Vitou and I left the BEC just before 1pm last Friday, 13 July. We started our
adventure to Sihanoukville, we were on our way to see Savvy. He has shown an
interest in learning about God.
We were on the bus travelling south, we had
been on the road for about 2 and half hours. Suddenly the air conditioning was
not working. This could spell trouble for us. The bus then pulled over. Oooops!
The water pump belt had disintegrated. The bus driver and trusty companion
worked hard to fix it but to no avail. They were clever enough to call for the
cavalry. We just sat there on the ground. I did not know what was going on,
since Khmer is not one of my languages. I can speak many languages ( English,
Australian and Kiwi ) However, Vitou knew all. He told me that a second bus was
on the way from Phnom Penh. To make matters worse, it was very hot and I was
suffering from bad tummy problems, if you get my drift. Meanwhile the drivers
worked hard at fixing the bus, still no progress. A bus pulled up (from a different company) and
passed by, it was going to be a long afternoon.
A French lady was very agitated, she had to get a connecting
bus so she was out of there, she grabbed a bag and started to walk off, not
sure where she was heading but determined nevertheless. I think she settled on
the idea of hitching a ride. To her surprise, the 2.30 pm bus (we caught the 1.30
pm bus) from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville came past. They stopped and she hopped
on, as did three other people. No one else even seemed to move. I was not
feeling the best so I tried to have a sleep on the bus. We estimated that it
would be about 7 pm or thereabouts for the second bus to arrive. As always,
when I try to sleep, you know the sleep is forced. At 6.10pm, there was
movement all around, the second bus had arrived. We were on our way again. We
should have been at Sihanoukville at about 6.30pm. Despite the new bus driver’s
attempts to break the land record across Cambodia, we pulled into Sihanoukville
at about 9pm.
Despite not feeling well, we were finally here and I was
pleased. We started walking with all our gear. After about 800m, I saw a sign
saying Phnom Penh, I said to Vitou that I thought we were going the wrong way.
He laughed and said, “I think you are right.” Fortunately, a moto came up to us
and took us to our guesthouse. The hot shower helped me to feel somewhat
refreshed. What a relief, we could go to sleep!
Savvy came in the morning, we chatted and then went for
breakfast. We then settled into some solid Bible Study. We spoke about a number
of topics related to our beliefs and finished the session about two and half
hours later. We had lunch and then had another session of Bible study. Savvy
was keen to learn as much as he could.
After our next session, the three of us got on Savvy’s moto
and went to the Kbal Chay waterfall. Savvy did well to negotiate the dirt road
with us two on the back. The ride was about 20kms and it was good to pull up at
the little village. As waterfalls go, it did satisfy one of my good friend’s
(Lyndon) criteria of what constitutes a good waterfall – it was less than a 5
minute walk (in fact, it was about a 5 second walk), it was a cool waterfall
and very powerful. We had a good walk. There was a remote little village there.
Since the clouds were threatening, we decided to leave the
falls and head back. When we got back to the guesthouse, we did some more Bible
study. Our sessions seemed to go fast with Savvy writing many notes and asked
some good questions.
We went down to Ochheuteal beach to enjoy the sunset – Praise God,
although man has done a good job polluting the beach, God has the amazing
ability to transform (like an ugly cocoon into a beautiful butterfly). We then
had some dinner - I was on a diet of boiled rice and vegetables to ease the
tummy problems. Being allergic to seafood made it easier for me to accept that
Vitou could enjoy the delicious looking crab meat, whilst I tucked into my
boiled rice. After dinner, we did another session of Bible study.
All in all, it was a fun day and Savvy did very well. It was
great to have Vitou doing everything possible to make our time easier. The
three of us shared the room and had a peaceful evening of sleep.
On Sunday we woke up and did another session of Bible study.
We then had breakfast followed by another Bible session. We were starting to get a bit sleepy, being
stuck in the room for most of the time, so we got onto a Tuk Tuk and went to
the market. We then did a tour of Sihanoukville. It was great to see monkeys
eating crayfish, the port was picturesque.
