Day 5:
- Kep
We woke up and....Gan informed me that she was ill. She felt giddy and probably will not survive a motorbike ride up a rocky mountain road.
I blinked...and got her to eat breakfast and get something within her first. She drank some coconut and ended up puking into the river. She got me really alarmed.
We were wondering whether to cancel the Bokor trip but I was hesitant because we had already paid the deposit of 30 USD and it wouldn't be nice to take it back. Gan suggested that I go alone on a day trip up but I had my misgivings about being far and away from her. Then I think she rushed to the room to the toilet.
She came back to inform that we have to change rooms because the toilet bowl was clogged up. At 8.30 a.m., V.Dad promptly arrived. I told him that we couldn't possibly go up because Gan was sick. He kinda looked stricken to me. However it was good that he was around because the people at the guesthouse can't really speak English. He has to help us explain that we need to change rooms because the toilet bowl was all clogged up. In the end he came back to tell us that they can un-clog it for us. I have no idea how bad it was but Gan said that it wasn't a pretty sight and I will definitely not want to see it. He suggested going to a doctor but Gan didn't want to. She insisted that she would just sleep it off. Even though we had the same food and all so far, I think probably her stomach just couldn't take the food. We were quite gung-ho...one down with a heat rash and the other down with God-knows-what and both not feeling like seeing a doctor.
Anyway V.Dad suggested that we go up the next day then. And so we were like.. we'll see how it goes..if Gan gets better then we will go up. He nodded.
We asked him for suggestions as to how I could spend the day. He said I could go on a day trip to Kep. I was worried about leaving Gan as she could faint or something and I wouldn't be around. Yet Gan was adamant on not wasting the day along with her because all she was going is to go to the toilet consistently and sleep everything off. And so after asking repeatedly if she was sure she didn't want me around and if she would be ok and all...I agreed to go on a day trip to Kep.
Well then I think the silence that followed was because I was finishing my breakfast, Gan was woozy and I think V.Dad didn't know what to say. He then left and came back with his Sony Mp4 and of all things, played some Chinese teeny-bopper song that I never heard of before. I think even Gan who was stoning off, turned to look at him. Apparently he got that in Phnom Penh for 40 USD. It was about palm-size like a palm top, sleeker and slimmer with a wide LCD screen. It has only a 1 GB space. I informed him that my Mp3 cost more than his and yeah its only a Mp3.
After the guesthouse people came to tell us that the room was once more habitable, I told V.Dad that I will set off at 9.30 a.m. and went back to the room with Gan first. I got water for her and made sure I had her call-card number. Sheesh...I kept repeatedly asking if she was fine, if she was sure she didn't need me around that I totally irritated myself also. And so after making sure she would call me and would be able to call me should she feel unwell, I left.
We sped off towards Kep and he was armed with a mask and sunglasses while I had.....nothing on. And so he stopped by little roadside stall in the middle of nowhere to allow me to purchase a mask. I don't know how much of a necessity it was but I figured that since everybody wears it and he seems to think that it was a big deal, I got one. It was just one of those masks of soft tissue paper where people in Taiwan and Japan wear when they are sick I think.
We stopped by a Muslim village and I obediently took some photos. I felt obliged to since he actually stopped to point it out and explain that they are all not around now because they have gone out to fish. Then it struck me that I haven't seen much Muslims around which is like a bit weird because given the close proximity of the countries of South-east Asia, I thought that people would move around and get more scattered and homogenous overall. However I think Muslim settlements are probably quite a rarity in Cambodia for V.Dad to point that out.
Ah well....
I found the scenery opposite more interesting though...
There were a few boats here and there and Rabbit Island was just a short distance away. V.Dud who joined me later said that it was a nice serene place with beautiful beaches. It is real quiet and he along with his friends were planning for a party to celebrate the New Year.
I also saw a little kid rowing a boat with a even smaller kid as passenger. Since they were just rowing around, I have no idea what they were doing....
There was a white statue of a naked woman right smack in the middle of Kep. I figured it has to be important. I asked V.Dad why did they erect a statue there. Apparently the story was about a woman who removed her clothes and committed suicide by jumping into the sea after she found out that her husband had died while out fishing in the sea. The place where the statue was erected was where she had committed suicide.
There wasn't much to see in Kep. I took a short walk by the beach and was vastly amused when V.Dad wrote our names in sand and urged me to take pictures to show Gan. He spelt my name wrongly but I didn't bother to correct him. Walking on the beach was charming and I would love to sit there and read except that I think it would be weird there and then and too deliberate to tell V.Dad to give me half an hour or an hour so I could sit and read.
There were huts dotting the area and I inquired about them. Apparently it was there for public use. I was quite surprised by that. I thought that since so much effort has gone into contructing them perhaps they were restricted in some ways and they did look pretty empty as though it wasn't as public as I thought. Blinking, I asked so... who goes there...he shrugged and said that couples or families go there during weekends.. Excited, I went, "So.. we can just go there?"
I was thinking that Gan and I could just sit and read in hammocks by the beach if she is still not well enough to make the trip up to Bokor.
