Well, the day finally arrived. After living at one address for a full year — an eternity for us — we were at last ready to move out of our apartment and go back to being nomads. And to take an actual vacation that we’d been looking forward to for months.

Maybe it would not be accurate to say that we had the same address, because we never really knew what our address was. Addresses don’t really seem to work very well in Cambodia, though we could give you the cross streets. Anyway, we were in the same apartment building all that time, and spent most of it in the same apartment on the third floor (which, by our standards, was actually the fourth floor). There was no fire escape, which is something that Cambodians don’t seem to think much about either. But Dennis, being ever mindful of emergency preparedness, hatched up a plan to get down to street level (or at least within 10 feet) by accessing balconies using the cords from our hammocks as well as the hammocks themselves. It’s almost a pity that we never had the need to witness this Rube Goldberg scheme in action.

There was no elevator, so drinking water had to be hauled up the stairs in 20-liter jugs, which was quite a workout. (As in many other developing nations, nobody in Cambodia drinks tap water; drinking water is obtained from a processor that filters and purifies it.) Fortunately, our landlord, who also ran the hotel around the corner, volunteered himself or his son or security guard to deliver water for us — sometimes two jugs at once! When a jug was empty, we’d just drop it off at the hotel, and that evening a new one, or two, full of fresh water, would appear outside our door. (We had to pay for the water, of course, but delivery was on the house.)

We occupied a studio apartment with a big, comfortable bed. But the only desk was in the bedroom/ living room, and we could not access wi-fi there. For that, we had to be in the kitchen, a room which got considerably warmer. But we did have two fans, and an air conditioner in the bedroom/ living room which we tried to use minimally, as we paid extra for utilities (including hot water for the shower, which not all Cambodian residences have). There were no windows except for the door to the balcony (which was equipped with a washing machine — a luxury). Sometimes we’d get some ventilation by opening that door and the door in the kitchen leading to the hallway, getting a cross breeze going. But one day a bird flew in, perched on the TV, and flew back out. Yes, there was a TV in the apartment, but we never turned it on during the entire year we lived there. Some kinds of poison are not that hard to avoid.

Other than the wayward pigeon, the only critters we were invaded by were the occasional mosquitoes, and a couple of geckos who liked to hang out with us — and probably helped keep the mosquitoes at bay, as well as the cockroaches. There were only a handful of times we found cockroaches inside the apartment, and we’re grateful for the rarity, because they were big enough to haul the refrigerator out on their backs.

Oh yes, and the upstairs neighbors at one point had a pair of dogs (not just one!) that yipped and yapped every time they heard us open our door. And one day, when the neighbors were coming back from walking the little beasts, and we had our door open, one of them just trotted in and made himself at home. But after a few weeks, these neighbors moved out along with their mascots, and we had relative peace and quiet again.

On the last day of our occupancy, we go over to the hotel lobby to settle our bill, expecting to pay only for utilities for the past month, since we’re moving out the day before the rent is due again. But instead we get billed for a month’s rent too. After some confusion, and a few exchanges on Google Translate, we finally resolve the problem: it seems that when we moved in, we did not pay in advance, but instead paid after the fact at the end of the month.

The next morning, we’re up at 4:30 to be out the door by 5:30. We’ve managed to pack along all the food we had in the kitchen except for a few ice cream bars in the freezer — these are the bars from Thailand containing black beans that we’ve become so fond of. They’ll make a nice treat for personnel from the school where we taught who will come to pick up a couple of other things we left behind. (The school had arranged this apartment for us in the first place.)

Then we drop off the keys at the hotel desk and grab a tuk-tuk to the train station, where we have a wait of an hour or so. There’s some confusion about the train we’re supposed to get on, as there are two waiting at the same platform and headed in the same direction. We think surely it must be the longer one, and at first get on it. But then we realize that no, it is in fact the other one, the one consisting of a single car, and looking more like a city trolley than a long distance train.

The train has its air conditioning cranked up full blast, and by the time the trip is over, we’re feeling as chill as a couple of dishes of mousse. Meanwhile, we get some glimpses of rural — and impoverished — Cambodian life through the windows.

The train’s destination is the seaside city of Sihanoukville, which we visited previously with a group of fellow teachers. But the city is not our final destination; it’s just our jumping off point. Because we have our sights set on an island. So from the train station, we catch a tuk-tuk to the ferry terminal, where we buy our tickets and are told to go to Pier 3. But the piers are not well labeled, so it takes us some time to sort out just which one Pier 3 is.

The boat is as packed as our backpacks –which get stacked with the bags of other passengers on the bow of the deck (the floor in the front for us landlubbers), which causes us some concern because Dennis had his computer packed in his, and he realized it was not going to be handled with princess delicacy. Fortunately, it was well protected this time. But we realized that we should not put computers in the big bags in the future, but instead keep them with us in our small packs so we can determine for ourselves how they get handled. All of this time traveling, and we’re still learning.

The boat heads out toward the island of Koh Rong (which is redundant, because “koh” means island), which is not to be confused with Koh Kong, where we previously went island camping with a handful of teachers. Our actual destination is not Koh Rong itself (the filming location, incidentally, of the episode “Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty” in Season 32 of Survivor), but Koh Rong Sanloem, which is a smaller island next to it.

The boat pulls into the dock and we head ashore to find our lodging for the next few night, which we booked through Airbnb. Nobody meets us to show us the way, as we had expected, but following the directions we had from the website and comparing photos to reality, we are able to find it — and it’s pretty close to the dock.

What an appropriately rustic and native place it is, looking as if it had been designed by Jimmy Buffet himself. It’s a two-story bungalow just a few yards from the beach. It’s actually a mini-hostel with three private guest rooms and a common kitchen. But since it’s off-season, we’re the only guests (and will continue to be throughout our stay). There’s also a large gathering area on the ground floor that serves as a cafe and bar when tourists are abundant. At the moment, it’s closed but we still have use of it — and the entrance is the entire front wall, which accordions up to create an open-front living room with a four-star view.

The housekeeper meets us, and even though she doesn’t speak a word of English, she manages to show us the property, and the way up to our room on the second floor. To get to it, we have to climb a staircase that is really more of a ladder than a staircase, and constructed of tree limbs rather than timber. Me Tarzan, You Jane. The room also has essentially the same view as the downstairs common area.

Once settled in, we stroll around the island a little to get the layout, and to buy some produce for dinner from one of the half dozen or so vendors. Then back to our digs to get down to some serious unwinding on our tropical island escape.

08/22/2024