Beach time, anyone?

Well the last 4 days of our lives have been spent in Sihanoukville (we call it S-ville because we can't begin to pronounce it correctly). The town is in SW Cambodia along the Gulf of Thailand. And we have been total beach bums!! It's been fabulous just chilling on the lounge beds, playing on the white sands beach, and swimming in bath tub temperature waters. The only downside, Cambodia is very poor, and you cannot escape the beggers and children who want to sell you things. They stroll the beach all day and make you pinky promise that "if you buy later, you buy from me, ya?" And apparently, I have this sign that says I want to be touched, because they all leave Lani alone, while I get my arms caressed or my feet touched in passing. Weird! So although it's beautiful here and we've really enjoyed our time, it's not your typical relaxing day at the beach. We're on guard, as only one of us can go into the water at a time, while the other keeps an eye on the bags.

In fact, just last night, we made a few Cambodian friends at our restaurant. One of which just "stumbled" upon a Vietnam Lonely Planet book. He tried to sell it to us - we didn't need it. But there was a postcard inside, and he gave it to us as a "gift." Turns out, about 20 minutes later, a customer in the restaurant was looking for his Vietnam LP book that he'd just set at the bar. We were in shock! And felt slightly sheepish as we handed him over the postcard that he was looking for as well. How were we to know that the postcard was stolen...and from someone who was currently dining in the restaurant. And I don't think its done out of maliciousness, but their actions just define the current state of their situations here. They need to eat, they need to live, and this is how they've learned best to do it. This country is definitely the most poverty-stricken place I've been to so far in my life, and it's a lot to take in and try to understand.

On a different note, we really did have a wonderful evening last night. We had fresh grilled Baracuda and Chicken Akon (a typical Khmer dish) and sat right on the beach for our dinner. There were light thunder storms and lightning over the water, which lit up the sky. Food service is quite slow here, so we took some cards to play while we waited for our food. This was such a great idea because it ended up attracting about 4-5 Cambodian boys to our table who wanted to learn how to play, or to teach us how to play their games. Besides some game playing, we were both told our fortunes with the cards (there is someone here who loves me and I am very happy in Cambodia), and we were also taught how to count to 10 in Cambodian - which Lani and I have now successfully mastered! We played cards with them until around 11:00, when the rain began to fall and push us off the beach into the bamboo hut/bar. We met a little guy (he was actually 19 - but looked about 12 - and was just a nitnoi breakable thing) who wanted to show us some dance moves, so we hit the dance floor with him. It was a fun time! And of course, even with the rain outside, we were still sweating like crazy. Anyway, come to find out, he lives here and works at that restaurant and just sleeps upstairs above it, with all the other staff. I don't know when anyone who works at the beach shacks in S-ville sleep because the bar was busy and is open late, and then by 7 a.m., they are out on the beach setting up lounge beds and recruiting people to their place. It's such a totally different lifestyle - and this is the off-season for this beach town.

Anyway, we're off to Kampot - which is a 2 hour bus ride East from here and the road is not paved - so it's sure to be a delightful trip. We will be venturing to Bokor National Park, which is supposed to have some pretty beautiful waterfalls. We hear technology ain't great down there, so it may be a few days before I'm back in touch. So until then, know that all is well, Lani and I are having a great time, and the adventure continues...