Saturday 21st October

A lazier morning this time with a few hours on the beach before a long journey back to Phnom Penh via Kampot. The beach was very pleasant although the vendors are pretty persistent. Tracy availed herself of a massage and we were all relaxed by the time we hit the road.

While most of southern Cambodia is very flat the coastal area is hilly and as our bus convoy headed down the last steep hill near disaster struck. One bus ahead of us hit the brakes and the next swerved into traffic to avoid it, hitting a truck coming the opposite way. The bus skidded into the ditch one way, the truck the other but luckily all other vehicles missed the crash and noone around was hit. Tracy hobbled over to help the locals on the truck (everyone in the bus was OK other than the driver who hurt his foot - subsequently we learned he was OK too) but two nurses in our group who could move faster already had the situation in hand. Other than acertaining that there was nothing much to be done other than keep them still and shaded and call an ambulance (we were close to Sihanoukville which has facilities and in theory basic health care is free) there was nothing critical to do.

Leaving people from the bus company there we got our extra bus load aboard other buses (though they soon sent a replacement) and rolled off again in soberer mood. Kampot is a ways around the coast on a good dirt road and we made reasonably good time. However when we arrived at the town there was a problem... the bridge is weak and it was not certain we'd be allowed to pass (previously our organizers has seen this as a potential hitch but had assurances that buses could pass with the passengers walking).

The buses finally cross

We hung around and injected large amounts of cash into the local economy in cold drinks and street food before doing a short trail around the town to take a look at it's faded French architecture. The place reminded me of Nsanje in Malawi as a port town that had seen much better days. While we relaxed one of the Cambodian organizers used his persuasion skills (or the color of his money) to work with the mayor's office and open the bridge. A really long journey back had shortened somewhat but we were still not "home" till 11pm.

A basic rum cocktail!