Good Time Sally

Hey guys.....

Ok, you know what I am going to put the Australia chapter down for a little while. No worries, no worries we will all be able to pick it up again when I have a little more time to use the internet and things like that, but for now I need to bring you all up to where we are today. I have the rest of the Oz trip documented in my travel bible so it will happen. But like I say, I need you all to close your eyes for a few moments and let me transport you to a very, VERY, different place.

Welcome to Cambodia.

More specifically let me welcome you to the Island of Koh Rung Samleom. K.R.S. hmmm how best to describe this place....This is actually a bit of a story in itself to be honest guys. I have tried to take a few pictures of the Island and of the views that I have, but still I cannot find the shot that would best describe where I am. Then I thought ok perhaps I will not achieve a true description by leaving it up to the hands of my Lumix, and so I have tried several tmes in my hammock to write or draw a sufficient description of the Island. Again failure as I realised that words also come short when trying to do this place justice. Why? Well it just has to be the emotions associated with what I am seeing and experiencing here.

As an ok National Geographic / Lonely Planet style summary of the Island, I can tell you it is a small Island off the coast of Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The Island is fairly tucked away behind several other Islands as you enter the Gulf of Thailand, which provides a great amount of shelter, for both marine and land based ecosystems. With this positioning the Island is completely covered in very rich green Jungle, and the entire surrounding coastline drops onto all kinds of reefs and sandbars literally teeming with all kinds of fish, corals and small sea mammals. Perfect some might say, but it really really does not stop here. As you approach the Island on our standard form of travel (traditional Khmer longtail boat) the first thing you notice is the cooling breeze generated by being in the gulf, this is a great first impression as the temperature comes down to a cool 32 degrees on average. Then the cove opens, and as you drift slowly past the main blocking Island in you realise the impact all the colours are having on your senses. Brilliant greens, of all shades, the cool tasting turquoise of the sea, the deep purples of the reefs 20 metres down, and of the course the shimmering white of the sand as it surrounds the island. This is your very first impression of the Island.

Then the boat pulls up to the beach, and saying that it really does feel like a scene from the movie, in front of you there is a very small traditional fishing village. Houses comprised of local timbers and corrugated iron sheets. Tarpaulin as a major prevention from wet season flooding flaps in the cool sea breeze. The conservation village to the left (consisting of 7 bungalows/sheds) lies hidden behind a mask of palms and beach trees. You gather your bags slip off your flippy floppy's and jump into the water off the boat. First sense is that of the ridiculously hot water, in the shallows here I am not even joking when I say I would be comfortable in colder baths, then you are bundled by at least 10 gromets, freaking out with the prospect of another mystical westerner entering their community and their Island. They pull at your bags, and you, and at first perhaps it's hard to feel comfortable, but you can't help but smile and laugh with them, as they carry wider smiles than moon crescents. You gladly hand over your luggage as they run down the beach with it towards the conservations main bungalow, a rehearsed welcoming that relaxes you in an instant.

Upon entering the bungalow, no in fact even approaching the conservation village you are truly reminded of what it means when people say a natural and rustic existance. There is no sound other, than birds, kids squeals in the wind, and the sea. No generator hums, no vehicles, no "Tuk Tuk", "Moto", "Taxi" just the feeling of the sand crushing under your feet, and the odd crab sprinting across the burning surface. I arrived late in the afternoon, everyone had finished work for the day and was winding down when I met them, and this seemed to be a perfect time. I dumped my staff in bungalow, with a sigh. Luke who was showing me around, says "oh and if you play guitar we have one here, (a really Island looking 3/4), but no one plays it so feel free" Again a sigh and a grin at Luke (I had been waiting for a guitar for pretty much my whole time in OZ and to this point) "Oh im sure I'll find a use for that" I respond. "What a place hey man" I mention to Luke as we begin our tour, he replied "Dude, welcome to the Island, population us and about 200 others, and beyond that millions and millions of the best friends you can have." Random I think, what is this crazy Londoner chatting about???? Little did I know not only was this a beautiful place above the sea, only previously witnessed in dreams of tropical islands, but the true beauty of this place was to be found around 15-20 meters down, amongst that purpley shade in the turquoise glass surrounding us.

Hmmmm, reading back, does this best describe how I felt, and the things I saw that first day....It may do it some justice, but I think the moment I realised I was truly in a very special place. I was lying on my bunk in my net, and the moment I opened my eyes, i peeked through my square whole in the wall (window) and was greeted by cool pastel shades of pink, red, blue, green of the longtails in the bay, the sun as it had just popped up above the now sparkling green jungle. The rich blue and purple sea was waving back at me inviting me in, some sanctuary from the 30 degree heat already at 7am. I went outside onto the balcony brushing my teeth and had to pause, for their was no sound, nothing, other than the occasional horn-bill, a tear actually came to me, haha (@choppy - a small tear falls), I had never felt so honestly happy to be alive, I have never felt so sure of making the right decisions, and I had never wished my friends and family could be looking at what I was staring at right now so much. It is moments like this that are begining to reoccur here, moments where you realise that this planet, has tiny corners, incredibly small in their produce, their advertisement, yet so so so rich in sensory exploding details that really remind you of what it is to be human. It is places like this that remind you why you have eyes to see, why you have skin to feel, why you have a nose to smell and a tongue to taste, why you have ears to hear. Each sense is taken on vacation here, and given the massage its always needed. This place is designed for one thing really and that is to give your soul a rest. Yeh that's pretty good actually this is where your heart and soul come to vacation. Now if you can imagine that, then you are half way to understanding I think, the next half is to get yourself here.....

Ok so I will continue this story, however I have an errand to run for a couple of hours. Haha, who'd have thought I would have a job to do here. Well actually 4 jobs, but thats cool, the currency is worth more than gold. Real happiness.