One of the joys/woes of cycling is that you can't move around very fast, and you never know what's going to happen, so you can't plan too far in advance. Fortunately for me, not everybody else is on a bicycle, and occasionally I manage to convince a non-cyclist friend to wait around for my slow butt to show up.
Bet you didn't know I knew how to sail, did ya?
The long, sandy, precipitous road down to Otres Beach.
Non-Shaky Mike, another good friend from my days in Korea (pictured above, not the fish), was on vacation from his real job, and he was kind enough to hang out on Otres Beach, in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, and do almost nothing with me for about a week.
There was fishing. (More like squidding.) Even though we only managed to catch 3 fish that were the size of the palm of your hand, and one good sized squid between 6 or so dudes, our awesome guides went ahead and built a fire (on the boat!) and grilled everything up for us anyway. It was all pretty delicious, albeit unfilling. Mostly the fishing trip gave us a chance to drink beer on a boat and check out some good scenery.
(Above: My attempt at taking a picture of the color pink.)
Then there was sailing and kayaking!
I learned how to sail single-handed boats on Lake Washington while a grad student at UW; this was my first voyage on the open ocean. Even though I'd forgotten most of my sailing terminology and never got beyond the beginner class at UW, I managed not to capsize the boat. Not that that would've been a bad thing necessarily, since the water temperature was perfect; but still, it was fun to know that I can still handle a second method of zero-emissions transportation.
We also kayaked up a mangrove-lined river that empties into the ocean just next to Otres Beach. This was probably one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Mangroves are such an interesting tree; they only grow in this kind of semi-salt water river environment, and the fact that their "roots" are a web of intertwined, thin tree trunks protruding from the sandy riverbed, providing a safe home for all kinds of fish and whatnot, makes mangrove forests a truly unique experience.
Of course, we spent about half the time just napping in our boats while floating down the river.
Finally, look who we ran into! Katya and Mirek, who you'll remember from my Vietnam posts. We'd split ways in the middle of Vietnam; K+M headed further south, while we went into Laos and then Cambodia. We regrouped here at Otres, and spent a few funfilled days together, with our new addition, Steffie from Germany, playing cards, guitar, ukulele, talking, and wandering around.
An afternoon of music was generally part of our pre-dinnertime routine.
There was also quite a lot of exploring to be done! Beyond the overpriced bungalows at Otres Beach, there were kilometers of undeveloped beachfront. We spent whole afternoons frolicking in the water, napping in hammocks, being accosted by cows, etc.
Also found a boat.
And a pack of giant Benjamins! And Steffie kept trying to get me to eat this seaweed. It's apparently healthy or something.
A wild beach dog. About to attack my shadow.
Deserted island; deserted except for a pile of dog poo?
Self-portrait time!
Beard competition! I have a long way to go.
Finally, no SE Asian experience would be complete without cute village kids who are super eager to play rock paper scissors with you, get all up in your camera, and show you that they haven't brushed their teeth or blown their noses in several weeks.
The long, sandy, precipitous road down to Otres Beach.
Non-Shaky Mike, another good friend from my days in Korea (pictured above, not the fish), was on vacation from his real job, and he was kind enough to hang out on Otres Beach, in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, and do almost nothing with me for about a week.
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There was fishing. (More like squidding.) Even though we only managed to catch 3 fish that were the size of the palm of your hand, and one good sized squid between 6 or so dudes, our awesome guides went ahead and built a fire (on the boat!) and grilled everything up for us anyway. It was all pretty delicious, albeit unfilling. Mostly the fishing trip gave us a chance to drink beer on a boat and check out some good scenery.
(Above: My attempt at taking a picture of the color pink.)
Then there was sailing and kayaking!
I learned how to sail single-handed boats on Lake Washington while a grad student at UW; this was my first voyage on the open ocean. Even though I'd forgotten most of my sailing terminology and never got beyond the beginner class at UW, I managed not to capsize the boat. Not that that would've been a bad thing necessarily, since the water temperature was perfect; but still, it was fun to know that I can still handle a second method of zero-emissions transportation.
We also kayaked up a mangrove-lined river that empties into the ocean just next to Otres Beach. This was probably one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Mangroves are such an interesting tree; they only grow in this kind of semi-salt water river environment, and the fact that their "roots" are a web of intertwined, thin tree trunks protruding from the sandy riverbed, providing a safe home for all kinds of fish and whatnot, makes mangrove forests a truly unique experience.
Of course, we spent about half the time just napping in our boats while floating down the river.
Finally, look who we ran into! Katya and Mirek, who you'll remember from my Vietnam posts. We'd split ways in the middle of Vietnam; K+M headed further south, while we went into Laos and then Cambodia. We regrouped here at Otres, and spent a few funfilled days together, with our new addition, Steffie from Germany, playing cards, guitar, ukulele, talking, and wandering around.
An afternoon of music was generally part of our pre-dinnertime routine.
There was also quite a lot of exploring to be done! Beyond the overpriced bungalows at Otres Beach, there were kilometers of undeveloped beachfront. We spent whole afternoons frolicking in the water, napping in hammocks, being accosted by cows, etc.
Also found a boat.
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A wild beach dog. About to attack my shadow.
Deserted island; deserted except for a pile of dog poo?
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Finally, no SE Asian experience would be complete without cute village kids who are super eager to play rock paper scissors with you, get all up in your camera, and show you that they haven't brushed their teeth or blown their noses in several weeks.
