The Last 3 Days of Sihanoukville

The next 3 days of Sihanoukville are more of a blur of events and happenings that I can summarize easily in one blog.

I had gotten into a bit of stressful contact via email from back in the states, and it was preoccupying my mind and experience our here on the Cambodian beach. I realized that if I were to enjoy this relaxing setting, I should really just stay away from the internet, especially first thing in the morning. Alas, I am addicted, especially around the times that I write and post blogs- I get lots of responses back, and I like reading them! Nonetheless, while reading through my usual cheerful and positive emails, there were a few misunderstandings that needed to be dealt with, and I felt powerless to resolve them from my far away location of Cambodia. So, I decided to try and leave this stuff behind that I could not do anything about, and kept trying to relax on the beach and got approached approximately 4 times per minute by people trying to sell me boat trips as I lay on a beach chair on a beach somewhere, until finally when the 5th guy approached with his board full of photos and descriptions of boat trips, I cried out to him before he could fully approach 'I can not talk about boat-trips right now! I just want to relax! Please don't try and sell me a boat-trip package!' and promptly burst into tears. This guy was super nice and put his board to the side, and sat down on a beach chair next to me, and in his limited english, asked me what was wrong. I didn't go into great detail, but just told him I was having troubles from back home and felt powerless to fix them, and felt very lonely being so far away, and that it didn't help matters that people only talk to me to try and sell me something. He was very sweet, and listened, and offered words of comfort, and finally, came up with some advice. "I think that you should be happy, and, just forget about this stuff. And, you should come on this boat-trip with me tomorrow, and forget all about your problems!" :)

I thanked the boat-trip-seller guy for being a kind stranger and offering comfort, and promptly approached a Cambodian woman named Nung who had been trying to offer me a massage just a few minutes earlier who I had turned down. Again- why resist? So, she gave me a most excellent $5 massage on the beach chair in the sun, and my troubled-mind and tense body melted away into her nurturing hands and into the sounds of the ocean.

That evening I probably just took it easy- did a bit of blogging, had a good dinner at the guesthouse, a little Connect-4, and early to bed with a good book.

The next morning, I joined Joe, our Australian guesthouse owner, on his boat, along with about 6 other tourists for an all-day excursion. We just took a nice trip out for about an hour to a remote island, dropped anchor, and hung out swimming and snorkeling in the water for a few hours. I flirted with a handsome Frenchman that I met in the water, and on the boat, I had excellent conversations with a young and enthusiastic Australian couple named Mollie and Nat, as well as a nice American from Oregon.

This crew was great company, and we all wound up fishing off the boat with fishing line tied to a plastic bottle given to us by one of the boat crew. We had a nice time of quietly waiting for a bite, when I found myself quite tired, and went and passed out on the roof of the boat for a bit (on this trip, I have become quite capable of sleeping almost anywhere, even the most uncomfortable and hard surfaces, and with loud noise!) until I awoke to Mollie saying she had caught something, and then hearing the words 'Seasnake! Seasnake!' and then Joe saying 'Don't you dare bring that seasnake onto MY boat!' I woke up and wriggled on my belly from my rooftop position to sneak a peak at this catch, and could see the line with a snake all coiling and struggling. Apparently, they let the snake go, and hopefully he made it out of the situation alive!

When we got back to the guesthouse, Nat, Mollie, Morgan and I spent hours and late into the night in the downstairs restaurant/bar area, playing Spades, Jenga, talking for hours, playing Connect 4, and playing dj with Sophar's ipod. It was really fun, and I actually indulged in a few mixed cocktails that Sophar gave me for free. For those of you who aren't aware of my drinking habits, I can tell you that the last drink I had was on Halloween of 2010, and before that, it was New Years 2009/2010! I was in the flow, having fun, and the drink was tasty (and free!) I had great conversations with Mollie that night as well as with everyone else, and didn't make it to bed until 1 or 2am. This is a rare bedtime for me in general, and especially on this trip! I have been more of an early-to-bed and early-to-rise type of traveler, especially with my non-alcohol drinking self! It was fun! That said, these types of evenings remain a rarity and a special occassion for me. I like feeling awake and aware too much, and meditating and practicing yoga and riding motorbikes!

The last day I got another massage from my lovely Nung on the beach, who after both massages gave me a surplus of hugs for no reason whatseover. I was incredibly greatful to her for this. It felt so good to be hugged, and I realized that through all of my travels, and all of the friends that I have made along the way, I am still missing some serious hugging-action! In these particular days I was feeling rather down-and-out despite all the fun goings-on, and homesick, and stressed about misunderstandings from back home, so, this hugging was particularly welcome and appreciated. Later that afternoon, I called up Ngan, a motorbike taxi driver who was particularly nice and had driven me and Joe on his motorbike to the dock the day before, and asked him if he would just take me around Sihanoukville to see the market and some other random and local sites.

Ngan came to pick me up, and we spent 2-3 hours out on his bike, and he dropped me off at the central market to explore. This was my favorite part of Sihanoukville. It was a beautiful beach town and lovely, but was quite touristy where I was staying. It was nice to get back to seeing the local life, and once again, I got TONS of excellent photos that I can't wait to post upon my return to the states in the near future.

When I parted ways with Ngan, I asked him 'How much do I owe you?' and he said 'It's up to you.' This was definitely new for me! Usually everywhere I have been in SE Asia, a great bargaining-duel ensues when it comes to such matters, but here was this sweet generous and gentle man saying 'you decide'. So, I paid him more than what most people would have probably asked for. He also asked me about my departure the next morning to Siem Reap, and when I told him I would be coming to meet my bus at 6:30am, he said he would be there to see me off. I was quite surprised by this, and wondered if I would indeed see him the next morning.

6:30 the next morning, I walked the 5-minute walk from my guesthouse along the beach to the main road, and halfway, there was Ngan, smiling and waving, keeping his promise to see me off. It was the sweetest thing, and I was quite touched. Before I got on my bus, I turned to say good bye to him and when he offered me his hand for a handshake, I instead threw my arms around him in a big hug. He was quite surprised and pleased, and we waved and waved, me from the bus and he from the road, watching the bus depart until we were out of sight. I was off to Siem Reap, the much talked-about location of Angkor Wat!