Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Fire Fire!
Went onto the beach early this morning, had breakfast and reeeelaaaaxed! The beach is lovely, the sand is soft and white, the sea is clear and calm and the vibe is totally chilled out. We spent the day drinking beer and rum while we topped up our tans under the hot sun. The beach is lined with open air bars, restaurants and cute bungalows, some of the them have their own unique theme, one looks like a smurf town! Their bungalows are built to look like giant mushrooms! Other rooms consist of only a mattress and mosquito net which is put away during the day time. There's plenty of hammocks and swing chairs to laze in while watching the sun go down, of course not without a cocktail in one hand.
We ate fresh barbecued squids and juicy fruit salads freshly made by the local women walking up and down the beach. This is a very different Cambodia to what we have seen over the last few days and we are liking it very much.
Other women walking up and down the beach were offering cheap beauty treatments. I had a pedicure and manicure for only $5, we agreed with one of the ladies to both have a full body massage tomorrow afternoon. It was funny when she grabbed my little finger and made me pinky promise her! It reminded me of the times me and my sister used to do that!
We kept drinking as it became darker, played a few rounds of pool then ate a really tasty selection of curries. The mozzies were out so we took our drinks back to our room when we finished, the staff were relaxed about it as long as we bring the glasses back tomorrow. Everyone seems so happy and chilled out here, perhaps it could be something to do with the happy menus ;-)
We sat outside drinking for a while, other guests were also sitting outside their bungalows, it was peaceful. Chris pointed out smoke along the bungalows opposite us. I told him it must be the cigarette smoke from the people sitting there. Perhaps if we wern't so tipsy at the time we would have realised it was much more. A minute later a lady from our side ran over shouting out fire! It suddenly clicked, one of the bungalows was on fire! We ran over and could see red light shining from under the door and could hear the crackling sound of the flames burning inside. Chris smashed open the door and ran in to see if anyone was in there. Thankfully no one was, but their belongings were burning away with each second. Chris grabbed what was left of the two burning rucksacks and threw them out the door. Workers nearby had heard all the commotion so ran over to help. Chris shouted at them not to use water, the fan had caught alight so it was an electrical fire. They grabbed buckets and we all started to throw sand over the fire. Eventually after a few minutes we managed to put the fire out.
Seconds after it was all over the guests staying in the room came walking around the corner. They saw us laying what was saved from their stuff out onto the grass. They were in shock and didn't know what to say. Confused then upset they searched through their belongings. Luckily their passports and laptop were undamaged, they were left out on the bed at the time (not exactly the safest place for them) but their rucksacks were right next to the fan so had practically burnt away.
We offered them our support if they needed it and they thanked us for saving what was left of their belongings, then we went inside to check on Chris's foot. He has a small burn from the fire but a worse cut where he managed to scrape a chunk of flesh right off the end of his big toe when he stumped it on a brick while running back from the bar with more beer and rum. In his defence it was pitch black outside where the power had cut out (I knew my antibacterial wipes would come in handy some day).
They were lucky it didn't happen later while they were sleeping. We learnt a lesson today which was never leave anything plugged in while out of the room. Most rooms have this displayed and shouldn't be ignored, we certainly won't now.
Charlotte & Chris
- comments
P Super-Chris! Saves the day! Glad your both OK. x