I went to Sihanoukville, a 4-hour bus drive south of Phnom Penh, at the recommendation of my first tuk-tuk driver in Phnom Penh, 'Ha.' His brother lives there, and he almost joined me on the bus to go for a little visit, but alas, I went alone. I kind of wish he had come so I could have had more of a local-insider's view- but instead, I wound up feeling a bit bombarded as a tourist, by all of the locals trying to sell me boat-tours, offering tuk-tuks and motorbikes, selling jewelry and trinkets, massage, manicures and pedicures, and kids making bracelets that spell your name.
That said, I have learned along the way that sometimes, resistance is futile, not to mention, can actually cause more stress than just giving in. Certainly, I am never going to buy something if I don't want it, but sometimes if the price is low, and I think I can give a little trinket to a friend or even another little kid along the way, then, it makes everybody happy, and a kid or even an adult seller will make what is a relatively decent amount of money, that to me is quite small. It is also an opportunity to interact on a slightly more personal level, once you give in to buying.
So, on my first morning, 3 kids approached me, trying to sell me bracelets with my name spelled out (they make it for you right then and there in 5-10 minutes with incredible speed and dexterity) as well as a 20-year old girl (who I would have pegged as 14, at most, but was pregnant with her 3rd child, and was TINY!) who was offering me a manicure and pedicure. I am not usually the 'mani-pedi' type, but she was offering both of these services for $4 total, and my feet had become quite unsightly over the many weeks and month of travel, so, I figured, what the heck, and allowed myself to be taken over by these 3 kids, and I commissioned a bracelet from 2 of them, and while they made my personalized bracelets ("one for your sister perhaps?") the other girl went to work beautifying my feet and hands. I feel a bit uncomfortable in some ways being 'served' in this way by kids, but I also know that it is a way that they are earning income to help themselves and their families, so, it is actually okay, and I was happy because I got to ask them lots of questions and get to know them during this 15-20 minute little session. The 20-year old girl tried to talk me in to a crazy 'hair-removal' technique that uses only baby powder and a string to pull hairs from a persons leg (or eyebrows, or wherever the person desires) it is crazy that it works! She demonstrated on a small patch of my leg to try and sell me this service, but it was too prickly and made me jump every time she succeeded in her mission.
After this, I wound up bumping into a woman named Amy that I had met the night before, and she was there with her friend Gillian, who had her 2 kids with her (9 year old Talia and 12 year old Trevor). My plans for the day consisted of wanting to hole up in my bungalow all day and do nothing but read, nap, and drink tea, but the family invited me to come with them on a day tour that involved a boat-ride through national park area of mangroves, and then a tuk-tuk ride to a Monastery. Gillian even offered to just pay for everything, and have me as their guest. How could I say no? These sorts of trips are the sort of thing that I would be unlikely to motivate to do on my own, and are much better enjoyed in a group setting like this, so, I joined them, and I am so glad I did!
We went in the tuk-tuk to a small fishing village, and took a nice small-motorized boat ride through the mangrove forests, and stopped at a long wooden bridge-platform that led us to a five-story wooden rickety viewpoint overlook that we climbed. We took some photos, and headed back to the boat. I spent my time talking to the Cambodian ranger, as well as listening to the enthusiastic and charming stories of Talia and Trevor. It was quite fun!
In the tuk-tuk ride to the temple, we all chatted and shared, and upon arriving at the monastery, we quickly wound up in conversation with many monks that were sitting on benches there. They wound up giving us each a blessing in the form of a white string around each of our wrists with a chanted incantation, it was quite lovely. Then I went exploring in one of the temples, and gave an offering of incense and prayers, and wound up giggling and joking around with a bunch of younger monks and temple boys. I got some fantastic photos of them all, and felt quite lucky at getting to experience the monks on such a level. In my experience so far in SE Asia, monks are pretty distant from interactions from women, so, this felt quite special. People have a lot of preconceived notions about what monks are 'supposed to be like', as though they are all serious and solemn and silent, but, they can be and often are quite silly, and many of them are but young adolescent boys!
We made our way back to town eventually, and went our separate ways. I wandered up and down the beach, and seeing many Cambodians wading in the ocean waves, I ran back to my bungalow to get my bathing suit, and went running into the ocean to soak in my favorite element in the universe- water. And, salty ocean water, especially! That evening I may have blogged, eaten dinner at my guesthouse, and played more Connect-4 with Sophar. Not a bad first day at all! I had been happy to be taken in by the family, and was looking forward to the next day of some solo relaxation on the beach. My 3.5 months of travel had been catching up with me for quite some time now, and though I had a slow and chilled out 2.5 weeks in Laos, even the 4 days in Phnom Penh had me worn out again already. Traveling is so amazing, but, especially on my own, it has been quite exhausting! Good thing I was in a beach town, where I could relax!
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