A Holiday to Remember

Since we have been going non-stop since we got here, we are thankful for the break and a chance to get away to the Cambodian coast.
We travelled in a 12 passenger vehicle (all the Cambodians would call it a 22 seater) almost 5 hours on a road that felt crazy and dangerous to us. There is no easy feeling of passing multiple vehicles on the left side of the road as all the traffic is heading into you, somehow, the vehicles either move off the road or else we duck back into our lane at the last minute because the vehicle heading toward us is a bigger vehicle (like a logging truck).

We left for the coast at Sihanoukville after school on Friday with a large group of staff from our school. The back hatch of the vehicle was left partially open to help accommodate all the luggage that was sticking fortuitously out of the back of the van. Our Khmer driver did a good job covering it with a plastic sheet in case it started raining on us. Aside: When we booked the van, we did the math, we had 11 people in our van and the driver, except we failed to realize that they drive in partners. So we had 13 in the 12 passenger vehicle. So Les and the girls were hot and squished in the back of the van. We did have A/C but it seemed to have little effect in the back where the hatch was partially open. We were all fatigued when we arrived later that evening around 9 pm.

We stayed at a very nice place just off the water ($40/night). Although I have never had a holiday in Mexico, the Spanish architecture of red roof tiles and red clay floor tiles gave me some odd sense of the familiar. For our family of 5, our room was large and the girls quickly noticed we had a TV. Since this is something we have not watched since we left Canada, it was something to look forward to as we fell asleep. I did notice a number of Mosquitos in the room, so before we went to bed, I did spray the room with some Raid. The odd Gecko somehow made it in and out of the room as we fell asleep.

The next day, we decided to go with to a beach that was farther away. We took off with the Freedberg family, also a new family to Cambodia, and shared a tuk tuk together to Otres Beach. As we bartered to get a ride from a local driver, the Tuk driver was explaining why we would have to pay $6 to take us to this far beach. He explained that there was a big hill that used lots of gas to get us to this beach. O.K. lets pay him for his efforts. We were taken! As we were traveling for maybe 5 minutes, we arrived at the bottom of this "hill" where he promptly told us he didn't have the power to get us up to the top anyways!

We climbed up this hill to a resort situated quietly at the top. Very beautiful sites from here. When we walked over to the other side of the hill we saw a very quiet beach. As we started to descend to the beach, the rain started to come down. We managed to get to a grass roof building that was situated right on the beach front. We were all in awe as we stared and marveled at the color of the water. The water was so blue, the rain so pure, and it all seemed like such a contrast to the city environment of Phnom Penh.

As we were trying to avoid the rain, we stayed in this hut. Inside the grass roofed building was this guy, (it seemed to be a restaurant). He showed very little interest in us and he seemed pretty content to just sit and watch the rain pour down on the deserted beach. We did the same. After about 10 minutes, we decided to go into this body of water, “The Gulf of Thailand”- wow- was it warm. I mean, really nice and warm. With the waves consistently crashing on us and on the yellow sandy beach- there was nothing better at this point - it was awesome. Some moments you wish could last forever, this was one of them. Here I was, I was swimming in the warmest water I had ever experienced, during a rain storm, playing in some terrific large waves, and watching my family having a ball, smiling, laughing, and we were all alone. It was almost an out of body experience- how could this even be real?

Well after a short while, the rain stopped, we had lunch at this place on the beach, and when we were done eating, other people started to show up. A large group of Koreans showed up with all their beach stuff. A couple of peddlers showed up trying to sell a string bracelet to anyone. Maya was creating a stir with her whiteness and her cuteness. At that time we knew it was time to go.

The rest of the trip was great, but nothing seemed to capture that time we had at Otres beach on that first day. There are other stories, but I will leave them for now. I am sure Les will add her thoughts on the trip.

Oddly enough the trip was relaxing, yet the 4+ hour drive back to Phnom Pehn is harrowing enough to stress anyone to require another holiday back to the coastal beach. That just seems to be the way it goes here in Cambodia.

Blessings to you all.

Dean