Stories from Kampot

So..... here are some photos from a cool weekend with one of my favourite people in the entire world.

The thing is, I very rarely book accommodation on weekend's away.  A cursory glance at my aptitudes will tell you that anything that looks, smells or in any other way vaguely resembles admin causes all manner of frightening symptoms to break out immediately.  The only relief is for me to run, wailing, in the opposite direction.  I have a great number of structured, organised friends who take care of these jobs while I contribute to a weekend away in other ways.. making sure there is a camera on hand, asking if breakfast in included in the accommodation price and over-packing, because who knows what I wil feel like wearing tomorrow?!

My dear friend Claire came to visit for a few weeks and in a fit of excitement I wrote down some ideas of places we could visit on weekends. After some discussion we settled on Kampot.  Some keywords popped into my head as I pondered where we should stay.  River... bungalow... live music... great people.  A river bungalow with live music and great people. Surely a win!  I quickly looked at the guesthouse in question's website and as it was 2 days before we were due to leave (see admin aversion above), hurriedly booked us a riverside bungalow.

After a grotto bus ride during which the grossest curtain imaginable gently brushed against my skin, and I periodically informed Claire, "Oh I definitely recognise this area, we're nearly there" (we were never nearly there) we arrived and squeezed, bags and all onto one moto.

Oh boy, this story is going nowhere slowly but bare with me, I'm nearly done.

As we descended the gangplank to our bungalow my heart soared while my stomach sank (don't over think it).  We had this view (see first picture) but I hadn't realised there was only a communal bathroom, which is pretty much the worst thing ever.  However, we had this view and could jump right out of room into the water, which is pretty cool.

Later on in the night we realised the live music was also very loud, late night music and our bed sat at a roughly 85 degree angle.  Also, in an attempt at conversation with a young British boy, I misheard him say friends as parents and proceeded to ask him where his parents were in a conciliatory tone.  He was mortified at such a thought and we came to the tacit agreement that it was altogether more pleasant to just listen to the music. Oh and one last thing... while jumping out your room into the water is fun,  if you're under 5'5 and/or have no upper body strength, make sure to have a tall friend around.  I hear that you may find it impossible to get out the water, leaving you with option A) bob down to the main deck and step, dripping, over the backpackers sprawled out or B) shriek and dissolve in unhelpful giggles while your tall friend tries to pull you out.

Those bikes, are really that tiny. Also, Claire's well earned drink of water was rudely interrupted by a dog marking it's territory.. although it's photo bombing gift is pretty impressive.

Kampot is the main pepper growing region in Cambodia.  Kampot pepper is one of the best peppers in the world and if the official website is to be believed "it develops an enthralling aroma, strong, delicate and aromatic."  So here it is, drying in the sun. Uh, this man appears to be checking on it.. Moving right along.

The pork ribs at Rusty Keyhole, a restaurant along the river, are legen(pause)dary. For a few dollars we got a massive plate of ribs, which the guys at the next table informed us we'd never finish.  Right, well now the challenge was on.  Their most stunning feature, besides the taste and tenderness is that there were hardly any bones, just chunks of delicious meat!  While we ate the manager's daughter came to sit with us and commandeered my camera while chatting happily about her dress and the photos she was taking.  Oh and we almost finished the ribs before conceding defeat.

We lay on the deck of our guesthouse and played that old favourite, "Cloud Pictures".  See the squirrel?

Kampot is a lovely little town and I'm so glad I got to experience it for the first time with such a good friend.  Besides eating meat and drinking beer, we enjoyed leisurely cycles, some really great live music, card games with friends we made at the guesthouse, a sampling of some of the other eateries in Kampot, a bit of reading and journalling, great conversations and lots of swimming. And we had views like this from our room:

The Countdown Begins

One of my favourite Christmas traditions is the advent calendar.  Before I joined Pinterest all I knew were the cardboard ones from CNA with a chocolate hidden behind each little door.  Part of the challenge was to stick to only 1 chocolate a day until the grand prize on the 24th, an extra big, Father Christmas shaped choc if I remember correctly.

Now I know that advent calendars come in all shapes and sizes and this year there will be no daily chocolate, but instead a daily activity.  Every day, from today until the 21st December my housemate and I will open an envelope, inside which will be an activity.

DAY 1:

We chose one Christmas episode from How I Met Your Mother and from New Girl.  Both were hilarious and a good end to the weekend as well as a great start to our advent fun.

