Kratie. Paxton gets born, Lou gets his nipples rubbed.

On this day we welcome Paxton Ronald Charles Wadge! Nice job Jen, Joe.

Up to this point with my posts I've tried to give a little history or interesting facts about our location in one section and then what we got up to in another. I know nothing of Kratie so I'll tell of our adventures.

First the trip Kompong Cham to Kratie. While we paid for a bus, it turned out there were not enough paying customers to over-fill a bus, only enough to seriously over-fill a 12 passenger van. While we did manage to stuff 17 people and luggage - the entire rear of the van that would typically be used for passenger luggage was packed with freight, huge spools of heavy cable, boxes of auto parts, etc. and most of the folks we were travelling with we're not nearly as conservative in their packing as were Kim and I. The operators tried valiantly to get 18 in the van, including at one point putting the 18th passenger in the driver's seat with the driver in his lap. This was physically possible because the driver was small for a twelve year old, but outrage at this arrangement from the folks in the van - what we like to call "future crash victims" - nixed this plan. Again, what could go wrong? (We later saw the 18th passenger heading to Kratie on the back of a moped). 

Finally on our way, I buried my head in the iPad so I didn't have to watch the insanity, the mobile Russian Roulette that passes as driving in Cambodia. At the onset, we were told the drive would take 3-4 hours - we arrived 2 hours and 25 minutes later. The seat latches for the back seat which were intended to hold the cartage from the passenger area were broken, so with every bump we hit (billions) the load shifted forward a bit. By the time we arrived Kratie, the poor souls in that seat had 14" from the top of their seat back to the top of the seat back ahead.

When we arrived, we drove around town looking for the bus depot because the driver had never been to Kratie! Well, most 12 year olds do lack such experience.

As frightening as our $6 room in Kompong Cham was, our $8 room in Kratie was heaven - clean, spacious, really strong flow of hot, hot water in the shower.

Our first full day we got up early and took a boat to an island in the river. This one not as lush as  the one in Kompong Cham and totally lacking the most awesome bamboo bridge ever, but it was delightful to ride around. The good news on that front is that after 3 bike rides in 6 days our asses are getting tougher and we were less sore than from the earlier rides. On the return trip on the boat, the operators were a husband and wife team. The boat is a leaky wooden wreck, filthy and stinking of diesel, over-loaded on every trip across. On this trip, there was a hammock strung a foot or two in front of a stinking, belching diesel engine, and in this hammock a two year old girl, asleep and attached to an IV. I suppose there was no one else to care for her and her parents needed to work, so....

Upon our return to shore we ran into a fellow we had met briefly in Kompong Cham and joined him for a drink. As we chatted, a Khmer fellow stopped at our table and began to comment on the bag that I am carrying (you can see it in earlier posts). He came around to my side of the table and got fairly close and, as he also had a shoulder bag, began comparing the bags. At this point, I'm feeling he's in my space and am thinking about what of value I have in my bag and if my wallet is secure, when, very quickly, he rubs both my nipples, and then takes off. This is how I learned that, while shoulder bags are ubiquitous among monks in Cambodia, they are also popular in the Khmer gay community. That, and what a compellingly handsome man I must be. (Can't keep their hands off me.)

Yesterday we again rose early and enjoyed a kayak trip through a 12 km stretch of the Mekong which holds many small islands, a section of rapids, and Irrawaddy dolphins, all of which we experienced. The operator of the business is Suzanne, a 25 year old Oklahoman who, while at college, developed a fascination with Cambodia and simply decided to come here to live. We talked quite a lot with her, both during and after our kayaking, and became friends. A really interesting young woman who can't wait to get up to Hot Springs. If you're in Kratie, Sorya Kayaking.

Ate some very good food, drank some very cold beer, met some very nice folks.

We are now on our way out of Cambodia to Laos. Pictures at eleven.