Seasons Greetings

A year that saw many changes in us and our lives is coming to a close and later than ever I’m about to pen a greeting. 

Last year was so lifeless we didn’t even write one and we all know why. This year began in Phnom Penh after having spent Xmas 2021 in Battambang on the first of what turned out to be several return trips there.

 

We reflected a lot about the way our lives were progressing and the state of progress and development in Kep while we were in the capital. The idea to perhaps move here was then born. 

By February we had talked it over with expat mates and begun the search for a new place. Suffice to say the process was way more complicated than we could ever have imagined and even after committing it took until June to hold the keys in our hands and feel that overwhelming sense of relief that the long wait was over. 

The phasing out of teaching the classes for the little monks of Kep was heart wrenching and difficult but we found a way forward and an incredibly talented Khmer speaking replacement. To ease the transition we did trips to the local Butterfly Farm and beach together before actually saying goodbye, and of course we continue to visit them and offer what limit support we can. 

The neighbours and especially the family with whom we shared our space and life in Kep for almost five years was an equally difficult community to leave and one we feared we would never replace. We remain in contact and visit them on every trip back and feel very grateful for the connection. 

By July we had completed major renovation projects and hosted our first guest, Barry, who arrived just days before we contracted the dreaded big C!! He and we got some time together and we avoided contaminating him and he was a good sport about the situation but it was far from an ideal outcome. 

Come August Ian took a tumble down the dilapidated and downright dangerous staircase leading up to our fourth floor apartment at the second level. It is on the needs to be repaired list but we have learned paperwork, approval and actually getting the work done can be a very slow and frustrating process. We will get there eventually. 

The fall resulted in a very painful fractured pelvis and a month of as little movement as possible whilst confined to the bedroom for Ian! A further two weeks of weight bearing still trapped in the apartment followed before X-rays and doctors confirmed all was on track and returning to normal activities was once again possible. I became the chief cook, bottle washer, general slave and nurse but we survived and it all healed well enough to be mobile again and getting out and about together in late September. 

We did another rehab trip to Battambang to walk, swim and generally regain a sense of adventure, explore more and resume an active lifestyle. Battambang is now a firm favourite location and has a lot to offer. The original historic buildings, uncluttered riverside zone, cultural offerings and a very laid back atmosphere ensure it’s always going to be on our itinerary. Barry even returned to celebrate his birthday with us there recently and we did our best to make it double the fun to compensate for the previous visit.  We also discovered a few new hangouts in our now more familiar neighbourhood and all agreed this was a fabulous time together cementing and celebrating our more than thirty year friendship. 

Living in PP has brought many of the advantages we foresaw including richer cultural offerings, a vibrant street life, better connections to other regions, more readily available medical treatments, which we did unfortunately have to avail of and a much more diverse availability of fresh produce and food offerings. 

Unexpectedly we have also discovered that the fireworks displays we have only ever glimpsed from the streets or budget hotels are clearly visible from our own terrace, there is a niche for us in the local community who have rallied and assisted us not only when Ian had his accident but on a regular basis, a welcoming international expat clan who accept and include us as well as a slow, simple, sustainable and secure lifestyle to embrace.

A big shout out to Dennis and Philip who have been real mates and a huge help and support through what has been a challenging process and an extended settling in period. You have been absolute champions. 

Yes there are challenges, inconveniences and obstacles, bureaucracy and 

obstinately obnoxious aspects, pollution and problems but where aren’t there? We choose not to focus on those things and look for the positives and embrace gratitude so I can say despite it all we love our current lifestyle and our new abode. 

 

Just days ago we revived the tradition of taking the little monks of Kep on a day trip to Rabbit Island and the one and only thing that will make me happier in 2022 is to return to Australia to see friends and family for the first time in over four and a half years. 

So, just in the nick of time allow me to wish you all a very Merry Xmas and a very Happy New Year dear friends near and far. May you feel joy, stay safe and be at peace with who you are, where you are and what will come. 

With much love 

From

Vicky and Ian xxxxx

Season’s Greetings 2020

Here we are again at the end of what must be one of the oddest years in living memory and yet we seem to have survived it and seen the world change in ways that we had not even conceived were possible. Let me begin by saying that I hope there have been some fun times and memorable moments this year despite the difficulties and the challenges.

 Like so many others we have had a rather quiet and uneventful year, and now consider ourselves to be fortunate that we are able to say that. Although the pandemic situation in Cambodia has been largely contained with fewer than 360 recorded cases to date and no fatalities, it has of course impacted on daily life and business and the economic repercussions are enormous for a country almost totally dependent on tourism and foreign, largely Chinese, investment. The first community transmission was about 3 weeks ago and while it at first seemed to have been contained and traced, isolated pockets of positive cases are now appearing in several of the most outlying provinces. I for one am hoping that vaccines save the day and that sanity prevails and people avail of them so that travel can once again become an option.