After the tour, we had lunch and then did more Bible study.
Vitou said I had 2 hours to do the Bible study, we started at 2pm and at 3.59pm,
we finished - good timing considering we did not have a watch.
It was now time to go to Otres beach and enjoy our second
sunset. This beach was further away and hence was less crowded and less
polluted, which is good. Vitou thought the second sunset was better but I
appreciated the first sunset - each to their own. We had a fun time! We even
were able to teach Savvy how to play pool.
While we waited for the sun to set, we watched a game of volleyball.
The players were very good. I asked Vitou to tell me how the dormers would go
in comparison and he said the dormers would go down unfortunately. Not to
worry, I am sure the dormers will appreciate learning about God and fellowship
and playing a good game of volleyball when they get the chance.
It was now time to go back to the guesthouse for dinner. We
had a very close shave with a large truck. I am pleased that he decided to move
slightly away from us because he was certainly moving fast! Dinner came and
went, I enjoyed my boiled rice and vegetables. The guys surprised me by the
variety of different choices they chose each meal. After dinner, we had another
session.
All in all we had some very good Bible study and some good
questions. Our prayers are for Savvy to
keep searching for God.
We woke up very early on Monday morning and said goodbye to
Savvy. The bus took us back to the province where Vitou was raised. A guy on a
moto took us to Vitou’s place. We had a good time with his family. Jess, Luke, Lynette, Maisey, Sophpeur and Dani
came up from Phnom Penh for the day. We enjoyed a little tour of the Vitou’s dad’s
bean field. We visited some of the neighbours’ places including Samrach’s and Saory’s homes.
We seized the opportunity to have a siesta in the hammocks.
We did appreciate the hammocks as it was quite a hot day. We enjoyed a yummy
lunch together and were able to watch Sophpeur climb up the coconut tree. We
all enjoyed a coconut each. Most of the field workers and locals like it, I am
still in the acquired taste stage. I do believe from all accounts that it is
good for you. So hopefully, I will keep persisting. We had a good chat with
Vitou’s Dad. Vitou hopes to teach them about God’s plan for the world. Once
again our prayers are with Vitou’s family.
Now it was time to go home, so we thought. We visited Monkey
mountain. It was fun! When we got out of the Tuk Tuk, the cloud formation was
amazing. It literally had a white glow with some colour added into the mix. It
was like a rainbow without the rain.
We walked over a rickety suspension bridge, no point even
considering if it was safe or not. One day. I guess the bridge is going to give
way. As we got closer to the end of the
bridge, wild monkeys ran up and down the wire over our heads. You should have
seen the frenzy of the monkeys every time we threw some bananas. The monkeys
were very fast and appreciative of the bananas. Fortunately, no human being or
monkeys were hurt during the banana throwing competition.
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We headed back over the suspension bridge, hoping that we
would make it to the other side in one piece. It was now time to go back home
to Phnom Penh. For the next two hours we were in for a treat and the skies
really put on a show for us, we saw lightning and thick massive clouds. The
rain was relentless. The five of us were very cosy in the Tuk Tuk. Let us just
say that even when the Tuk Tuk is sealed up, it still has God’s air
conditioning. Depending on the side of the Tuk Tuk you chose, some of us needed
a raincoat and an umbrella. I certainly did not need a shower when I got home.
On the left hand side of the Tuk Tuk was the greyest of
skies. Although I was getting wet in the Tuk Tuk, on the right hand side in the
distance was this amazing sunset of a number of colours with blue sky
intermittingly hanging around. It truly was an incredible sight to see – Praise
to God. Unfortunately, we saw a possible fatality, a moto looked the worse for
wear, having hit a truck. It was a scary trip home but God guided us safely.
Once again, praise be to our Heavenly Father for all that he
does for us. It was a great weekend to talk about God and see His creation and
share fellowship.
This fieldworker enjoyed the experience.
Kim
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