Left the hotel this morning at 9.00 for a day trip to the national park... It was established in 1993 and the day tour includes a boat ride through the mangrove, a short hike over a hill to a white sandy beach, followed by lunch, and views of the mangroves from a lookout..
Ok now that was what the brochure said.. Unfortunately the morning was shite, overcast, cloudy with pockets of rain included, but still temperature hovering in the high 20's. As today was a free day some of our group had privately booked their own tour in town, and some of us booked through our hotel.. Departure times were 8.30 and 9.00am respectively. However this is Cambodia so departure time was 8.45 and included both parties.. (should have known better!!).
We picked up another tourist, Michael who is doing asia before returning to America for an operation, which he was happy to report has cost so far $100,000 for his knee and $15,000 for his teeth all damaged through a car accident.. has anyone else noticed how forthcoming americans are with their medical conditions or history? Just an observation on my part... Nice guy.. (But he should have know better too, given it clearly states a hike over a hill!).
We also joined up with 4 Australians who are touring Cambodia and Thailand before returning to Melbourne.. (Robyn, Andrew, Robert, Franco).. The boat (which i will post photos of later) was captained by the locals, and was essentially a long boat with a tarpaulin on top... turning was managed by the judicious pull and tug of a piece of rope and only done when absolutely necessary... Cruising down the estuary the people were harvesting oysters in the middle of the water which is a local source of employment, as is the catching of mangrove crabs. The water was quite deceptive, fast flowing and then in the midst of it was a large sandbank that people were walking along. Odd really.. Anyway, we saw a number of birds that were as larger than our hawks but I couldn't catch the name of them.. our tour guide was up one end of the boat and i was down the other and trying to hear him over the sound of the outboard was impossible, so just nodding and smiling kept him happy and me ignorant.
We neared a village which was the starting point for our hike over the hill and to the beach for a swim... ..Did i mention that the turning of the boat was on an as needs basis?? Well it was needed, but a little bit too late and the bugger managed to beach us on a sandbank so over the side we went, and had to walk to shore which was about 20meters away... (and so it began!) Do you mind leeches he asks as were hiking up the hill? Perhaps it was the look of horror that prompted him to say, um, but it's the wet season so there shouldn't be any... yeah right!! I think I added another 2 kilometers avoiding any water (except the sea of course, had no choice in that one) but arrived safely on the beach... Went to the sheds to change into togs... Couldn't see the point in not swimming, it was only blowing a storm with a nasty rip running through it... Water was so storm tossed it was black but hell, when else will I be able to say I swam in the South China Sea... In any event the water was deliciously warm albeit rough and dark... One of the girls went to the toilet and came out crying.. apparently she was being watched through a pee-phole. So the Australians, gathered around her and comforted her.. Nice really, me I just wanted to find the little blighter, but couldn't find him.. Our guide asked if we were hungry, of course we yelled in unison. Afterall, we'd just hiked a hill been swimming for an hour so yes a bit of food was definately in order.... So guess what... Yep the food was on the stranded boat, so back over the freaking hill we go... Actually I was laughing by then, between the bad weather, the bad beach, the bad peeper it just got funnier to me.. The boat was listing on it's side, so in our absence the two deck hands had gone to sleep.. so it was back through the water to the boat, trousers soaking wet, shoes ruined... Lunch was nice though, barracuda (a fish I would never eat back home) the proverbial bread and salad... Can of drink bottle of water and fresh fruit to finish... having to balance your meal on a sideways boat was hilarious... About 3 people on the boat had cuts on their feet from the shells walking out to the boat so out came the bandages from their packs.. the boat didn't have a first aid kit, or life jackets for that matter either.. (just realised that, it's so not NZ)...
The captain then said we could either, push the boat out to deeper water, or we could sit for another 3 hours until the tide came in sufficiently to float the boat... So you guessed it, over the side everyone went and started pushing the boat.. Many jumped back into the boat prematurely and got it stuck again, so back over the side we went... In the end the Aussie men and i were left pushing / pulling and we knew it was riding easier in the water, so they yelled at me to get in... putting pressure on my foot to lift it was a BIG mistake... it got stuck in the mud, but I had also managed to haul my other leg over the side of the boat.... one leg over, one leg stuck in mud and a bloody metal pole now getting rammed between the two on account of the boat was moving and I wasn't.... So yep, guess who goes under? The girl from down under... I don't know whats with mechanical transportation, south east asia and me... (next trip I take will be a walking or cycling tour only).. I sputtered to the surface looking for sympathy, and got only a standing ovation.. Apparently it was the highlight of the day, brats... Got me laughing too and I sooooo wanted to be outraged but it was too ridiculous to do anything else but laugh... I mean how many people pay for the pleasure of pushing someone elses boat through a mangrove swamp?? Oh I know that would be 11.
Anyway went to dinner with the Ossies tonight.. fantastic people, just laughed, enjoyed each others company for dinner we had:
Battered prawns, Ginger chicken, Chicken Curry with rice, spring rolls, steamed prawns with Sangria and beer cost $5 each...
Tomorrow will be a down day, looking forward to reading a book, a traditional Cambodian massage 2 hours $12, and resting.. we leave the following day for Phenom penh which I'm sure will be an emotionally draining time and after that we will be in Vietnam...
Can't believe how quickly this is going, but loving everyday...
It's 11.00pm now and only 28degrees so should sleep well tonight..
Alissa oops the trip cost $20 and included being picked up and delivered back to the hotel, the trip the lunch the trek, the swim, the exercise etc but not the dinner..
Actually I should say that according to our tour leader this is the most unsafe town next to Phenom Penh.. but nothing has happened to us.. Michael however said that he was pulled over by the police for not wearing a helmet, wrote him out a ticket for 50c and charged him $10 so he felt as if he'd been robbed... Toughen up boyo... (oh yes you can buy a cambodian licence here too, but I was asked by my leader not too.. so my Xmas gift to me, is a motorbike licence and then a bike back home)
Till next time :o) xoxoxo
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