It was with a touch of sadness that they sorted out and packed their bags on their last day on Koh Samui.
They took a final songthaew ride to Tesco Lotus to have passport photos taken for their entry visa into Cambodia. While waiting for the photos to be printed, they treated themselves to some “sushi” which was absolutely amazing and worth the 6 week wait.
What a laugh when they collected the photos. Richard has been photo shopped into a suit and wrinkle free. Mandy suited out as well with a custom hairdo sporting a slight orange tint. Really! LOL!!!!
The nostalgic ride back to the hotel was followed by a final “Friday” cocktail at Lucky Shaker Cocktail Bar and dinner on the beach at Kirati Beach Resort Restaurant. On the walk back to the hotel, the touch of sadness felt earlier had been replaced with butterfly flutters of excitement.
They awoke on their last morning feeling apprehensive yet excited about the journey to Cambodia. From their seats on the flight out of the private airport on Koh Samui, they bid goodbye to the wonderful tropical island that had been their home for the past 6 weeks. Koh Samui would always be remembered with fondness as it was the start of their journey and their first home away from home. They chatted about the past 6 weeks and were reminded to thank Linda Hanekom, the agent who made the start of their journey from SA to Thailand so effortless.
For anyone with a degree, who is interested in going over to Thailand to do the TEFL course, Linda Hanekom ensures a smooth transition from SA to Thailand.
The flight to Bangkok and change-over to connecting flight to Trat went smoothly. The only hitch being that Richard could not find a “smoking lounge” and was forced to go without a cigarette for more than 5 hours. The nerves started when they stepped out of the terminus bus to board what looked like a “model airplane”, (a twin engine propeller plane). The engines started up, all sounded fine until they looked out and saw that the propeller on the right side where they were seated, was not moving. Richard had visions of having to push start the airplane down the run way. As it was a small aircraft, the flight to Trat was low enough to see the landscape and shoreline so the views from their seat were breathtaking.
They landed with a sigh of relief in Trat, only to discover that they were minus Mandy’s suitcase. As they could not cross the border into Cambodia minus luggage, they had no choice but to sit back and relax at this remote airport in Trat. The airport staff informed them that this was a common occurrence and that Bangkok Airlines had located the luggage and would ensure that the suitcase was on the next flight from Bangkok to Trat. There was a small bar that served some cold refreshments and snacks, so with 5 hours to kill, they chilled, had a few cold ones, enjoyed the gardens and played some Bananagrams.
They boarded a mini bus at about 6 pm, lost luggage intact and started the 2 hour drive to the Hat Lek border to enter into Cambodia.
THE NERVE WRACKING BORDER ENTRY – As neither had previous experience crossing a border in a foreign country, they had no idea what to expect except for what they had seen in movies about border crossings. Their feelings of uneasiness grew along with the increasing darkness on the road they were traveling. They finally reached the border and were directed by the taxi driver to a small, badly lit office, where they were greeted by a sullen shady looking character who did not speak English very well. After handing in their passports, which were stamped for departure out of Thailand, they walked through the security gate that separates Thailand from Cambodia, pulling their cases behind them on a badly tarred road towards another dingy, badly lit office on the Cambodian side of the border. (only risked taking one photo as focus was on luggage, passport, visa, money and getting into Cambodia safely. . . LOL).
Although there was a somewhat friendly guy dressed in what looked like a make shift uniform who approached them in the street outside the immigration office and assisted them in broken English, when it comes to exchanging money and handing over your passports to someone you don’t know outside a badly lit, unclean and eerily looking building with all these strange unfriendly faces staring at you, you can’t help but feel the panic start rising. The road outside the border post is lined with vehicles overloaded with all sorts of things, tuc tuc drivers, street vendors and it all looks so ominous in the dark. Thoughts of being locked up for no apparent reason cross your mind even though you hadn’t done anything or were not in possession of anything that could result in you being detained. While standing at the border post, filling in the necessary forms while being stared down by the immigration officers, a shining beacon of light in the form of Nico Millen (CEO of TEFL Cambodia), came to their rescue. (Thanks to Craig Ellman for the intervention). With a sigh of relief and a hand shake, both welcomed Nico’s experience and assistance with smiling faces.
Luggage, passports and entry visa’s in hand, they took their first Tuk Tuk taxi ride along with Nico to his residence on Koh Kong. After settling into their room provided by their new host, they ventured out onto the quiet streets of Koh Kong for their first Cambodian meal of Beef Loc Lac (Wok tossed peppered beef and onion served on a bed of sliced fresh tomato and lettuce, accompanied by rice). While enjoying their meal and a few beers, they listened to Nico’s TEFL journey which took him, his wife and his daughter from South Africa to Thailand and finally to settling in Cambodia and starting up his own TEFL and English teaching school here on Koh Kong.
Koh Kong is a province in southwest Cambodia with a vast undeveloped coastline and a rugged interior encompassing part of the Cardamom Mountains’ rain forest. The forested, hilly Koh Kong Island is lined with tropical beaches. South of the provincial capital, also called Koh Kong, the mangroves and waterways of Peam Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary are home to animals, birds and fishing communities.
Our 50 something traveling duo will be assisted by Nico Millen, in applying for their 1 year business visa which will allow them to work legally in Cambodia. While waiting for their application to be processed, they will spend a few days exploring Koh Kong before making their way to Siem Reap (with business visa).
Both fell asleep within seconds after their heads hit their pillows and slept soundlessly until woken by pouring rain in the early hours of the morning which reminded them of their first morning on Koh Samui. They lay awake listening to the rain and chatting about all their experiences and their adventure to follow.
They started the day with a quick shower in what is a typical toilet/shower facility in Thailand and Cambodia. The shower is a hand held shower that is erected on the wall alongside the toilet (all open plan). There is a small water reservoir (looks like a tiny square bath), that stands next to a non flushing toilet, where a small plastic basin is provided to collect water from the water reservoir for flushing the toilet. As they had been staying in hotel accommodation since arriving on Koh Samui, this was their first experience using this type of toilet/shower facility).
Feeling fresh and clean, they joined Nico on his balcony office for a steamy cup of “moer” koffie and their first daylight view of the streets of Koh Kong.
