Departure Diaries 3- Almost there

7/6

Whilst I am not a Buddhist myself, I do find the philosophy very appealing and find the precepts a perfect guide for living a meaningful and mindful life. I also love living in a Buddhist culture and participating in the festivals, rites and rituals, so I’m grateful for the generosity, acceptance, guidance and compassion of my community. 

This is the fifth Buddhist culture I have lived in and I find it deeply calming and reassuring.

In the last 24 hours we have been given a bunch of bananas, custard apples, a couple of blocks of spiced, pressed tofu and 3 avocados. This is the season of plenty. 

This song struck a chord today, when I heard it playing on the radio and I had in fact been outside staring at the stars and thinking about the many things we love and will miss about Kep. 

“Tonight I went out from the kitchen

And looked up at the stars from the yard

I was hoping to get some perspective

But sometimes perspective is hard

I know my life is a blessing

And all blessings come with a curse

My enemies I know I can handle

But friends now, well ……..”

“Every Step of the Way”

Paul Kelley 

8/6

Green lights on the apartment at long, long last. The documents have been issued and now we enter five days of due diligence. 

Of course the lawyer was in Vietnam at the time but he returned and verified that the documentation was genuine with only one additional brief delay of a single day. Driver was booked. Meeting time set. 

Whoo Hoo we are relocating and about to get very busy.

No not by Tuk Tuk though

DEPARTURE DIARIES 2 - Playing the waiting game in Kep

4/4

I’m so glad Madam Tshewang called today. She yet again inspired me to believe in myself and not get disheartened by the setbacks. She also gave us both reason to believe we will eventually return to Bhutan to visit. The fact that Anjana also wrote to me on the same day boosted my flagging spirits and reconfirmed for me that we have a real and lasting connection to the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon. 

19/4

I saw a coucal fly slowly into the mango tree while I was swimming in the pool a couple of days ago. A russet flash of wings and long tail feathers were in motion. Just last night a bat flew through the outdoor eating area while we were dining and the tranquillity and calm is so restorative. 

Thank you Yary, for the task of maintaining the spirit house. It has brought me calm. 

In the last few evenings, we’ve seen squirrels and a variety of birds including a treepie, a coucal, hoopoes, oriental magpie robins, yellow vented bulbuls, sparrows, swiftlets and common mynas all on this property and a pair of sea eagles hunting in the waters near the crab market and heard the shrill chirping and warbling of the birds and almost deafening waves of stridulation from the crickets at intervals throughout the day but especially at twilight. What a sanctuary this magnificent garden is!

9/5

This morning Ian calmly closed the door of the bathroom on the little mouse that scurried in there in broad daylight and then performed a capture and release manoeuvre after first returning to the kitchen to finish making breakfast.

11/5

We were told today “Expected completion 2 weeks from today” but we are struggling to believe it. 
It’s just designed to make us feel better. 

2/6

I remembered tonight that you recently said that you’d relocated a year ago. 

I’ve been thinking about you getting there and that time before so much. You are amazing to have dealt with all that: juggling abuse, real estate agents, injuries, transport companies, cleaning, dumping, packing and rewriting wills. Relatives and rip offs followed. I hope you pat yourself on the back and tell yourself how strong you are every single morning. 

When I think of all the time we have spent here in Kep I think that time was the most stressful for me. For both of us actually. We both so wanted to be there. More than evicting a former friend, or my knee injury and recovery and even more than the current waiting game we are playing with the apartment purchase, it was not being there when you needed to get out that was so difficult. You did that single handedly. People helped but you made it happen. 

You are incredible. Just thinking about you makes me smile. Love you forever 

3/6

I’m grateful we rode through the streets while the political rally was proceeding in the opposite direction today and people participating smiled and waved to us too and the police even stopped the traffic for us to cross the road to the market. It’s the simple things like a wave from the bicycle repairman, a market stall owner refusing payment, neighbours who watch out for us as we do them, house owners who drop off fruit grown on the property and children we know recognising us and screaming hello as we cycle by, that make us feel connected to this community and confident that we can build that kind of connection again