Bamboo Island and Tuk-Tuk Karma

Took the bus from Siem Reap back to Phnom Penh (a tactical mistake) and then on to Sihanoukville (named after King Sihanouk) ...a very long day of five and six hour bus rides back to back. Got in after dark and found a place by way of a nice Tuk-Tuk driver who took us to a passable place next to a nice enough place to have dinner a block back from the water's edge. We intend to go out to Bamboo Island tomorrow so we only need a minimal place for tonight.

By morning, we find yet another Tuk-Tuk driver to take us to the boat launch so we can purchase the ticket for the hour long trip out to the island ...as well as the room reservation while out there. The driver quotes us $4 which we note is very high comparatively speaking. But we don't know how far away this boat launch is. Tuk-tuk drivers here, the book warns us, are notorius for overcharging and ripping off tourists... and this is no exception. He wonders about trying to take a fabricated long route that finally winds up only about 200 yards from where we started out. We are pissed off and after securing our necessary arrangements for a departure in about 90 minutes, we let him know what an outrage he has produced. Vivian is especially mad at him and lets him have it... not something typical of Vivian at all. It does no good and our anger only seems to bring him pride in front of his buddies witnessing his business accumen.

The one hour boat trip passes other islands as we head to the westerly side of Ko Russie (Bamboo Island) as it is known. We land on the quiet side to a place called Ba Roo made up of about ten thatched huts no more than 30 feet from the water's edge. It is serene and other than the extraordinary high frequency and loud slaps of the waves against the almost orange sand (it squeaks when you walk on it), this is exactly the kind of place we had hoped for. Western facing beach for the highly touted sunsets. We settle in, go for a swim (no snorkeling worthy waters found), take an exploratory walk to the eastern side of the island, have dinner at the large round open air restaurant that is part of the thatched hut-ness (the only choice on this side) and after a bit of conversation with other visitors and each other, it is dark and time to retire... though I manage to have a cigar before bed.

Next morning, after a shower at the remote bathroom, we decided to check out here and move to the other side of the island where there are about four places to choose from and TWO restaurants. We also find this side to have more transportation options for our return trip and a quieter surfline... AND some snorkeling advantages.

We have a nice thatched hut with a largish veranda and two chairs with a table... uptown! We also have an attached bathroom with a Squat-o-matic. For the next two days we make the BIG decisions. Do I snorkel now or later, read here on the porch or in the hammock slung between two palms not five feet from the water's edge? No real bug or heat problems... thank you very much. We meet Dariash, a Brit of Persian decent who wons the 16 huts for the 4-5 month season. We also meet his side kick friend ...Kenny, a native born Cambodian adopted by an American from Ventura, California at age 12. More on Kenny in a seperate blog other than to say that Kenny made some rather nice B-B-Q ribs tonight for dinner.

There are other choices of activities should you, dear reader, wonder. One can, as I did, watch the "day trippers" who come onto the island for lunch on various boats that do a three island tour from the mainland. A bit like watching a people zoo as they lay out on the sand spit for the two hours they are given. Another activity is watching the enormous thunder heads come and go and speculating on whether or not they will produce the fabled downpour ...or not. We had two nights of good downpours with wonderful cracking thunder and lightening and horrendous wind blown rain... truely the tropics. On another earlier night at BimBamBoo (the name of our place), the blowing rain came up so suddenly that the six of us about to have dinner had to rush and crouch down behind the bar to keep from being soaked until we could make a run for the safety of our thatched huts a half hour later. It is at moments like these where one indulges in yet another activity option... of meeting and having conversations with the other visitors. Behind the protection of this bar, I met a British lawyer practicing in Abu Dhabi (oil and gas) ..."can't stand Dubai, too modern without a culture or soul..." she says. We also met and enjoyed Kristin, a gal from Spokane who was traveling w/a mate from Sri Lanka (his first time out of his country) and a pretty terrific dog. Kristin, two months preggers, teaches elementary Art in International schools abroad. She has taught in Ecuador, Hanoi and now in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Loves it! Great pay, respectful kids, housing and maid provided... "they really love to hire couple because they save on housing costs...". I have the addresses for anyone reading this who is interested. You can also do a web search for Council of International Schools or go to www.cis.org or try Search Associates.

Our last night on Bamboo Island, the rain blown one mentioned above, and we must rise at 5 am to get to the mainland in time for our bus or boat back north. Our good luck made the rain end 15 minutes before Kenny loads us onto his boat for the hour long ride to the mainland. Because our landing will need to be crude (the power skiff we are towing seems to have a motor problem) we will have to go to a more remote beach to bring the larger boat closer to the water's edge where we hop out and carry out packs through the breaking surf onto a beach where Kenny has arranged to have a Tuk-Tuk driver meet us... in spite of the distance we are from the populace. The wonders of Cell phones and a person like Kenny who speaks 8 languages! This is to be a challenging day for us having to trudge through many different modes of transportation and bureaucracies. "The Tuk-tuk driver is a guy I bring much business to and he is always ready to meet me no matter what time of day or night... a good guy who will never overcharge as the others do" assures Kenny. Kenny himself is a book waiting to be written. Besides his language skills, he has a personality and smile that could melt the most formidable of advasaries... and he makes everything very quick and easy. Upon bringing our gear onto the mainland, sure enough, there is the Tuk-tuk driver waiting for us... the very same one that ripped us off three nights earlier. Kenny says... "this morning, it won't cost you a dime, this is a favor he owes me". This is karmic justice at its finest and as we come eye to eye with the driver, he looks away as he grabs our bags to load up, wanting to please not us... but Kenny. We tell Kenny the story and Kenny says something in Khymer to the driver who tells Kenny he isn't sure if he knows us or not as he has so many fares from day to day. We are sure it is the same guy and crack up over our good fortune to enjoy our just rewards. To make matters even better, we find the bus tickets which Kenny confirmed for us a day ahead, was overbooked and only if we agree to sit on plastic chairs in the isles, can we have seats. So Kenny commands the driver to go with Kenny to the boat dock to see if we can be booked on the high speed four hour ferry ride to the same endpoint as the bus. The connection is successful and the driver is fit to be tied ...we of course feel we have finally been given our four dollars per person's worth. It isn't the price... but the rude way the driver conducted himeself that made it so rewarding. Kenny has magic in most things he does and I will tell you more about his amazing life story in yet another blog entry.

Kenny insists on staying with us and facilitating our boat ticket purchases and then takes us to a wonderful mom and pop dock-side place to have breakfast. We have a delightful meal together in a place that I am certain rarely if ever sees westerners. No English spoken here and finally we have a rather emotional farewell with Kenny as we vow to get together in California when he returns. He is a rare and very special guy. More to come... Mark