And then V.Dad said...."Yeah...but if we go there, you have to be my girlfriend..." I couldn't help narrowing my eyes at him, momentarily forgetting that I shouldn't because it will cause wrinkles. And thus...he made suggestive remarks throughout my stay in Kampot and Kep. On one ocassion, while on the motorcycle, he pointed out a white and black bird and said that they were a couple....just like us. I think if I was drinking any water, I would have spat it out. And so I asked him...how did he know that it was a male and a female, they could be both females ...He went, "No..no..no.."
"It could be two males too, you know?..." I said.
"That's impossible.. it has to be one male and one female.. because that isn't natural. The white one is female and the black one is male."
I decided not to continue the pointless argument. (-_-")
I think he also pointed dogs having sex at least twice, to me.
He kept asking if I was hungry until I figured that he probably was. He then admitted that he was indeed hungry and thus we sped off to a hill-side guesthouse where he used to work. The view was quite impressive.
I really couldn't eat much and so only finished 2/3 of half of my plate of fried rice. Lunch was mostly in silence except for a few burst of conversation here and there.
Our guide was an ah beng..albeit a smart ah beng who speaks good English. He sports a crude snake tattoo on his right arm which he lifted to show me. I had inquired about his friend who I noticed sports a flashy earring. I was quite surprised as even in Singapore, guys who sport flashy earrings aren't exactly the cream of the crop so in conversative rural Cambodia, what was the culture actually like. I asked if the people think that his friend is 'bad' because of his earring. V.Dad admitted that some people do but it is just fashion. Then he went on to say that he has an earhole too but he doesn't normally wear it unless he goes to parties because his thinking changes as he grows older. That was when he showed me the tattoo which he got when he was 17 and said that he wanted to have it removed and how he preferred louder places when he was younger, now he prefers quieter places.
I raised an eyebrow and asked him how he is going to get the tattoo removed. His answer was that he has to get it done again. I think he means, 'laser-ing' it off....
And I asked if his parents were mad when he got it done (I was thinking to myself that I SO exhibit teacher characteristics...). He said, "yeah" and then shrugged...
He mentioned that was the youngest and has a sister and a brother who teaches English and his father used to be a policeman....he is definitely the deviant in the family.
And so.... I had an intelligent ah beng for a guide. Intelligent ah bengs are so amusing to talk to.
I didn't know if it was the protocol to pay for your guide's meal but I did because Nana mentioned it before. *shrugs...Anyway lunch and drinks for 2 at the guesthouse with the nice view was only 6 USD.
- The cave
Anyway after the early lunch, I asked what we could do next and he mentioned that we could visit the caves. So we went...
The minute he parked his bike, a little boy with bleached hair came running by with a torchlight. V.Dad said that the boy would show us the way. I started wondering how much he would ask for as I have had experiences with children requesting for money in Siem Reap. We were soon joined by 2 other men so there were 3 guys, 1 boy and me going off into the cave. But I felt I could trust V.Dad so *shrugs....though I did tell myself I should keep a Swiss army knife close the next time I went somewhere abroad alone.
The area outside of the caves seemed to be undergoing constructions and at some points we had to scramble over piles of gravel.
Inside the cave, the boy led the way and he kept the torchlight trained behind him so he could see. That meant that he was walking in near darkness. The ground was a rocky terrain and we had to be firm with our footing if not we could easily slip on loose stones. All of us were in slippers but the boy was the only one walking, making his way in darkness most of the time.
He was quite a precious one. He pointed out the characteristics that the cave had to offer, limited though they may be. He pointed out Buddhist murals and a little shrine and a boulder that was scarely held in place and seemed to be on the verge of falling as I stood below it and took pictures.
It is a flower but my macro function just isn't good enough plus I was in a rush since all eyes were on me while I took the picture. The boy bended down to smell it and told me to do the same. Since he had a grin on his face, I guessed it was probably foul-smelling and told him cheekily, "It smells bad right..."
He also pointed out stones in eccentric shapes
like 'tiger head', 'elephant-head'
though the second picture may not be too clear.
We had to really squeeze through narrow crevices to enter some caverns and it was so narrow, even I had to twist my body in some awkward shape to fit in spaces that was perhaps only as wide as my shoulders. It was quite an experience, being in a cave where it was not swarming with tourists nor too commercialised. It was also V.Dad first time there and.. he has been a guide for like.. what.. 5 years?!
The kid pointed out the crevices in the caverns Muslims prayed in and also where they hid the gold and diamonds before Pol Pot took them away. Amazing, isn't it? That the place is so tourist-free.They saw a snake in that cavern. I didn't get to see it because taken aback and not knowing where it actually was, I shifted back. V.Dad probably thought that I was scared or something and so tried to keep me behind him while I tried desperately hard to peep over his shoulder. Nobody answered me in the commotion when I asked if it was poisonous......
Then we headed back and I bumped my head against a low boulder.... (-_-") Everybody walked like super fast possibly because of the snake encounter...
