite an experience. Lots of Range Rovers and Lexus SUVs weaving in and out of motor bikes, Tuk Tuks, cattle, people in wheelchairs, pedestrians, and bicycles. In the middle of all of this were brave merchants trying to sell ridiculous beaded necklaces and cell phone chargers, as well as policemen blowing their whistles, waving their arms frantically trying to direct this mess without much luck.

That night Maurijn and I found ourselves at a fancy club called Pontoon with a couple of Belgian damsels. We were invited into a VIP booth (probably because of our attractive company) by a bunch of rowdy Cambodians who were celebrating something. Turned out that one of the women in the booth was a Cambodian TV star and they were celebrating her birthday. Crazy.

Around 2am we were invited to another club with them. I declined, but Mau was feeling adventurous and said Yes. He got a ride from this guy who seemed to be the leader of the group (or at least the leader of groping the Belgian girls), and wouldn’t you know he turned out to be a major sketchball. He drove a Range Rover and once Mau was in the car he locked the doors and refused to disclose what he did for a living, but admitted that he was a “bad” man. In retrospect all signs point to this guy being involved in a criminal enterprise, of which there are many in Phnom Penh. They arrived at the club and a drink was in Mau’s hands before he knew it, a drink that he had not seen poured, and so Mau decided wisely to excuse himself to the bathroom before making a daring getaway.

We took it easy the next day, going shopping and getting massages. I skyped with my boys from brooklyn for a while in the morning which was awesome. Pretty much laughed for an hour straight. Miss the hell out of them.

The next day we went to the killing fields. I don’t want to go into much detail about it here, but for those unaware of the killing fields they are a memorial to what was essentially ground zero of a genocide in Cambodia during the late 70s. Over a third of the national population was killed, and while most genocides stem from ethnic conflicts, this one arose from a clash between political ideologues. Unspeakable atrocities occurred, bullets were too expensive so most of the victims were killed with garden tools. Although it’s a heavy topic I highly recommend reading about it or maybe watching the film The Killing Fields. This was a major world event that relatively few people were/are aware of and I think there’s really something to be learned.

After an emotionally exhausting day Mau and I took a Tuk Tuk to a fancy hotel to use their pool. I did not want to pay the $20 fee for guests so I instructed Mau to follow my lead. I marched through the lobby of the hotel, put a phone to my ear and said loud enough for all to hear, “that doesn’t work for me let’s move the meeting to 6.” No one bothered us.

 

 

The pool was gorgeous, an infinity pool from all sides engulfed by a lush garden. After changing into my swim trunks I was approached by a flamboyant Cambodian man who asked me coyly what I was thinking about, then followed with “do you like boys?” He was so friendly I was sorry to disappoint.

 

That evening we took a night bus to Sihanoukville. Mau and I reunited with several members of our group that we’d split up from in Don Det (Will, Mert, Nick, Jorien, Amy, Liz). For the next few days I went island hopping with the boys, spending a night apiece on Ko Rong, Ko Ru, and Ko Ta Kiev. On Ko Ru, also known as Bamboo Island, we played a drinking game that involved racing hermit crabs. Twas a very, very good time. Ko Ta Kiev was just bought by the Chinese who have plans to build within the next two years a Casino, airport, and bridge to the mainland, so I’m grateful to have been able to see it before all that bullshit goes down.

To describe these places as picturesque would be an understatement, and quite a discourteous one at that. Tropical heaven, bungalows 20 feet from the ocean, breathtaking sunsets, sharing a bed with frisky boys. Doesn’t get much better than that am I right? Yeah, I’m right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, back to the present, I have officially split from everyone I was traveling with. Most of them have gone off to Vietnam where I will likely go at the end of the month. It was amazing traveling with them, but alas, different goals and schedules can be pushed aside for only so long. Though I will certainly miss the camaraderie I’m looking forward to some time on my own, catching up in my journal, churning out a few posts, spending some quality time with MRP, ya dig.