Well I made it to Kratie today. It is a lovely little town, but bigger than Stung Treng, by quite a bit. It is also on the Mekong River which is lovely. My day started out in the beloved minivan. I thought it should be no problem since it is only a two hour trip this time. Well, that was true, but the highways are under construction and covered with large stoned gravel and potholes. The driver had to swoop and swirl around the roads to avoid going into the worst of them, and it was really bumpy! The 12 of us in the minivan were jumping all over. Of course we also stopped for a half hour for the driver and wing woman to have lunch and for us to use the toilet. Liviah, what do you think of the toilet? Where’s the toilet paper………?
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My drawing from the past day, from a
different angle. |
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| Toilet at rest stop |
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| Front of the restaurant at the rest stop |
Finally we arrived though, and they dropped me off right in front of the Le Tonle Guesthouse which is just beautiful. It’s on a sweet little street off the main road, but within walking distance to the river. I arrived about 2 pm so I had lots of time to see some sights.
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| My room in Kratie, looking in |
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| View from top of bed looking out |
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| Painting on the wall in my room |
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| Common area outside the rooms |
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| Restaurant and more rooms across the street |
I met a really nice French girl named Laurie-Daie, who is also travelling alone and just got here too. We went for a long walk together, sat on the wall by the river and watched the sunset, and had a beer and wine cooler. She is very cute and decided to go travelling to get away from France for a while because she just lost her mom a few months ago, to cancer. Her dad died when she was 3 years old, and now she is alone. She is a really strong woman, but very young to lose both parents. We talked a lot about the deaths of our parents and I haven’t spoken about those details for a very long time. It was kind of cool, and she is doing really well considering it is so fresh for her. We have a lot in common so chatting is really easy. Here are some of the sights we saw along our walk.
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| Wouldn't be a walk without a Wat |
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| Ceiling of Wat |
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| The town |
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| Market |
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| Market |
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| Baby sleeping in hammock in market |
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| Market |
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| On the street.....so colourful and beautiful |
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| Rat traps |
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| Beautiful tree |
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| Random street cow well, bull. |
The river at sunset is just gorgeous.
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| Sunset |
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| Laurie-Daie |
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| Boat on the river at sunset |
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| Later at sunset |
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| The moon on our way back |
Tomorrow morning I will go and find out about the tour I told you about yesterday. The place was shut today as it’s Sunday, but opens at 8 am tomorrow, so I’ll find them then.
More tomorrow. Have a great day.
Where can I send you some toilet paper, always good to have on hand:) a good friend always told me this. I hope your liking this town, looks like lots to do :)
ReplyDeleteOhh, that new guesthouse looks so cheerful, much brighter & airier. Nice to run into another solo traveler. Those sunsets on the Mekong are stunning. Remind me of the opening scenes of "Good morning, Viet Nam" where Louis Armstrong is singing "What a wonderful world". These are moments u will remember always. (Barring Alzheimer's!). Today we didn't do the whole Fam breakfast, but just Jon came by, so we fed him. After dropping him home, we did a little Xmas shopping at Toad Hall Toys, & McNally Books, where we also had lunch. Quick groc stop & then home & ready to rest a bit. Hope u r having a restful sleep now in your new digs. Lots of love, dear. Mom
ReplyDeleteReally happy that you've made yet another solid connection, this time with the French girl! It's very interesting to me, that this connection should happen at this time of year? There is a reason why this girl has come into your life at this particular time, keep yourself open to let that evolve.
ReplyDeleteRoom is really nice! Love the guesthouse layout. The staff offering to feed you is such a warm and welcoming gesture to singles.
The scenery is so beautiful, even among the garbage, it's such an interesting contrast of what's REALLY important in life.
I loved the sunset too, hope you find some good toilet paper! The shot of the moon is so pretty! The market looks interesting! Miss you & vicariously having fun.
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