March 15, 2006
March 15, 2006
Jodi and I hung out in our favorite restaurant until 11:00 AM enjoying a lovely breakfast. I am a bit concerned that the begging doesn’t bother me anymore and I just go about my lazy business. This morning two monks stopped by trying to extract money from us but I just couldn’t be bothered to give a damn.
Buying ferry tickets was quite frustrating. They all wanted $20 USD for a single ticket on the ferry from Sihanoukville to Koh Khong when it was still posted around town at $15 USD. Apparently the price went up just three weeks prior which seemed expensive as well! Nobody I talked to on the ferry that morning was very happy about the rate they were charged. The boat was dingy and wasn’t sea worthy because it was made for rivers. While making our way down the pier we encountered a couple of kids who worked for the ferry company that wanted money for helping to load our bikes on the boat. At this point I had it with the calls for extra cash and just walked on the boat with my bike and loaded it my damn self. Later a guy came asking for more money for the bikes and I said, "The tour company that sold me the ticket said that I would not have to pay for the bikes and furthermore $20USD is more than enough for this service." A German who overheard the exchange came up to me and gave me the "way to go" slap on the back. He went onto tell me a story about how the cops in PP had extorted money from him and his brother the night before. His brother works for the German Government is now using the incident to extort money from the Cambodian Police by not reporting the whole scandal (during the boat ride he received a text message on his phone indicating the police had paid up). I felt a little remorseful about the whole thing but as I said earlier I had enough of being the rich American in the eyes of the Cambodians.
We left the port and as I suspected the midday swells were large and I was pretty nervous watching the freeboard disappear and reappear on the sides of the boat. I rode on the roof of the boat to make sure nothing "fell overboard" and make sure I could swim to safety if the boat swamped and sank. Jodi on the other hand sat in the comfort of shade and air conditioning below next to the emergency exit.
About halfway through the trip I met a Pomme who was in the midst of a visa run in Cambodia. He lives in Thailand and has to leave the country every thirty days to renew his visa. We talked about life in Thailand and his dream of opening a guesthouse there. He informed me that the Thais are building a new highway to Sihanoukville to the Thai border and when it opens it is going to open many new stretches of beach (I suspect this is also why the ferry owner raised his prices because he knows the new highway will allow buses to take people to the border for a mere $4). He is of course thinking about opening his guesthouse along that stretch. I had a good time talking to him.
In Koh Khong I had another ugly American incident. I was unloading our bikes and we were leaving the pier when we were approached about our accommodations. I already knew where I wanted to stay and could see it from where I was standing but this guy would not take "no" for an answer. Jodi and I tried repeatedly to be polite and after 5 minutes of this I finally asked "What part of NO do you not understand?" I have to admit that I got some pleasure watching his face contort as he became angry, then cool once more and back to his sales pitch. I asked again, "What part of NO do you not understand? I appreciate that you are trying to make a living but there isn’t any money to be made here with me right now. I can see the place I want to stay and nothing is going to make me change my mind." He gave up and was noticeably pissed and I was pleased that I finally got the best of a Buddhist. A Buddhist is supposed to never loose face, he must never loose his cool and some of them are quite good at it and they take pleasure in pushing others peoples buttons. As my friends know I have a giant big red button on the center of my chest that says "PUSH". For once my button was unscathed. We rode to the hotel, checked in and had a lovely dinner watching the sun set over the ocean.
Jodi and I hung out in our favorite restaurant until 11:00 AM enjoying a lovely breakfast. I am a bit concerned that the begging doesn’t bother me anymore and I just go about my lazy business. This morning two monks stopped by trying to extract money from us but I just couldn’t be bothered to give a damn.
Buying ferry tickets was quite frustrating. They all wanted $20 USD for a single ticket on the ferry from Sihanoukville to Koh Khong when it was still posted around town at $15 USD. Apparently the price went up just three weeks prior which seemed expensive as well! Nobody I talked to on the ferry that morning was very happy about the rate they were charged. The boat was dingy and wasn’t sea worthy because it was made for rivers. While making our way down the pier we encountered a couple of kids who worked for the ferry company that wanted money for helping to load our bikes on the boat. At this point I had it with the calls for extra cash and just walked on the boat with my bike and loaded it my damn self. Later a guy came asking for more money for the bikes and I said, "The tour company that sold me the ticket said that I would not have to pay for the bikes and furthermore $20USD is more than enough for this service." A German who overheard the exchange came up to me and gave me the "way to go" slap on the back. He went onto tell me a story about how the cops in PP had extorted money from him and his brother the night before. His brother works for the German Government is now using the incident to extort money from the Cambodian Police by not reporting the whole scandal (during the boat ride he received a text message on his phone indicating the police had paid up). I felt a little remorseful about the whole thing but as I said earlier I had enough of being the rich American in the eyes of the Cambodians.
We left the port and as I suspected the midday swells were large and I was pretty nervous watching the freeboard disappear and reappear on the sides of the boat. I rode on the roof of the boat to make sure nothing "fell overboard" and make sure I could swim to safety if the boat swamped and sank. Jodi on the other hand sat in the comfort of shade and air conditioning below next to the emergency exit.
About halfway through the trip I met a Pomme who was in the midst of a visa run in Cambodia. He lives in Thailand and has to leave the country every thirty days to renew his visa. We talked about life in Thailand and his dream of opening a guesthouse there. He informed me that the Thais are building a new highway to Sihanoukville to the Thai border and when it opens it is going to open many new stretches of beach (I suspect this is also why the ferry owner raised his prices because he knows the new highway will allow buses to take people to the border for a mere $4). He is of course thinking about opening his guesthouse along that stretch. I had a good time talking to him.
In Koh Khong I had another ugly American incident. I was unloading our bikes and we were leaving the pier when we were approached about our accommodations. I already knew where I wanted to stay and could see it from where I was standing but this guy would not take "no" for an answer. Jodi and I tried repeatedly to be polite and after 5 minutes of this I finally asked "What part of NO do you not understand?" I have to admit that I got some pleasure watching his face contort as he became angry, then cool once more and back to his sales pitch. I asked again, "What part of NO do you not understand? I appreciate that you are trying to make a living but there isn’t any money to be made here with me right now. I can see the place I want to stay and nothing is going to make me change my mind." He gave up and was noticeably pissed and I was pleased that I finally got the best of a Buddhist. A Buddhist is supposed to never loose face, he must never loose his cool and some of them are quite good at it and they take pleasure in pushing others peoples buttons. As my friends know I have a giant big red button on the center of my chest that says "PUSH". For once my button was unscathed. We rode to the hotel, checked in and had a lovely dinner watching the sun set over the ocean.
posted by Kirk & Jodi Roberts at 7:22 AM
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