August 16 - Sihanoukville

Guess what? It rained! ... ... It actually rained ALL day but we weren't surprised. It just meant a change of plans. We woke up early this morning to try once again to catch a sunrise, but for some reason I think the weather is working against us. It was too cloudy to see much of a sunrise so we went back to sleep. Mmmm! :) At seven we woke to a sunny, beautiful morning and caught a ride to town. Only problem was, large dark clouds were quickly moving in from the ocean. Our original plan had been to rent a kayak and kayak out to one of the surrounding islands and have a picnic lunch and snorkel. We decided it may be wiser to wait for a calmer morning. Good thing too!
Once we came out of the building after booking a trekking trip to Ream National Park, the wind had really picked up and the rain started, not just started but dumped! The initial dump eased up around 9 but it rained up until 2:30 (the letup rain was like a heavy rain back home) so we wore bright yellow rain coats all day!
The trip to the park included breakfast (if you could call one small baquet and jam breakfast), entrance fee, a guide, lunch and a boat ride to the shore. The boat ride was around an hour one way. Pretty, but rainy. Good thing our boat had a little tarp over it, but we still needed the rain coats because of little holes and open sides. Once we got to the shore we trekked through the "jungle" for forty minutes. At least they call jungle here. I guess it had some vines and lots of rain! We pretty much walked through a stream of water on a sandy path. One man slipped and twisted his ankle. I felt kind of like a first aider but there wasn't much that could be done. Besides, it wasn't broken and he could walk on it without much pain. So... pretty much he just slowed us down a bit.
Bradyn and I decided either we're wierd or everyone else is boring! Please just let us think that everyone else is boring. Once we got to the beach we were hiking to I was the only one that got in the water up to my waist and Bradyn and I were the only ones that explored the beach. We saw a couple large crabs scurrying around and hiding. Wow can they move! There were some little grey ones too! We didn't take many pictures because of the rain, (even if we did, we can't load them onto the computers from our camera anymore. So you'll have to wait until we can get the pictures onto cd by someone who knows what they're doing.)
The trek back came way too soon because we had just reached the cool rocks and had to turn around and head back. We were given half an hour to explore and we were back in 27minutes and everyone was anxiously waiting for us, sitting on a log. Boring? At least we thought so! We're not wierd right?
After a lunch of BBQ'd baracuda and fruit. I liked the fruit! Bananas and pineapple, all fresh! mmm! Can life get any better? I submit it cannot! On the trip back to the boat dock, Bradyn played captian of the ship for a bit (basically he steered it. I couldn't find a cool word for it.), sick and all! For all you who experienced the Peru sickness, I think Bradyn is starting it. Let's just say he's a fan of the bum sprayers that the toilets have!
As we talked to our guide I felt very appreciative of the Canadian education system and my current financial situation. Our guide has been working for the same company for the last two years without pay and has two more to go (I guess Bradyn says he gets $30/month, so he likes tips!). He has to work for them because they supported his education. He works from sun up to sun down and doesn't get any days off. He's only seen his family once in two years and they live an hour and a half away. He's so homesick that sometimes he cries when he's on the phone. He also told us a bit about his growing up. He went to school and then straight to the field to help with the rice. What a rough life! I wonder if when he talks about family, if he has a wife or if it's his parents and siblings. I don't know and probably won't. I'm sure he doesn't have a social life, especially during the busy tourist times.
The rest of the day has been spent doing.... nothing! Bradyn on the toilet, me looking for text books online. (I know! School starts soon! :( )
P.s. when we chose our hotel, we picked it because it talked about having some peace and quiet! They weren't joking! There are only two other tourists staying in this entire place! And the beach is empty. Mind you, it's a long walk to town. But what's there to do in town but drink?