Kampot (18.02.22 - 05.03.22)
Friday 18th February 2022
Only 50 minutes to go before I trek through the jungle to get the boat to the mainland – bye bye Koh Ta Kiev, it has been bloody awesome but expensive. The sunset last night was beyond beautiful, the shades of red and orange so intense and the colour display lasted well over an hour. It’s the best I’ve seen so far. I’d like to say I’ve been 100% lazy and done absolutely nothing, but in fact, although I have been lazy I’ve also done a lot: finished and submitted assignment B, completed unite 1 (bar the assessment), read, splashed in the sea, went on a trek to another beach and hammocked 😊 It could be so easy to stay here and get lost, but it’s far too expensive for my budget – I’m gonna call it an early birthday present – happy birthday Ruth! Yep, I’m gonna miss the sound of the waves crashing into the shore and the animal noises from the jungle, I heard monkeys calling this morning and I’m especially going to miss this hammock, I feel like I have adopted it and should take it with me. But onward I go, there is a lot more to Cambodia than this beach.
Later – OMG – what a journey, the boat crossing was fine, so was the tuk-tuk to the airport crossroads, where I was told I could simply hail a minivan, ask if they are going to Kampot and jump in. Well, my lucky day there was a minivan already at the crossroad, so I jumped in and jumped about for well over an hour of the journey. The road was rough to say the least, bits of tarmac here and there but mainly red brick/stone/dust type stuff. The driver asked if I wanted to stop for water, not needing any, I said no, wish I hadn’t. It wasn’t long after that the driver kept falling asleep even though there was so much noise from the vehicle bouncing around on the road. So I pretended I needed the toilet just so he could get some fresh air. After the loo break we got flagged down by a little old lady who he insisted sit next to him in the front, and not only in the front but right next to him in the middle of the 3 front seats – I think from the lack of horn beeping, careful driving and animated chatting he had a fancy for her.
Cabana Kampot hostel, I’m going to like it here as long as I can get some more mosquito spray, we are literally on the river, I could jump in from my seat but 1. It looks really shallow, 2. It looks really murky and 3. I don’t like the look of the little worm type fish I keep seeing. The hostel is very chilled, only a handful of cabins and, I hope, only a short walk from town.
Saturday 19th February 2022
I had such a good night sleep. I love the room, lots of space for my clothes, even hangers, and a bedside cabinet, the balcony is very narrow, just enough space for a chair and small table. I also love the fact that I can use English plugs in the sockets – this means I can charge everything, more or less, at once.
I had a realization yesterday as to why I am having little old lady issues with things as simple as walking upstairs with extra high uppers, being totally antisocial, lethargic and sweating like a pig once the sun is down, or rather hot flushing like a beached whale. My new, self-prescribed HRT schedule is not working, and it all makes sense as it is now almost 3 months since I changed it. I was wearing one of each, at the same time, the whole time. To try to make the patches I have with me last the duration of the trip I thought I’d try 4 Everol followed by 4 25’ for a couple of months and see how that goes – well it is not going and last night I switched back to the old schedule and already I can feel the difference, I can climb the stairs (only 4 of them – lol) without holding on for my balance.
Today I am going to do my end of unit 10 assessment and then go for a walk.
Much later – not only did I get 80% pass on my assessment (5 questions so only one was wrong) I also got my badge for passing assignment B, which meant I could download assignment c – the last thing I need to do to finish this marathon. And just as I was about to start the days’ work off the electric went down – no internet, uhm – been here before in Chiang Rai. So did a hot spot to my phone to download stuff, and then used my phone to do the assessment – thank god for mobile data 
They have large well-lit mirrors here – OMG – I so look like I’ve been travelling for two and a half months, even got the dirt under the nails to prove it, and you should not see the state of my feet! So I spent quite some time preening and my laundry also came back – so nice to have clean dry clothes (everything was so damp from the humid island air). After that I donned on some clothes and headed out, I got as far as the road, looked down it for a short while, decided it was not worth the risk of getting run over and almost collapsed from the intense heat as I turned back to my hut. I had another beer and by the time I headed out again it was dark. This time I used mypass.app and paid 8,000 riel into town and 10,00 back. For a change, on the way back, I did some quick thinking and assertive action. I had jumped in a tuktuk and agreed 17,000 riel, just as we rounded the first bend I realized this was almost 10 thousand more than on the way there – so I made him stop and I got out, he didn’t charge me anything and I saved 7,000 (8 thou = $2). OK, so I know it is not a lot but imagine that happening a few times a days, including things like being short changed (2 currencies is so confusing). I wounder how many $10 or more I have lost to mini tourist scams since I’ve been here? Now doubt far more than I realise. Don’t get me wrong, most people seem really honest and count the change out explaining as they go but others rush you or just hand over a bundle of notes – if I’m staying here much longer I really need to get to grips with this dual currency, although saying that I am actually much better at it than I was a few days ago.
