This is where I am right now http://www.veranda-resort.com/index.php
I was at this very pool from this angle about 10 min ago. This has been a welcomed and long overdue treat for myself. I was in desperate need of a HOT shower. It has been about 4 weeks without HOT water and the soapy residue was building up in addition to dead skin on the old bode. Shed about 2 pounds after the scrub down.
Election day is here but with me holing up in this hill side resort, I am not sure what is going on in town. I was out on Friday and saw several morning rallies of motos with babies and flags and a stream of fast moving Lexus SUVs. I was on my 1 speed bike minding my own business trying to avoid the puddles and dips in the road and then I had to contend with these crazy drivers in cars because they break for no one. By 10am it was all over just in time for the local 11am morning meal.
I am happy to report the laptop booted again and keeping me company at Veranda. I am on my private veranda with a sea view through the dense vegetation. The birds are chirping calling me to come for a hike in the National Park a short 500 meters away. This park seems to be mostly maintained by the owner of the Led Zep Café and kudos to him for maintaining the trails and beautifying it in places with flowers and nice places to sit. I stopped at Led Zep this week and enjoyed the view to the sea and his photo gallery of early Kep and rockers of the 70’s. Here is some more information I found online about Led Zep Café and the National Park.
Led Zep Cafe
The Led Zep Cafe is the only restaurant located directly at the Kep National Park trek. The owner Christian is like an unofficial guard with his 'Squirrel Association' who takes very good care of the National Park, cleans it regularly, put up signs and even a trivia around the park.
The cafe, located above Vanna bungalows, has an open air balcony with a 180degree view over Kep and the Gulf of Thailand. You can get some snacks and cold drinks. There is also a photo exhibition of old pictures of Kep (around 1960).
Defenitely worth a visit, since it is Christian alone who takes excellent care of the park, and this without getting any salary.
http://www.virgintrails.com/2010/10/16/kep-mountain-trail/
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/cambodia/travel-tips-and-articles/76687
The story of Kep’s transformation can be told through the history of iconic local, the Led Zep Café. A few years ago, the Led Zep Café celebrated a prime position right on the main roundabout in the Cambodian beach resort town. The furniture was a deliriously mismatched jumble of cane and rattan from local markets, and Christian the pony-tailed French owner was often out and about exploring the forested hills above the sleepy town. Six years on, Christian’s pioneering strolls now form a well-marked series of jungles treks through the surrounding hills, and the Led Zep has moved to a larger and less incongruous hillside location with Gulf of Thailand views. But in this sleepy town morphing from a backpackers’ haven to a flashpackers’ resort, it’s still a top place for cold Angkor beer. Especially after a tropical afternoon negotiating Christian’s DIY walking trails.
Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/cambodia/travel-tips-and-articles/76687#ixzz2aJHjsUOs
This week was a busy week with a group of high school students from Holland coming to visit for 2 days. They had activities to do with our students from trying to get a pencil tied to your backside into a bottle by squatting over the bottle to playing Halla Galla, football, cards, and singing and dancing. The one day of rain did not dampen their spirits. Everyone was out sliding along the grass.
Two volunteers have finished their month and three more come today. The bunk house will be full.
This week I will be starting arts & crafts with students who show up early and will run this until supplies dwindle. There will also be a dental clinic going on for the students during the week. Never a dull moment at Kep Gardens. The math lessons continue and they are making progress.
Thank you very much to the people who have sent books to the school’s library. It seems like packages make it OK but letters not. I am still waiting on 2 letters.
Another benefit of living in Kep is going for massages at Rega where there is a Seeing Hands spa - massage by blind Cambodians. I will be going for my third massage. To learn about this wonderful initiative click here Seeing Hands.
I am very fortunate to have this opportunity to work with students eager to interact with foreigners, to meet many interesting people along the way, and to live in Kep where a HOT shower can make me feel like a million bucks. And to have the time to read. Finished “Is that thing a Diesel” by Paul Carter; a fun read.
