Sunday, Jan. 27th 2008

View from our resort in Kep of ocean and abandoned building.

Day 2: Our travels to Kep

We all piled into two vans at three o’clock this afternoon, which gave everyone the better part of the day to get some free time in Phnom Penh. Wendy and I had a late breakfast with Janne and her daughter Miriam.

A little walk to (I think) the only Western style grocery store in town to pick up some snack type stuff for the couple of days of the build, as our area doesn’t have anything even close to what we would call a store. So, such honkie staples as Pringles, peanut butter, jam, packages of gator-ade etc. went into our bags for the time in Kep.

After dropping off our loot, we walked a couple of blocks to the local ‘blind massage’ parlor. Now before you start snickering; yes, it is indeed a bona-fide massage. After changing into what can only be described as operating room scrubs, we were directed upstairs to a three table massage room. Great massage, eight dollars.

Everyone was a little early, enabling us to start our drive south a few minutes ahead of schedule. The highway to Kep is paved, two lanes, something that we would consider a small country road, maybe not quite as wide. Traffic wasn’t too bad. All in all, an easy transit. We drove through an area where we saw a lot of two wheel carts being pulled by ponies.

About ten kilometers or so before Kampot town, we hung a left at a roundabout with a horse statue, must have been some connection to the ponies we saw, but is still a bit of a mystery.

All along the drive down, in towns, as well as random other spots we have seen roadside markets, the most interesting items being recently butchered cow. Having seen these guys wandering in the fields as we drive by, I am not super excited about the prospect of the meat. These cows didn’t seem to have a lot of meat on them. Pretty skinny units. Picture 35 degree celcius and hanging meat…..I think the well done rule is definitely in effect here, but more likely we will stick to seafood and chicken.

Our accommodations are nice. A small resort with decent rooms, some with hot water, about half a kilometer from the ocean. Nice view of what was probably the only hotel in town 50 years ago, now abandoned. Quite a few French Colonial mansions in the same state, most still bearing bullet scuffs on the external walls from the KR.

We all decided to eat at the resort restaurant tonight… verdict, not bad.

Tomorrow, first day of build.

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