My computer broke, so I'm a little behind on posting our full days here. There is so much to tell! I'll do my best to catch up.
After our amazing five days at the Song Saa resort, we took the short boat ride to the main island, Koh Rong, where we had planned to spend three months, but in the end we are only staying nine days. Now that we have been here four nights, I am really glad we aren't staying here three months!!! I do not like to camp, and this is just a step above camping! But, we are so grateful for this amazing experience.
The first night we stayed in a small bungalow, as our family one wasn't available until the next day.
The bungalows are extremely rustic. We are grateful for the mosquito nets and fans!!! The power goes out now and again, but for the most part is pretty consistent.
The bathroom didn't have a flush toilet. All toilet paper goes in the trash can, and then water is sprayed/poured into the toilet.
It took us a few days to adjust to the heat and humidity, and we have the constant smell of citronella. The nights are hot. We wake up a lot and sleep long and that seems to keep us rested.
The first morning I woke up to Geoff praying in bed. The image captures Geoff's faith and lifetime of sacrifice to raise people to better circumstances.
We had a hammock right outside that first hut, which was nice, but it also had a lot of mosquitos. And occasionally a nice, rich wiff of sewer smell would pass by, AND it is by the stump where they cut fresh coconuts. They handed us half a coconut and we drank up the water inside. Sooo delicious!
Moving our things from place to place is not small feat. We did NOT pack light! Not being sure how long we would stay or what was available to us we have EIGHT suitcases of vitamins, protein bars and powders, sunscreen, bug spray, books for schooling and pleasure reading, and all sorts of random camping gear. Here is Geoff with the first load.
Our family bungalow has some windows, which allows us to keep the shutters closed (to keep out bugs) but still have light. It is a bit more quiet and private, and it has a front patio where we can sit and do some schooling.
The property has some goats that wonder around, several dogs and cats and some chickens and pigs.
Here is a view from the porch to the water. An amazing location! I must admit that we are not spending much time in the water or on the beach, as we have school work and volunteer work every day. Our days have been long and tiring! But waking up to this every day has been our reward. (That is Song Saa in the background. Apparently this group of bungalows were built for the workers who built Song Saa several years ago.)
The inside of this bungalow is roomier, but has round mosquito nets which aren't quite as convenient as the square ones. Still, we have them!
Adele, who is very aware of all of the possible entrances for spiders, lizards, beetles, cockroaches and other creepy crawlies, asked as we stepped inside, "Why can't people just build things with the boards together!" Fair question.
The bathroom has a flush toilet, although toilet paper still goes in the trash. It even has a designated shower space, which is nice. Still cold.
Yesterday we found some mouse poop in the bathroom. Maybe they're smelling our protein bars. So now we've got a bin for all of our food stuffs.
It has been unusually stormy for this time of year. Most nights or days we have a good, loud thunderstorm. It has kept things cooler, generally, than they would be, but it also makes things WET! I finally asked the bungalow management to wash my clothing, and they couldn't guarantee when it would return, because they hang it to dry and it always rains more before drying! I've been waiting for some clean clothes for two days now. I'm going to get them at the end of today and do my best to hang them to dry in front of the fans during the day. It is hard to feel clean here. (And I'll add that we smell.)
The food is pretty good, thankfully. The sand is soft. We're meeting all sorts of interesting people from around the world, here for various reasons. Overall, this place is a good chapter in our Cambodian adventure!
After our amazing five days at the Song Saa resort, we took the short boat ride to the main island, Koh Rong, where we had planned to spend three months, but in the end we are only staying nine days. Now that we have been here four nights, I am really glad we aren't staying here three months!!! I do not like to camp, and this is just a step above camping! But, we are so grateful for this amazing experience.
The first night we stayed in a small bungalow, as our family one wasn't available until the next day.
The bathroom didn't have a flush toilet. All toilet paper goes in the trash can, and then water is sprayed/poured into the toilet.
This is the kind of water you don't drink or brush teeth in, so we've always got bottled water nearby. And the shower, why, it is just right there in the bathroom. Only cold water, of course. (The red bucket is to hold water to scoop into the toilet.)
The sun goes down around 5:30 and it is dark by 6:00. We've moved our bedtime to 8:00 (at least attempted to), but we still have some dark hours in our bungalow. There aren't a lot of lights, and even if there were, we wouldn't want them on attracting bugs. So we get in our little nets with our book lights and read.
The first morning I woke up to Geoff praying in bed. The image captures Geoff's faith and lifetime of sacrifice to raise people to better circumstances.
We had a hammock right outside that first hut, which was nice, but it also had a lot of mosquitos. And occasionally a nice, rich wiff of sewer smell would pass by, AND it is by the stump where they cut fresh coconuts. They handed us half a coconut and we drank up the water inside. Sooo delicious!
Moving our things from place to place is not small feat. We did NOT pack light! Not being sure how long we would stay or what was available to us we have EIGHT suitcases of vitamins, protein bars and powders, sunscreen, bug spray, books for schooling and pleasure reading, and all sorts of random camping gear. Here is Geoff with the first load.
Our family bungalow has some windows, which allows us to keep the shutters closed (to keep out bugs) but still have light. It is a bit more quiet and private, and it has a front patio where we can sit and do some schooling.
The property has some goats that wonder around, several dogs and cats and some chickens and pigs.
Here is a view from the porch to the water. An amazing location! I must admit that we are not spending much time in the water or on the beach, as we have school work and volunteer work every day. Our days have been long and tiring! But waking up to this every day has been our reward. (That is Song Saa in the background. Apparently this group of bungalows were built for the workers who built Song Saa several years ago.)
The inside of this bungalow is roomier, but has round mosquito nets which aren't quite as convenient as the square ones. Still, we have them!
Adele, who is very aware of all of the possible entrances for spiders, lizards, beetles, cockroaches and other creepy crawlies, asked as we stepped inside, "Why can't people just build things with the boards together!" Fair question.
The bathroom has a flush toilet, although toilet paper still goes in the trash. It even has a designated shower space, which is nice. Still cold.
Yesterday we found some mouse poop in the bathroom. Maybe they're smelling our protein bars. So now we've got a bin for all of our food stuffs.
It has been unusually stormy for this time of year. Most nights or days we have a good, loud thunderstorm. It has kept things cooler, generally, than they would be, but it also makes things WET! I finally asked the bungalow management to wash my clothing, and they couldn't guarantee when it would return, because they hang it to dry and it always rains more before drying! I've been waiting for some clean clothes for two days now. I'm going to get them at the end of today and do my best to hang them to dry in front of the fans during the day. It is hard to feel clean here. (And I'll add that we smell.)
The food is pretty good, thankfully. The sand is soft. We're meeting all sorts of interesting people from around the world, here for various reasons. Overall, this place is a good chapter in our Cambodian adventure!
That picture of Geoff praying is quite possibly the most beautiful picture I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteWhat an adventure you are having!