Thursday 16th December 2004
I got up just after 6am and went to Gia's for breakfast at 7am, where else? By about 8am we were ready to leave for the Kbey Choa waterfall. Gia had arranged with a friend to take us on his moto and arrived there about 8.45am. We wandered around and made each other laugh, telling jokes, calling each other names and pretending to push each other into the water. We were followed all the way by some young girls selling snacks. They were carrying these huge wicker trays on their heads and were experts at balancing them perfectly. Even when wading across the stream over treacherously slippery rocks in their flip-flops, those trays stayed perfectly horizontal like the girls were in some way gyroscopic!
Gia wanted to have a swim in the water and she went to hide behind a large rock to change. I dived in and waited for her to come out to join me. It wasn't until she was in the water up to her waste that she told me she couldn't come to join me in the middle there because it was too deep and she couldn't swim! Not wanting her to miss out on the fun I went over and I carried her with me. I swam across to the waterfall as she held on to me tightly; afraid she would lose her grip and sink into the water. The waterfall was not very big, but I was amazed at how powerful it was. The energy in a waterfall is truly awesome. It hurt like hell being hit by the falling water. It didn't take long to dry off in the sun when we came out of the water. Gia went back behind the rock to get changed again and I just left myself to drip dry before we got back on the moto to go back to town.
We went to the market for lunch. I bought a few things like swimming trunks and a cool pair of Cambodian-style trousers. I also bought Gia a top which she really liked. Gia went back to work and I went to my room for a siesta. I checked my emails again and I also confirmed a booking for the villa guesthouse in Bangkok, which was recommended in an email from Katrien since her and Heiko had just stayed there when they were in Bangkok. They said it was lovely there. It's close to the New World, so I know the area well. I then went to the seeing hands Blind massage, which was the best I have had so far on my travels.
Feeling energised I went to Gia's place for dinner at 7pm and had a couple of bottles of Beer Lao. After dinner when the restaurant was closing up we went for a walk on the beach and shared a few more laughs before I had to get back to my room and sleep. I have a very early start tomorrow. I am taking a minibus to Koh Kong border crossing and from there back to Bangkok. It was very sad saying goodbye to Gia. We get on really well. She's always laughing and we seem to understand each other's sense of humour. Amazingly we discovered that we are the same star sign and both born in the year of the Dog.
I will always remember her as my fun friend and I'll never be able to think of Cambodia without thinking of her first. I hope she is enjoying her life.
