im really too tired to be writing this. its almost nine o clock here. very late for me in cambodia time. we are asleep a lot of the time by seven thirty at night.
the past few days have been interesting to say the least. we left 'paraclise' and arrived in a very basic accomodation. the room felt like a prison cell compared to where we had been staying at malibu. three be$ds all pushed together and a very rusty ceiling fan. that was all. and a very basic shower. the good thing was that we were now right on the coast which means sea breezes....and some locals who were friendly with us as compared to the previous place with the not so friendly frenchies.
we spent a bit of time in the crab market. basically a few huts along the shore. turns out the families all live and sleep there as well as run their little 'restaurants'. Time got right into befriending the locals and made lots of games with them including moving planks of wood around and carrying the little kids from one spot to another. for her language doesnt seem to be a barrier in any way. had a really good chat with a young guy trying to set up his own tourism business. seems as if there are quite a few of these in kep...young guys who realise that with a little bit of english..and dressing smartly...they might be able to make a buck or two. according to our new friend he needs to make $7 a day in order to cover his basic family needs. more if he wants better education for future kids or new clothes etc.
$7 a day is not easy to make in a tiny place like kep where there are a lot more tuktuks than tourists. i was so aware that everyone was seeing where we would spend our money for the day. would we eat at their empty restaurant? or the empty one next door? all serving the same menu of crabs, fish and pepper. i was also very aware that the only way for these kids to make money is to be able to connect with tourists...and the only real way to do that is to learn english or french. would that be something we could help out with? english that is...not french.
we decided to head over to rabbit island for a night or two. a tropical island about 30min away from kep. we booked a hut with two rooms for $5 each but as it turned out we ended up in the $6 hut with the shower corner. the boat was as simple as they come (think asylum seeker) and of course no life jackets for the kids as promised.
our time on the island was quite strange really. cows and chickens roam freely. we were practically the only foreigners left by the time the afternoon boats headed off. the kids loved the space though and the water and being able to roam around a bit finally. steve took the big kids for a walk around the island as well which was great while the girls slept.
while on rabbit island we noticed that Time had a couple of spots on her neck that had blisters on them. no electricity meant no internet...so we contacted miranda back in the adelaide hills who was able to google it for us. and her prediction of it being chicken pox turned out to be right. and we now have a three year old absolutely covered with these blisters. some massive ones as well as hundreds of little ones. all over. scalp as well. thankfully she is handling it in her usual brave style and not complaining in the slightest. of course we are bracing ourselves for when ocea gets it since she doesnt seem to have the same approach to life as Time.
our night on rabbit island is one that i would prefer not to repeat again. lets just say that when we got back to mainland our then prison cell felt like a palace. the boat ride back to kep was crazy. with each massive wave spraying us with tons of water. of course no where to hold on to and no lifejackets. another good lesson in faith. neshica was beaming the whole way and saying how she felt like she was in a movie.
it was good to be back in kep...and even better when we realised that we could leech wifi from the luxury resort next door.
weve now moved on to our next destination. kampot. a small town (tiny compared to phnom penh....HUGE compared to kep) on the kampong river. the place we are staying at is called Les Manguiers. a beautiful camp style resort in a mango orchard. sadly mangoes arent in season at the moment but the place is still incredible. lots of space for the kids to play. a river to swim in. canoes. a sandpit. a few hammocks and of course most importantly a pingpong table.
the two people we have befriended so far are called Abed and Anee. i wish all the names in cambodia were nouns. 'a bed'. 'a knee'. 'a fish'. 'a kettle' and so on. it would make things so much easier. anyways...abed is a pakistani man who oversees the place. he doesnt seem to do much since the place runs smoothly by the locals that work here. he is heading back to pakistan next month since his wife is pregnant. im trying to convince him that a family from australia with four kids would be the perfect replacement for him once he leaves.
we will stay here for a week or so for now. not really keen to move around a lot with a sick girl.
the current status of the family members is as such: (according to me)
Levi: taking it all in his stride. enjoying the endless geckos and unusual insects that he can find and admire. his skin rash (eczema) has really flared up since being in cambodia. night times are especially hard for him.
Neshica: misses her friends back home a lot. she is happy to be here but is somewhat delicate with her moods and gets upset quicker than usual. i feel for her since i remember what it was like to be ten (she is ten in october) and far away from friends in israel. she is struggling a bit with not having 'landed' in a place yet so she hasnt been able to make any connections.
Time: besides infecting half of cambodia with chicken pox she is still our little goodwill ambassador. happy to chat away to anyone and content with whatever comes her way. the chicken pox are starting to hurt now and she woke up with one in her mouth. she is enjoying being here though and has spent a lot of time enjoying the sandpit already.
Ocea: what can i say about ocea? she is so cute that everyone wants to touch her head or her curly hair. the split second they do she snaps at them or shrieks so i have yet to see anyone attempt it twice. its as if she has some personal alarm system in place that goes off for all to hear. i would still say that she seems happier here than oz...maybe its the outdoor lifestyle that suits her wild nature...or the fact that there is a lot of family time.
Steve: spends most of his time analyzing cloud formations. if he's not doing that he is bemoaning the fact that he doesnt speak the language yet. and if he's not doing that he is either looking up a word or location and getting his head around it. im sort of hoping that whatever knowledge he acquires will somehow register in my brain as well since im taking the more 'scenic route' to the local knowledge.
Me: i feel as if im still very much in my head at the moment. there are so many thoughts going on about what life here would entail. what life in australia has been like. is this actually doable and so on. im also trying to stay on top of the physical ailments that are taking place. so far most of them have been skin related...not gastro related as expected. weve had a bit of that as well...but the skin is the main issue for now. thankfully i brought stuff along from home but the supplies will get used up pretty soon and im not sure about replacing it and all that. of course i want to figure out how to get rid of it all together so that we dont need to keep applying stuff.
all in all things are going really well and each day we have a lot to be grateful about.
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