It is in fact hard to know if the stats are accurate or not but we continue to be cautious and rarely do much beside teaching our monks, shopping and having a few friends over. We still attend markets as sellers for a local NGO but there have been very few this year and none of them successful. Most vendors only spend what they themselves make so the same few dollars circulate among the same few people. IWA, who we go for, is more concerned about keeping their name in the public arena so sales are not so significant and remarkably enough a few of our eco-wraps to support the monks always sell.

We are happy with our decision to remain here and have felt it to be a rather fortunate position to be in. Up until a couple of weeks ago we were still teaching our delightful little monks, who after three years are actually not so little anymore and of course are an ever-evolving and changing group: some of the original twelve remain but new arrivals come and old buddies leave and some of them even return. Such is the nature of the situation these desperately poor kids find themselves in and we really still don't completely fathom what inspires their decisions. There have been short breaks when schools closed and then when we made a short domestic trip but mostly all was going well. Even when school didn’t reopen, we decided to continue as there are only eight to twelve of them and there is so little else in their lives.  

That of course changed in late November when I slipped in water in the main hall of the pagoda and fractured my left kneecap. I was convinced it was only dislocated. I actually don’t even know if that’s possible but I’m ever the optimist and was shocked to hear talk of surgery when we finally arrived at a hospital. Ian claims to have expected it from the onset! Nonetheless I was lucky and counting my blessings when surgery was performed only seven hours after the fall. One screw, two pins and a figure eight loop of wire now hold my kneecap together and I’m trying not to overdo the physio exercises while being diligent and committed to regaining the complete range of motion and flexibility. It’s a tall order at my age but I am hoping that cycling, hiking and swimming will again be possible sometime in January. Did I mention that I am the eternal optimist? We also hope to return to teaching the little monks at that time but we are reassured that we are not forgotten and are sorely missed by the fact that they have visited us at home and performed blessings twice in the last month.  

For almost nine months of this year we had a house guest, who we had invited to stay with us when he lost his job in January. When the pandemic struck it seemed no-one else would have any need to avail of our guestroom this year although well over a dozen people had had intentions to do so, so he simply stayed on. In October we decide to ask him to leave. I’m not sure if it was a case of “all things must pass” or “all’s well that ends well” but we are glad to once again have our quiet little haven to ourselves and privacy restored, especially now that I am in recovery mode and largely housebound. 

I guess the big highlight of our year was in October when we were able to take a two-week domestic trip. This was originally the plan in March when it was intended to be my birthday trip. At that time, we made it to the capital and then started to rethink when there was a very real possibility of travel between provinces being banned or restricted. Having no desire to be stranded in either Battambang or Siem Reap, we hightailed it back to our cosy little home in Kep and decided to wait out the storm. Like many other people at that point we were of the firm belief that all would be well before the end of the year. 

Not so, but the situation in Cambodia was and thankfully still is far from dire so we managed to ignore both birthdays and celebrate our wedding anniversary with domestic travel instead. Despite it being the wet season, it was a fabulous time to be on the move. We had good weather and not too much rain and managed to visit all the places we had hoped to with almost no other tourists in sight. This was both a blessing and a shock. The largely empty streets and many closed businesses in places usually teeming with life was eerie and the Angkor Wat Temple complex in particular a very eye-opening experience. Monkeys, snakes and all manner of other wildlife seemed to be taking up residence and reclaiming their dominance. I was, in fact, somewhat frightened of both the monkeys and the snakes when we were the only people anywhere to be seen. An atmosphere of sadness pervaded the quiet in many of the nearly abandoned temples. This was our third visit and it still awes and amazes but it felt decidedly disconcerting to see so few other travellers there or in Siem Reap itself. 

Kep, and Cambodia in general, is very much a great place to be even while nursing an injury. I am taking refuge in good books and having read almost every English book available in our dear friend Yary’s library, I am now back to digital reading and enjoying the ride through classics and new titles. We are happy here and in fact better off than we would have been in Australia as hindsight has proved.

Let me end by wishing you all very happy celebrations over the coming weeks. There is still a lot to be thankful for and I fully intend to make the most of the time to spend with the dear friends we have here. I have my fingers crossed for a better, more joyous and freer world in 2021. One that might involve more than local travel and many more social gatherings with time to spend on the things we love. I also hope that there will be plenty of good food and wine, good cheer and a lot to celebrate.