Coconut Beach

Songkat Village, Koh Rong, Cambodia -- Decemer 25-26 -- Day 3-4

True to the laid back vibe here on the island, our mornings have been pretty slow. Everyone wanders out of their huts and into the open air dining area whenever they wake up. Eventually breakfast is ordered and by the time we’re done eating and finished with schooling, it’s 11:00. Our Christmas yesterday was very nice if rather nontraditional.  Certainly it was low key, no running around to someone else's house for dinner, no meals to prepare, and no wrapping paper and boxes to clean up.

School time with specators

For the last couple days, we chose a different set of tables on the beach to avoid the two plus hours it took to get all our food on Saturday. Poor Kylie and Arno were the last to be served. For their cheeseburgers, which turned into chicken burgers, we figured the delay could only be explained by the need to first chase down one of the scrawny chickens running around, pluck it, and then cook it.

Ordering food on the beach is not always straight forward. We started off all choosing just what we wanted from the menu and would then modify the order as we found what wasn't available. "What, no compot peppers today? Ok, how about basil chicken with noodles? What, no basil? Ok, pork fried rice then. What, no pork?  Ok, chicken fried rice." Today we got smart and ordered four fried noodles and four fried rice plates, all with chicken.

Laurent, Marie, Clarice, and Albane -- a family from France that we met a couple days ago -- were there at the beach again, so we had a good sized group. They live in Lyon and are just a month into their nine month tour. We have definitely met many French families lately here in South East Asia, perhaps because of Frances history with Indochina. Laurent was telling me that by law all French can take up to eleven month away from work without losing their jobs. Wow. From an American’s point of view that sounds pretty awesome. I can imagine, however, that that causes some grief from an employers perspective.

Indy, in her element, on the beach

To augment the normal swimming, splashing and jumping activities, we rented snorkels and masks. Although the fish and coral are not particularly bright, there is plenty to look at if you swim to the edges of the sandy bay. Plus the schools of ten thousand plus small fish around the pier are amazing. When we first arrived and looked into the water, we thought the huge dark cloud was shadow or rocks.

Each evening as the sun set, we would gather up our belongings and walk over the rocky path for the 10 minute walk back to the village. It was a peaceful time. At the top we'd get a view of the ocean and evening sky usually accompanied be a light breeze, something which is often missing in the village. The path leads passed the dirt volleyball court and the cement well where we usually see towns folk collecting water, washing clothes and bathing. It's a simple life, but one I think we're all getting used to.