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Apologies everyone for the extremely long gap between updates. I will have you completely updated by the end of the day. Promise!
So to round up Cambodia then the last three places we visited were Sihanoukville, Kampot and Kep.
We took the bus from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville on 24th October (which was meant to be a 4 hour journey, but due to the bus driver stopping to change a wheel on the bus and doing half of his shopping on the way it took slightly longer!).
We arrived at the bus station to be instantly surrounded by tuk-tuk drivers (a very familiar experience by now!). In the midst of the chaos a heavily pregnant english woman handed us a leaflet for New Sea View Villas. Which is where we paid the tuk-tuk driver to take us. The room was lovely and we did actually have a very nice sea view.
Excted to be at the beach for the first time in over a week we dumped our bags and headed straight out. What we weren't prepared for was the amount of touts we were about to face every step of the way. As soon as we stepped foot on the path along the beach there was a woman wanting to thread my eyebrows, legs, armpits and i wouldn't have put it passed her to have agreed to anywhere else hair grows! Somehow, her cheeky smile and friendly face drew me into 'pinky promising' that i would only give her my business if i decided to have anything done.
After almost safely dodging her, the next challenge was to avoid the 30 or more, side-by-side, restaurant owners allwanting us to have a drink. Plan ...walk along the waters edge and not get hassled. That worked!
The beach itself was beautiful and so peaceful to watch the sunset over the horizon.
For the evening we headed out to have our tea in monkey republic (a western run bar full of western people and some 'high-class' cambodian prostitutes, lol). We were having so much fun watching drunken men being lured in by these girls that we forgot about tea and just stayed out and got a teeny bit merry. It was a really good night.
The next day we (hangover free, but absolutely full of cold...yes you can catch cold in cambodia) braved the beach again. Within two minutes of us laying on a sunbed 'pinky- promise' woman was sat next to me, damn! I tried politely saying that I was feeling unwell and after about 20 minutes of being ignored she finally left! We managed a couple of hours in the sun until the black cloud hovered and the heavens opened so we headed into the bar for a drink and a few games of cards. The rest of the day and all day the next day was spent hanging out in bars and going to bed early because the weather was rubbish and I felt rubbish.
The following day we got the bus to Kampot (we had been recommended to go to this place purely for the best spare ribs in Cambodia! and you all know what Dave is like with his food, lol) We stayed in a lovely guesthouse called Paris guesthouse for three nights. Kampot reminded me of an American western town, it can definitely be described as a sleepy town, not much going on but really pretty. When we arrived we went for a stroll to see shat was about and came across the Rusty Keyhole bar (this is the place that's famous for it's ribs) so we stopped for a drink and a chat to the owner who is a mancunian called Kristian, we mentioned we had come for the ribs so he suggested we ordered some as if they go quickly.
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Arun I first started to vteral in the 60 s. Wanted something way different than my mid Ohio surrounding. So I flew to Nassau for a week and found there were no schools to speak of, cause they couldn't afford to live on a tourist island. Of course everything was shipped in and expensive from celery to VW's.I then made 2,200$ a year with 52 kids on the W. side of Cleveland. A VW bus in Nassau was 40,000$. So the children and grandparents lived on the outer islands. Only those who could work l and 2 and even 3 jobs could afford to live OVER THE HILL as it were.But the Brit's had very fine schooling for white children, mostly in appointed Government jobs.We'd get up at 5 to visit the Hay Market where the colored women and men would buy their reeds to make hats and baskets by noon for the tour ships. And I noticed a darling little girl with her mamma, all in red with a big red bow in her hair and one withered arm. Then I realized she was the only kid in town that I'd seen.Later our cab driver that 3 couples hired together so we could have him drive us all over the island, told us why the children lived away from their parents. Also, (and a real eye opener to myself) that the cutie in red wasn't a cripple till her mom tied a rubber band around her arm so she could beg. Could not get my mind around a thought like that because of where I'd been raised. Of course, that is the only way they could survive. And things haven't changed much, have they? Just more.I was pleased to see how bright and cheerful the schools were decorated on your vterals. Enjoy every moment.
Miriam Education is the key, I can't even imagine tecnaihg children to beg, makes me shudder.I love this program, thank goodness someone is trying to make a difference in these kids lives.Children should be allowed to be kids, and enjoy, be happy, learn, feel safe.