We arrived in the port town of Ban Phe @ around 1pm. Ban Phe is just out of Rayong. We had researched Ban Phe on the net and found a gorgeous beach with some acomodation- not so cheap. We found a taxi to take us there- WELL it was a run dowm maybe once lively beach town. The rooms were worse than 3 rate hell holes and soooo expensive- the beaches were littered with rubbish- oh no - not for us so jumped in the first moto taxi we found and off straight back to Ban Phe town. Found a room that passed with a push- well a BIG push for the price but again too worn out to bother looking anymore- we were still sore and tired from carrying those bloody heavy backpacks thru Pattaya for god knows how long the night before. The hotel had a great bar and restaurant tho- so after a walk thru the port and town thinking what the hell are we doing here we settled for a few- ok quite a few cold singhas and some really good food at the hotel bar. To get out of there and to the border @ Hat Lek was the next issue- NO mini buses were going for 2 days !!! The public buses are too erratic outthere so again no choice- if we wanted to get to that border the next day it was a taxi- wrangled one pretty cheap tho.
We had the taxi come at 7am Wednesday 11th- walked up to the 7/11 to get a coffe at 6am to wake up- saw one of the most incredible heart warming sights I think we have ever seen-9 monks walking all in a line from old down to young - it was so touching watching the buddhist monks and watching the beautiful Thai ppl waiting at the front of their shops-homes etc for the monks to pass so they could give their offerings and pray- we were in AWE- Kev quickly raced into the closest mini mart and boght the first thing he found- 2 bags of donuts- the monks accepted them gratefully :) This is one moment that will stay only in our hearts- something we wish you could all have seen- we didnt have our camera so we only hope you can close your eyes and imagine the sheer beauty of what we saw.............................
The drive to the Hat lek border crossing was uneventfull- some beautiful scenery- quite bizarre really - particularly the last 15 or so klms- to your right was a vast oceon- to your left was the furthest extreme- a thick heavy jungle. And so we arrive at the border. Goodbye for now Thailand-pretty sure we left a big part of our hearts behind. Passing out of Thailand was pretty easy-passport stamped with exit stamp and the Thai border official wishing us well- his final words to us were "good luck "
No mans land is only about 100 metres long - it was quite an incredible feeling being NOWHERE- literally standing in the middle of nowhere- it puts a new spin on that old saying now. Whoaaaaa and then we hit Cambodia- or as Lonely Planet says- Scambodia. The minute we stepped in we were flanked but 2 or 3 young men (TOUTS) advising we had to go to quarantine official- this cost 20 baht each for him to confirm we were healthy- how he knew I have no idea coz he didnt even glance at us- the next min these boys had our passports- filled in our enty forms- (luckily we already had our visas)took us to get photographed then passports stamped within a couple minutes-(found us a taxi to the bus station and sold us our bus tickets to Sihanoukville as well in that time.) Getting into the taxi the 2 touts asked Kev for money- the said well we did all that work for you- WTF ????? they wanted 100 baht- they got 20. Dont think we made a good impression on the Cambo ppl :/ Its also left hand drive here so its soooo wierd driving down what we call the wrong side of the road and remembering to look to your left first when crossing a road
The bus station is a clay pit- we hadnt eaten- it was 11-45 when we arrived there- all we cld bring ourselves to buy to eat was a sealed packet of oreos- tried our first Cambo beer- Angkor- hmmmmm not impressive- nothing like Singha- but then again it was warm as well. Bus which was called a VIP coach finally left the bus station at 12.20. was a relief to be out of the heat dirt and mud and into some air con .
The first 2+ hours of the ride to Sihanoukville was pretty scary to say the least !!!! It was a narrow winding road going up over and down the mountains- I sat by the window- saw some pretty awfull left overs from the many many accidents which must occur on this road on a daily basis- was so glad when we got back down to the flats-didnt like the drive at all- dont know if I wld ever do it again-your heart is in your mouth for a lot of it. And to think I wouldnt get on the propellor plane !!!!!!!!!! It wld have been safer !!!!!!!!!
Did see some awesome country side tho- some beautiful homes and many poor villages.
Its a very wet country- im not surprised there are so many mozzies. Loads of clay and sand-very different from Thailand- I said to Kev when we where in the bus that to look at some of the country side we cld have been in Australia, he agreed.
Finally arrived - worn out AGAIN in Sihanoukville bus station-Again think we upset the Cambos when we agreed to $6 for a taxi to OTRES beach then we were told we werent getting the taxi but a moto taxi for the same price-after arguing with the guys they relented and we got the taxi !!!
The drive to otres was short- 7 klms from the bus station- the last 2 or so k is a boggy wet clay road lined with homeless locals in make shift housing- pretty sad sight. Found bungalows for $18 - too expensive but again we were exhausted-had an amazing curry on the beach and went to bed- we were just so tired.
There is nothing in otres as we found in the morning- the beach was awfull- littered with everything you cld imagine- even a syringe- outa there we decided- in a moto taxi to the more civilised Serendipity beach- found a great place to stay with a pool as well- cheaper- and thats where we are now.
5 different beds in as many days is pretty exhausting.
Its very different here- very different from Thailand- its hard not to make comparisons-we dont find the local ppl very friendly-Kev recons the food isnt too bad- me ? well I have been a bit sik since we arrived so havent eaten much- much better today tho thank god !! Havent really even drank- me that is Kevs doin well on the local beer. Again I compare- I have never been unwell in Thailand nor had a concern if I did become unwell- here it scared me a bit.
We went for a walk yesterday along Serendipity beach- its lovely -lined with beach front bars and restaurants-all with thatched roofs-we sat and had a drink and some lunch-lots of kids selling bracelets etc... we refused to buy- apparantly this keeps the kids out of school while theyre earning. When Kevin refused one boy around 12 yrs old and sed "im not buying- you shld be at school" the boy snapped back- no work no live- well strangely enough thats NO DIFFERENT from anywhere in the world.
We watched a woman begging for some time- she carried a little agelic girl about 2 yrs old. The little one was what I wld call unconcious- I remember seeing this in Bangkok with babies of beggars- a policeman there told me they drug their children to make them look asleep from illness. This poor beautiful angel baby had a twisted severely scarred from burns leg- we were shattered at this sight- we watched mum clutching the child sit beside a tree- a young boy- maybe 11 or so-maybe her son? came to her- out of her pckets and a small bag on her hip came so much cash we were floored- they sat counting the money in full view of us- beaming from ear to ear - while this baby girl lay across her mother without the slightest movement- so many american dollars were in those WADS of cash they counted. Maybe close to $100 - AND the day was young- it was only 3pm- The woman hid the money in a pocket and then walked away- clutching the child-ensuring her poooor little leg was in full view to more un suspecting tourists- sad face-begging for money.....................Need I say more....................I felt my heart break and heard kevins break for that baby girl. Not NIce . :,(
Bye for now. xxxxxxx