Going to Kampot town center for the first time, at night, was not a great idea – actually it was 20 minutes of sensory overload, I went to Durian roundabout, yes, it is adorned with a humongous durian fruit, and from my Google maps study, all roads lead to Durian – lol. Anyway, I got most of the bits and pieces on my list (toothpaste, deet spray, soap etc) and street food before heading back. Think I may go out early tomorrow and familiarize myself with Kampot by day to make my evening bouts easier to navigate, and then come back before the intense afternoon heat to do some work on my assignment. Also, the internet is good here so I should spend some time updating my website, I must be almost 6 weeks behind!
As much as I love this place, the guy and his girlfriend are really lovely and friendly, their baby is called Oscar but I don’t know their names, I think she may be called Sophie, it is dominantly frequented by French expats who are not really very friendly. But hey, on the positive side of things this means I can keep myself to myself and get my head down and do assignment C –then my next headache will be sorting out my tax for the year – perhaps I should find a cheap accountant – I’ll ask Smithy. And I can always move on if I feel too out of place
Sunday 20th February 2022
Last night I woke at 1am did a humongous poo and then violently threw up – luckily I was in the bathroom when all this happened. I had no problems going back to sleep and felt fine this morning – I wonder if it was the street food? If it was it’s the first time since I’ve been here.
OMG, I am so pleased with myself, I got a distinction for my assignment B – what a buzz and a well needed injection of motivation to see me through assignment C. In fact, I was so motivated I completed the first of the 5 activities which involved writing a 700-word essay and evaluating a sample from a course book. It was actually very easy as they provided the sample and an evaluation check list to write around. I haven’t been out today, except to meet the food panda delivery guy with my dinner, the kitchen here is shut on Sundays, I ordered rice and pork and a small bag of sour fruits – all for $2.50 – and it was not a small bag so I’m having problems finishing it – lol. I think I will do the same again tomorrow and stay here and do more of assignment C, let’s face it Kampot will always be there and getting this finished, after how many years (?), is kinda fundamental to my working / teaching abroad plan so I should prioritize it. Food Panda was also half the price of street food, but it was not as nice – perhaps I should go a for a little walk and find food – let’s face it I have not done anything physical for 2 weeks now – I am turning into a wobbly sloth ☹
So as happy as I may be the atmosphere around here has been tense all day. The couple had a rather loud agreement this morning, alas it was in French and fast and lots of words I have never heard before – o-la-la. It also turns out that, and this is not related to previous comment or could it be (???) the not very friendly French people from last night are her mum, dad and two sisters – and they came today and took over the bar area and yet again where very hostile but I shall not be moved – I’m paying to sit and look at that bloody water and those miserable little fish – I sat my ground until I finished my essay and then just sat a gazed for a while before vacating the area – not a good look for making money! The moment the nasties left the two owners shut the place down for the night and have gone to bed, well she has, he is sitting on his balcony getting stoned – my shack is right next to the drama, hence I know what-a-go-on. Anyway, this was at 9:30! Lucky I wasn’t relying on them for alcohol tonight. Last night I bought a very small bottle containing an amber brown liquid, I only securitized the label once I got home – yuk – I had bought Cambodian brewed whisky (kind of explains why it was only $2.50), but I have it so will drink it.
Tuesday 22nd February 2022
The French family turned up early yesterday, just as I was deep in my work. They proceeded to be so loud, I fear deliberately, that I left the bar area and lost the work momentum. They all left early evening, off to dinner I except, and for once the bar area was full of us customers!
This morning I booked myself into a new hostel, it’s a 20-minute walk to the Durian roundabout, about 15 minutes less than here, but there is no main road to walk down, I think, so the town area should be easier to access. Anyway, it has a lovely garden area for me to work in, which is the main thing. I also put my passport in for a visa renewal, it won’t be back until the 4th, so I have loads of time in this area to finish my last assignment and then have an explore.
