koh ru, bangkok and guests who keep us from blogging (through no fault of their own)

Hello!


Apologies for the lack of blogging lately, I looked back to see where we were when we last posted and it was Phnom Penh. Oops! Much has happened since then, so for convinience sake, I will go chronologically...

After exploring the central market in PP (thus far takes the cake for the craziest and most hectic market we've seen), we discovered that transportation to Kampot and Kep from Phnom Penh was more of a myth, and that the two towns were more easily reached via Cambodia's beach destination, Sihanoukville. While the prospect of visiting a crowded beach full of foreigners wasn't the most exciting prospect, we reckoned we would stay the night there and venture onwards to Kampot/Kep the next day, slowly making the loop back up to Phnom Penh for our flight out to Bangkok. Upon arrival in Sihanoukville, we settled nicely into a small bungalow about 5 minutes away from the beach and decided to explore the area a bit moving on...As we arrived late in the evening on the first night, we decided to stay a second night to have a full day in the area before moving onwards the day after.

The second night we were in Sihanoukville, we found a small cinema which had private viewing rooms (with a huge selection of films) or a larger viewing area, complete with private futon style balconies and huge recliners to enjoy the film. Admission was $3, and Slumdog Millionaire was playing. For those of you who have seen the brilliance of this film, you can understand our enjoyment and enhanced anticipation of arrival in India. For those of you who have not seen it - close this blog now, get off your butt and see it. Then return and finish reading.

In our exploration, we found that there was a small island, a 10 minute boat ride from Sihanoukville, named Bamboo Island. The small mainland booking office boasted beach side bungalows and a relaxed atmosphere. Naturally, we were drawn to the prospect and decided to forgo the journey to Kampot but simultaneously escape the hoards of tourists in Sihanoukville by visiting Bamboo Island, and Koh Ru (home to one sleeping dorm and ten beach side bungalows, plus one restaurant). We eagerly clutched our boat tickets, anticipating two and a half days of heavenly crystal clear water, white sand and all the good stuff which comes with South East Asian islands.

The boat ride turned out to be a boat tour, though we did not pay the extra $15 to have lunch. Expecting a ferry ride straight to the island, we were a bit put off when the boat pulled over for snorkelling. Fortunately for me, I was wearing my swimsuit and rather than sit in the boat while everyone happily splashed before my eyes, I jumped into the water asap. Jay stayed in the boat, having unfortunately chosen not to wear his bathing suit that morning and was obviously unable to change at that point. Finally, the boat dropped off the "ferry fare" group on the island while the rest of the group set out for a picnic lunch, which I suspect consisted of questionable sandwiches and white rice. Jumping off the boat, Jay and I looked around at the bungalows and beach in front of us. Uhh...this certainly was not Koh Ru, or at least was not the Koh Ru advertised on the mainland. (Sidenote: for those of you familiar with the hijinx of the Berentstein Bears, I felt the same way sister and brother bear did when the cottage they had fantasized about turned out to be nothing more than a dingy shack in the middle of a less than appealing environment.)
Tentatively, we approached the reception to ask if this could possibly be Koh Ru. "No." answered the receptionist gruffly, "other side of island. Ten minute walk." Hope remained. After walking through the lush and cool jungle, we arrived on an untouched, gorgeous stretch of beach which seemed miles away from Sihanoukville and the other side of the island. Phew. We checked in and spent two and a half days swimming, reading, building sand castles, eating Khmer curry and napping in hammocks. Suffice to say, the days passed quickly (funny how that happens when you really aren't doing much) and we found ourselves back on the dingy side of the island to catch the boat back to Sihanoukville.

Our emotions were mixed. Mostly, we were sad to leave Cambodia because we both had immensely enjoyed our experience there - the good, the bad and the ugly. Leaving Koh Ru was tough too, because we had not yet enjoyed such a relaxed and untouched beach bungalow (though we are working on that). Despite all these feelings of sadness, we were beyond excited to get back to Thailand because brother Karl, auntie M.J, uncle Emilios and Mama D were all on their way to Bangkok. Jay and I hopped on a bus to the airport, and before we knew it, we were on a plane touching down in Bangkok.

Our love to Cambodia - a wonderful, incredible land which we hope to see emerge from the stunted years of darkness into prosperous light that fills every corner of the country.

Happily, our flight happened to coincide with auntie's, and we arrived in Bangkok at the airport but 30 minutes before she did. We all had a joyous reunion - Emilios was already at the airport, much to our surprise - and said we would probably see one another next in Phuket, as Jay and I headed down to Khao San road and Auntie and Uncle went to Bang Phli to see Uncle Doug and Uncle Thom. (I have been reading an excessive amount of Indian literature. Please forive the overuse of formal titles.)

Karl arrived safely the next morning, and has been enjoying the freedom from winter, work and reality in general since he has arrived. We visited Wat Pho, which houses the huge reclining Buddha, we visited Siam Square and the malls therein, and yesterday we feasted in Little Arabia. Today we will be flying out of Bangkok and into Phuket. Tomorrow, Mama arrives
in Bangkok and the day after that we will be reunited on the beaches of Phuket!!!!!!!

All things considered, may be a while until we post again. But don't worry, you aren't missing much. Can't get much out of a post which consists entirely of beach life...

"Today we swam. Then we read. Then we played frisbee. Then we ate lunch..."

Much love to everyone from Bangkok and the beaches of Thailand,

Maeve, Jay and Karl