Out of the cave, I asked V.Dad how much money I was supposed to give to the boy and he said that it was up to me. I asked the boy if he was still studying and he said that he goes to school in the morning. In the end, I gave him 3 USD. It was only after when we were speeding off on the motorcycle, V.Dad told me I was very kind to give him so much. Usually people would only give 1 USD.
But he was so little....as in I asked V.Dad to place his age and he said that the little boy was probably 16 but he was shorter than me and thinner. He looked like 13 or 14 only. He was smart too. He could speak relatively good English and pointed out stalagmites and stalactites. I also wondered if the two men who had joined us in the caves would make him hand money over...
- Another beach
Ah well... and I asked V.Dad what we could do next. In the end we went to another beach opposite of Kep. It was quieter and I think they were building a resort. V.Dad complained about it over how it is a public beach and cordoning off an area meant that people couldn't go.
I walked on the beach and just plopped down and hugged my knees until I think V.Dad got bored and said that we should go drink some beer on him.
I raised my eyebrows and shrugged.
And so we ended up in the shade in one of the huts (but they didn't have hammocks) with a plate of prawns and 4 cans of beer. There was actually one stall that sold food and drinks and it was the only stall there. Suprisingly there weren't much people. In the entire afternoon that I was there, I only saw one Caucasian couple who came for a short while.
Cold beer on a hot day at the beach was wonderful but I rolled my eyes when V.Dad said that we were 'girlfriend and boyfriend' now. Initially I was a bit apprehensive about having beers.. I mean.. my guide was my only way back to Gan !! He assured me that his limit is 4 cans so 2 cans is fine. I raised my eyebrows...4 cans?!!! Gan.. you can do better than him !! But that wasn't the point, the point was his alcohol limit was damm low. Hah !
It was also a good day to get married. I kept seeing wedding cars and like decorated houses for weddings and when we were at the beach, we saw a couple taking wedding pictures too. Maybe they were all the same couple but the funniest thing was the bride and the bridemaids were in flip-flops ! Taking wedding pictures in flip-flops is so un-glam !!!
Anyway it was a slow, quiet and peaceful afternoon. We bantered a bit but silence was comfortable too..(ok at least it was quite comfortable for me..) There were a few amusing moments. He walked away (presumably for the bathroom) and said that he was going away and leaving me there. The funniest thing was, his handphone and Mp4 was right there at the hut. And so when he came back, I taunted him, "Weren't you going to drive back?" He gave some lame stuff about how he decided to come back after all... I told him that it was ok.. because I can just sell off his handphone and Mp4 and get someone to bring me back to the guesthouse. He said that nobody would buy it. I told him I just have to barter it for a ride back.
And so... I got the.."You are SO bad..." the entire afternoon.
About 5 p.m, just before the sun set, I was informed that we had to go because.....his bike has no lights. I went..."NOW you tell me?!!"
And so we rushed off.
I checked Gan the moment we arrived at the guesthouse. I asked how was she and she said she was still running a fever. I jumped into action and told her she has to see a doctor. She probably agrees heartily but she just appeared dazed like how when people just wake up from slumber. I rushed to make sure V.Dad was still around and told him that we have to see a doctor. Then I rushed back to pack for Gan. I didn't know what made me remember to ask her what medicine she has taken and to pack it in but I was glad I did. I supposed Gan's condition probably wasn't a serious one but we were in Kampot... where I am not even sure there is a hospital for her to be put on a drip if she needs it. I was actually in a frenzy while she lumbered out onto the bike.
V.Dad and friend brought us to two doctors before we got to a third one who wasn't making housecalls. I was glad for V.Dad because in the entire little clinic, nobody could speak English....
It was a good thing I packed the medicine that Gan took because the doctor asked for it and apparently Gan took the wrong medication. She took medication for cold, carbon tablets and Panadol. Ok, maybe carbon tablets and Panadol were relevant but the cold medicine was definitely off. She also had coconut and banana milkshake in the day. We looked at each other when the doctor said that she has to avoid coconut and milk, the very two things she had taken that day. (-_-")
In the end, Gan was given medicine and asked to come back the next day if it doesn't help. Seeing the doctor was cheap. I think it cost about 1.50 USD only. However the scary thing is I think she was given antibiotics (because one of the medicine was in a red and yellow capsule) and she was only given 3 capsules.
YAH...
Gan also took V.Dad's bike because I thought he was more stable, being older and how he actually could balance my backpack in front while riding the bike. However on the way back, it suddenly struck me that...he drank alcohol in the afternoon and his bike had no lights !!!
It was dusk by then and I kept turning back to see if they were ok. It was lucky that Kampot was a small town.
Anyway when we got back, the guesthostel was having some sort of celebration because the owner just got promoted through the ranks in the policeforce.
Just to note down the scheme of things, V.Dad actually works for a guesthouse further down but his friend is the nephew of the family who owns the place and the guesthouse just happens to be in the compound by the river, next to the family house.
There was much rowdiness and laughter till late at night. Gan and I were invited to partake in the buffet but we just didn't have any appetite too. I think V.Dad asked if I wanted to do anything but I decided I better not leave Gan alone. And so... while she slept, I lay on a hammock outside our room and looked at the stars while listening to my Mp3...until it was time for bed.
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