It rained hard last night and today the mangos are falling of the trees. On my walk back from the visa tourist shop, one missed me by about a meter! I also bought 2 beers for the same price as one at the hostel. Why I hadn’t done this sooner is not beyond me – it’s the heat, it’s too intense to walk in and by the evenings I just can’t be bothered (waiting for the HRT to fully kick back in, shouldn’t be long now). Going to the visa shop was a chore but a must, and after last night’s rain it was cool this morning, so I went early. While in the shop the weather changed and the walk back was so sweltering that, when I got back I immediately cracked open and supped on a cold can of beer, only to realize after, that it wasn’t even midday!
Wednesday 23rd February 2022
The hostel I booked cancelled on me so, with nothing much available in town, I booked the Billabong – from France to Australia in a matter of a 15-minute tuk-tuk ride. And what a difference, the moment I opened my mouth and my Brit accent came out, it was ‘where are you from?’ I hadn’t even paid for or seen the room and it felt so much more friendly and welcoming – I’m gonna like it here. The only thing is my room (which is number 1 and so was my room number at Cabana!) overlooks the bar and swimming pool – sound familiar – lol – but at least I have decent sized windows (double aspect) and my own bathroom, and even though I am laying on my bed I feel like I am in the bar – I could even jump in pool from my bed – lol – a pool 😊 and the best thing is I am basically in the middle of town 😊
Thursday 24th February 2022
I was accosted yesterday afternoon and taken to lunch with Rory, Fraser and his wife Yarah, Rory and Fraser being the two that started chatting to me on my arrival. And then spent the evening with them at the hostel getting totally pissed. There was a live musician, who was very good and at some point, after drinking and smoking far too much, I rolled into bed fully dressed and woke at 5am with a splitting headache. Rory and Fraser had plans to go off somewhere for the day today, but poor Rory is pissed already and it’s only 11am – not sure I want to get on the back of his bike with almost a whole bottle of vodka in him. I feel for him, and he has reason to be pissed so early, he came back from burying his nan 2 weeks ago to find that his Cambodian wife of 7 years has decided she is a lesbian and filed for divorce. Rory was telling me that Cambodian weddings are not internationally recognized and you have to do it Bangkok, and if you are over 50 then they say you are too old get married! He got married in Bangkok.
Saturday 26th February 2022
We had such a lovely day yesterday, rather than sit around the pool talking about going out, which is what we did the day before, we got busy and were on the bikes heading to Preah Monivong Borok National Park before the morning was over. It was beautiful, we saw monkeys on the way up the mountain and then went to the Buddha which looks over to Phu Quoc, which was once part of Cambodia but is now part of Vietnam. After that we went to the old Christian church. It was all a bit surreal because at the top of the mountain is a casino and house where, according to Frasor, Pol Plot (leader of the Khmer Rouge) lived and lots of building work going on,
it looked like they were building hotels or similar. After that we came back to the hostel and got drunk. I had to have a kip so missed dinner yet again – I must take it easy today, I’m not sure my body can take much more alcohol, I can still feel yesterday’s brew sitting uncomfortably in my belly – a sickly feeling.
Monday 28th February 2022
Yesterday we went to Kep, what a fabulous experience. Kep is famous for its crab and I went with Yarah to the market where she selected a kilo of live crab which we then took to the back of the market where they steamed them on the spot. Not a nice experience for the crabs – steamed alive – but very very delicious. Just a bit further down from the market was a decking area where we sat and demolished a kilo of king prawns and the kilo of crab and then lounged around for an hour before returning to Kampot.
For the second evening in a row I managed to stay awake for dinner, but as you can imagine we were all very pissed by then. We arrived at the place we had decided on for food only for Frasor to change his mind about the venue, he then started getting moody with Rory for wanting to order food. FFS, arguing over ordering a couple of starters, and Frasor was right in my face chatting shit. In fact, he is really jarring me, he just doesn’t stop talking and it’s all about him. Rory will be saying something and I’m listening to him and then Frasor will just start talking over Rory and expect me to listen to him instead – it’s a fucking battle and they are doing my head in. At one point I had to tell Frasor to move from my face and stop shouting down my ear, he didn’t take it well and then refused to go with Yarah to get the food he finally decided he wanted.
