DAY TWENTY FOUR

After the torrential outburst from the the upper ionosphere yesterday afternoon, we were treated by a skin tingling sun shiny day. This was good news, as today was the travel day to the island of Koh Rong, situated off Cambodias biggest advert for weed smoking and beach pollution -Sihanoukville. Luckily the islands we were going to had the hallmark of the little bit of paradise we were requiring. The Scottish brummie, Rob Dunleavy and one of Jasmin's mates, gave the place rave reviews, so who were we to say no! Our travel was to be provided by a propeller driven 50 seater, which shall I say gave jasmin a case of the Jean van der Veldes. If there are blog reading folk that have never ventured on a propeller plan, it can a lot more fun than your conventional, run of the mill flying, dependant on your psychological capacity for edge of your seat transport! They tend to feel the turbulence a lot more, so of the 50 seats that had been filled, there was maybe 4-5 people that were not bothered by the thermal fluctuations! This was exemplified when most of the passengers ( a few had passed out) clapped the pilot for landing the flight going vehicle. I was actually howling with laughter, which I'm not sure was the most compassionate of responses for Jasmin and the rest. There are times (Alan MacDonald is fully aware of this syndrome) where cannot help it. I apologise to everyone on that flight on behalf of me! We had worked out that we would be cutting it fine to reach the ferry in Sihanoukville by three when we finally picked our suitcases from the claim area at 2. The taxi driver, who really should've been a comedian, set off and must of cracked jokes the whole 40 minute journey... in Cambodian, but his laugh was insatiable! I'm not sure after the flight, people were appreciating his candour, but I certainly did. We landed at the pier with ten minutes to spare, bought our speed ferry tickets, and were then told we needed to go to the port which was 15 minutes away normally....enter Cambodias answer to Lewis Hamilton who assured us that we would be there in 5! Brace and prepare for action was my guidance to a weary Jasmin. 4 minutes 45 seconds later we arrived ( which included a fuel and orange stop) with the ferry bobbing about in the turquoise waters. After the flight, I am sure Jasmin was looking forward to a delicate sailing trip, but once we moved I to deeper waters, we started hitting waves sometimes twice as high as the speed ferry. Cue what can only be described as a vomit orchestra... If I had been selling barf bags that day, I could of had a couple of years off work. Jasmin had some very close moments, but managed to hold it below the larynx zone, but was extremely shaken up. It probably didn't help when one of engines cut out as well.... On e on the island, the world then reached equilibrium once again. Picture palm trees, water so clear you could see the sea bed, brilliant white sands, beach huts and signs for free beer. Sold! Jasmin finally managed to reach an an appropriate pigment colour again, which was generally good news all round. After booking into our beach bungalow, we spent the evening entertaining the various beverages that were on offer, and I even managed to make time for possibly what was one of the most delightful Wiener Schnitzels I believe I have ever consumed.