The long & winding road

I started the new month by accepting a quick project, even if the latest project I am working on is not entirely over yet. But there are many reasons why I accepted this project: I could spare the time, it was for a friend (Derrick), it wasn't complicated (a proposal for extending an on-going project), it's a good opportunity (my first time to work with CARE Cambodia), and the pay is not at all bad (more moolah for my upcoming birthday–yey!). So I figured, why the hell not?

Derrick thought it'd be a good idea for me to see the project site to get a better feel of the project and the people involved in it. So this is another plus for me because I'd never been to Koh Kong, a southwestern coastal province in Cambodia, which is currently is accessible only through 4-wheel drives, smaller vans, and cars with brazenly brave drivers. 

We left Phnom Penh before 9AM on Wednesday. Along the way to Koh Kong we would pass by a referral hospital and a couple of health centers that were part of the project. In between these we passed through long stretches of highway (with minimal traffic) and winding mountain roads that were either carved along its side or cut in between chunks of rock and dirt. Derrick's mother (whom I fondly call 'Mother') and younger sister (Olga), who are visiting Derrick, came along and it made the trip a whole lot less boring.

The previous night I bought bottled water, which I kept in the freezer prior to leaving, some fruit and crackers to bring with me. Derrick's mother, however, seemed to have bought at least one section of the supermarket with them. One moment we were eating rice crackers, then she gave out sauteed tuna and cheese sandwiches for lunch, and then later we were cracking sunflower seeds. These were topped with bottles of water and soda and I was full, and my own food untouched. Fortunately we were making these stops at the health centers, where I was able to empty my bladder properly (against to doing it on the side of the road, or against a tree).

The view was breathtaking. My camera, however, was in my backpack, which was stowed away in the baggage compartment at the back of the pick-up truck. The pictures you see here were all taken on my journey back to Phnom Penh on Friday. A lonelier trip, if I may say so, because only the driver and I made the trip back to the city. 

Like almost all the other Cambodian provinces I have visited, Koh Kong is fairly quaint and quiet. It differs in its topography because it is nestled by both mountains and the coast. It is also a border area so instead of just Cambodian Riel and US Dollars, Thai Baht is the other currency de rigeur. During my last night the four of us went to the Thai border, gawked at the monstrous casino, and marveled at how Thai the area looked, in spite of it being still Cambodia.

I also failed to mention earlier that the trip to Koh Kong is further punctuated by 4 ferry trips, each one with its own distinct personality and each ferry in varying states of decay or disrepair, making the short crossings really exciting!

 ferry#1

 ferry #2

 ferry #3

 ferry #4

Meanwhile, the videos show us boarding ferry #2, which felt like a leg in the Marlboro Tour, on account of the muddy terrain, and ferry #2 docking on the river bank.

 boarding ferry #2

 ferry #2 docking 

I have many other stories to share about my trip to Koh Kong but these stories deserve their own post. Till next time then!