When I first them they told me about how Rory has inherited £80,000 from his nan and that they are looking for some land to invest in before returning to Phnom Penh, and I got the impression that they want me to invest with them, which I am not interested in doing. Now they do not mention the money or the land or returning to Phnom Penh and have started placing lots of large bets on the football and Frasor is not happy with me as I refuse to partake. I am not not a gambler and know I wouldn’t win anything anyway, especially on football! Since I told them that I am staying here until my visa comes back and that I need finish my TEFL they have extended their stay and are now talking about going to places like Rabbit Island, where I am thinking of going, and even extending their holiday until the end of March which is my whole time in Cambodia – I have enjoyed hanging around with them but things are getting tense now and I feel the need go it alone again, especially as we seem to be having too many pissed arguments and nasty comments have been said.
I can’t remember how it came about but tyhe other evening Frasor called me a black cunt, can you believe it! He apologized the next morning, but damage has been done. And then Rory went off with a Cambodian girl last night, I don’t blame him, he is in need of a cuddle, but Frasor went mad and then ripped into me for not getting it off with Rory – FFS – he is a 31 year old alcoholic and I don’t even fancy him – who the fuck does he think I am – a mug and a push over. It really is time to part company, I didn’t come here for this.
Tuesday 1st March 2022
Pinch punch first day of the month!
I had such a lovely evening with Ashley of all people. I’ve been so wrapped up in the other three I forgot to mention him, he’s Australian and as straight as a die. Works in the building industry out here, has a Cambodian wife and daughter and looks like he spends a fair amount of time in the gym. He’s far too clean cut for my liking and there is something not quite right, he makes me feel a little uncomfortable and I am not sure why. Anyway, the other 3 went for dinner, and much to my relief I didn’t have to tell them I wasn’t coming as they didn’t aske me 😊 so me and Ashley got in another round of drinks and eventually we headed into town, well the girly bar area. We bumped into both of Rory’s ‘girls’, and the one who claims he owes her money for the other night is on the hunt for him – lol. Ashley was very entertaining and knows many of the girls in the bars! He said they acted very differently with me around, even after we told them we were just friends, he said normally they’d be all over him. In one bar 2 youngish guys turned up and both of them were really mauling one of the girls, I felt quite sorry for her, yes I know it’s her job, but I could see the discomfort in her face – I was sitting directly opposite her. She went off with them in the end.
I definitely think I am right about Frasor wanting to get his hands on my money. Yesterday he started talking about investing in land again but now it’s ‘if the four of us all put £1000 in, we’ll get a great return in 3 years’ time’. Sorry hun, but I have absolutely no interest in purchasing land or gambling or anything else that involves giving you or anyone else my money.
Wednesday 2nd March 2022
Rory got back from his night out at 7:30 this morning and booked them all another night! Yesterday he found a piece of land near here and near where his friend lives which he is interested in buying, but Frasor does not seem too pleased about this as it is in Kampot and not this other place he keeps talking about. I felt quite sorry for Rory as it is his money and he seemed excited about the property and after showing me the pictures of his friends place I am not surprised. Kampot is a fantastic place, if I had money I could happily purchase something here. However Cambodian rules mean you have to have a Cambodian purchase with you, I think they need to purchase something like 51% of the property – although I could be wrong.
Thursday 3rd March 2022
My visa arrived yesterday and Rory and Co. left this morning – I want to say at last but I’m now actually missing their company – especially Rory – FFS – some things you can’t win. Rory did ask me to join them, but I really do need to go it alone again. I kept out of their way for most of yesterday, which was easy, Rory went off to see his mate and Frasor and Yarah stayed in their room. Through boredom, in the afternoon, I went looking for Rory but couldn’t find the bar he was in. However, it was a lovely walk and it reminded me of the fact that I’ve become lazy again. In the evening we planned to go for food together but Frasor got impatient and he and Yarah left without us. Rory suggested that we have a ‘romantic’ evening – lol – not with that cigarette ash on your forehead Rory – ash Wednesday or not ash Wednesday! We did try to find the other two but we couldn’t find either of the restaurants Fraser had suggested going to, so we went a bar along the water front were we bumped into Rory’s number 2 working girl and then, after food, on our walk round town we bumped into his number 1 working girl which, considering how small Kampot, wasn’t very hard. Anyway, it must have been near 2am by the time we returned to the hostel and had a dip in the pool – Rory said I swim like a retarded frog!
I’m leaving here tomorrow (5th) – I just booked my bus and am going to do 2 nights in Phnom Penh before I head up north, not sure if I will let Mighty know I am in town – he keeps messaging me and wants to see me when I return. But I really need to spend time finishing my last TEFL assignment (not much left to do now) and adding to my weblog which has been neglected for a few weeks now. But for now, I need food and to recover from my sore head.
