Christmas Afar

Songkat Village, Koh Rong, Cambodia -- Day 2

We arrived right at dark last night and eventually found Sarah and the Inn (Inn the Village). The accommodations here are pretty basic. We and the Pfyffer's are in crude wooden huts with thatched roofs, no running water, and no electricity with the exception of the two bulbs powered between 6 and 11 each night. After being awakened by the relentless crowing of the half dozen roosters running around under the bungalows, we have decided to eat as much chicken as humanly possible while we are here.  We’re also encouraging Indy, one of the local dogs, a sweet black faced hound, to chase them whenever possible.

The village is, as far as I can tell, the real deal. Sarah, the English woman that runs the guesthouse says there are roughly 200 people in the couple dozen structures with about 50 of those being children. The buildings are simple, corrugated metal sheets and crude wooden planks. Water is supplied by a well near the guesthouse. The walking paths through town are either dirt or wooden planks along the water. Unfortunately, plastic bottles and trash seems to have been accepted as a way of life. Trash is scattered along the streets, between houses and along the waters edge. Apparently, residence can pay to have it taken back to the mainland, but as a result, that generally does not happen.

For the first time on the trip, we will be staying in the same place for more than a couple days, a full week in the village and then another six nights somewhere else to celebrate both New Years and the early January birthdays, Louis’ on the 3rd and mine on the 4th. We parents have gotten together and conspired to institute a brief but daily school time -- only an hour or so, but a chance to sit in the open dining area and read write and do math. Kylie was super excited when we found a 4th grade spelling and vocabulary workbook inside the guest house and even asked to spend more time working on it this evening after returning from the beach.

Arno, Kylie, Dex, Meg, Dean, Louis, Mathilde, Anne, and Etienne

School time

As a result of school time, we didn't leave for the beach until almost 11:00. The roads on the island a primarily dirt trails, which the locals negotiate with mopeds. For today, we opted to walk the 10 minutes over the hill to Coconut Beach, a beautiful white sand beach with a couple dozen bungalows, a few tents, and a couple outdoor restaurants. The light golden sand and aquamarine water are truly the stuff of travel posters and screen savers. Absolutely beautiful and the perfect water temperature. We soon made our way onto the cement pier and realized that the dark shadow in the water was in fact a giant school of finger-sized fish. After some considerable prodding, one of us (me) built up the courage to jump into the massive swarm.  Fortunately, they weren't attack fish and simple moved to the other side of the pier. For the next few hours, we practiced our various running jumps, cannonballs, jackknives, and summersaults.

Christmas Eve dinner was had at the guesthouse. We had contemplated going around the corner "into town" for dinner but reconsidered given the limited sitting area, minimal menu (fried rice and noodles), and general lack of ambience. Sarah did check, however, and there was apparently pork available. I'm still wondering why meals rarely come with fish.

A dozen of the local kids (exclusively boys, which left us wondering what the girls were doing) were running around playing ball and tag while we adults enjoyed a couple Klang beers.  Dinner consisted of coconut curry with potatoes for Meg and me and penne pasta for the kids.

Despite the warm temperature and lack of holiday decorations, Etienne and Anne helped set the Yultide mood turning on a medley of Christmas songs and providing a full set of Santa hats for each of us. We all exchanged simple gifts. Dex and Kylie received much needed shirts and bracelets, Meg got soap and a deck of South Africa cards, and I made off with three cans of African liver pate -- springbok, impala, and zebra. I can't wait to try them at breakfast.  It was a hugely successful evening with big smiles for all.