Start dancing lessons... check.

image credit

This year has been full of firsts.. countries, friends, jobs.  Not to mention new experiences such as eating crickets and frogs and joining the ranks of the moto driving populace.  Lately however, the excitement has worn off as I've gotten into the routine of working and not everything is new anymore.  I've been feeling like a I need a new challenge, something out of the ordinary to do.

I have an extensive bucket list which is ever growing in length and scope.  Ever the optimist, it includes things like, watch the migration ove the Serengeti from a hot air balloon. (However, earlier drafts have been modified e.g. "Do the Dusi".. ya.. never going to happen).  

For years I've wanted to learn to dance and after discovering that Phnom Penh has salsa classes on offer and at the invitation of my friend Katie, I finally went to a class last Wednesday.  I had 2 major concerns:

1) whether or not I would get the steps

2) my lack of a partner

Katie gave me a quick crash course before the class started which helped immensely and despite a few false starts, it didn't take long to catch on.  Regarding the partners, to my surprise the ratio of men to women was hopeful and we rotated partners so that avoided the angst of hoping someone will pick you!  My partners were a motley crue:

1 guy was so tall that my shoulder started cramping

1 had flamboyant movements that totally threw me off and I kept losing count

1 was as clueless as me and so we kept peering over at the instructor to figure out how exactly we were both supposed to spin at the same time without letting go of each other's hands

1 was slightly self deprecating which made him the nicest to dance with

They were all great and it wasn't intimidating at all.  I can't wait to go back next week.  A few changes will be made however.. I wil not wear slops, I will introduce myself to my partner before we take hold of each other and start dancing and I will keep a beady eye out for potentially foot impaling heels.. 

A Weekend in Kep

A few weeks ago some friends and I headed to a little coastal town called Kep for the weekend.  Kep was a seaside resort during French colonial times, and many once beautiful French homes now stand empty and derelict.  My small town heart comes alive in a place like Kep.  The natural beauty, quiet roads and open spaces do wonders for my soul and it was a wonderful weekend of hanging out and relaxing.  No good holiday is complete without delicious food and a highlight was the Nutella and banana laden pancake I had at a restaurant called Led Zep.  Led Zep is set pretty high up on the mountain and has a picturesque view as well as old photographs showing life in Kep circa 1960 and onwards.

My friend Michelle kindly lent me her camera for the weekend and I thrived at the opportunity to use something quite a few notches up from my point and shoot:)

Recent Highlights

I recently finished my 2 month teaching stint and, with the onset of Summer holidays, am relishing working afternoons only.  Holidays started 10 days ago, with what will go down as one of my favourite weekends in Phnom Penh.

First up was dinner at the river side and then a long anticipated trip to Dreamland, an amusement park. The combining factors of growing up on a farm in a small town and being an avid reader meant certain things were formed in my imagination as a child that have had a hold on me ever since.  Things like circuses, hot air balloons, Brownies and Girl Scouts, and amusement parks to name a few.

Imagine my delight at visiting a bonafide theme park.. Besides the Royal Show in Pietermaritzburg and some other rides in East London, I'v never been to an amusement park!

First up was the bumper cars, during which I felt my spine disconnect and hang in mid air on 2 occassions after being rammed from the side.  As they say, it is better to ram than to be rammed and so my goal became to avoid getting hit, a moderately successful endeavour.  In among taking various posed shots with statues of Batman, Superman and newlyweds we made our way to Jack's Ice Cream.  Ordering ice cream proves to be the greatest challenge of the night as the lady behind the counter had lightning fast movements and before a sentence was complete had handed over an ice cream holding the flavours you may or may not have been attempting to ask for.  Coke floats, unexpectedly flavoured ice cream found it's way into a few hands before we got the hang of it..  The trick was to get your request out really fast but also be watching carefully and halt her mid scoop if she was putting on the wrong flavour.  Nevertheless the ice cream was delicious!

Next up was the Ferris Wheel.  The company was good, the breeze was cool and the city lights provided a romantic view.  I loved it.  Unfortunately we had arrived quite late and so the park closed before we could go on any other rides but I've sussed it out and next time there shall be whirling tea cups, a carousel, swings and maybe even some ride where you get strapped in and flung around and around..maybe..

• Making an awesome new friend
• Madagascar 3 in 3D (watch this awesome preview if you're not yet convinced you should see it)
• Getting whatsapp - making communication with faraway friends much easier.
• Chancing upon a great read, "Peace Like A River" by Leif Enger.  It's a captivating story of fierce, unconditional love and redemption and is a lyrical and evocatively written book
• Having time to myself 
• Devotions on a quiet beach in Sihanoukville
• Those moments in conversation where your heart soars with the resonance of another's words
• Discovering fresh strawberry smoothies at the market near my house