Arriving in Kep - Crab City

Sunday Frbruary 1, 2015

In retrospect, getting up at 5:30 and hitting the road by 7 am was a good idea; but that's not what I was thinking when the alarm went off. Jamie was already up and annoyingly cheerful having made her way to the breakfast room while I still enjoyed the deep slumber that comes from a time zone change. 

We had heard that the ride from Phenom Penh could be up to five hours long, but our early departure allowed us to arrive in about 3 hours.  Kep is a beachfront resort with an enormous statue of a crab about 100 yards offshore. 

Today was a travel day. The team spent last night organizing supplies and reviewing our game plan. Our early arrival here has allowed us the luxury of planning a boat tour of the coast with some optional snorkeling this afternoon. 

Tomorrow we will examine patients that we have never met before. Dr. Jim, a dentist originally from Nevada, did a pre-screening and reported the need for a trip to this part of the country. Several years ago Jim visited Cambodia on a dental trip and never went home. He has joined us in Mongolia as well. 

I am certain the idea of staying in a hillside hotel was a brilliant decision...... made before Dr. Bob had his hip surgery, but it did present some logistical issues getting him to his room. Luckily the team is creative and enthusiastic and the narrow cobblestone path and stairs were just a warm up for the problem solving skills that we'll get to employ this week. 

Day One

Saturday January 31, 2015


So here we are, back in Cambodia. We arrived late last night and were greeted by the familiar earthy smell of this country.

We are back at Eureka Villas, a small boutique hotel in downtown Phnom Penh. Each year, the owner expands the hotel a little more. We're in a brand new room with a huge TV mounted to the foot of the bed. I went to sleep late last night feeling more like I was "in" Whale Wars than watching it on the tv.

We awoke very early this morning due to the time difference. Coffee at 5:30 and finally the kitchen opened at 6:30. It gave us time to catch up with Bob and Purobi, who are the founders of KIDS, Kids International Dental Services. Bob had hip surgery two weeks ago and is actually doing much better than anyone of us expected. My good friend, Eli, with whom I went to dental school 30 years ago joined us for breakfast too. 

 

Always the adventurer, Eli rented a motor bike and joined Jamie and I as we visited familiar places in the city. We preferred the relative safety of a tuk-tuk (taxi). 

With afternoon fast approaching, we are back at the hotel awaiting the arrival of the rest of our team. There's a lot of logistics to cover before they get here and a couple of team meetings once they arrive. Tomorrow is a travel day. We're off to the  coast of Cambodia and a town called Kep.  We'll overnight there and see patients on Monday. Then the long 4 or 5 hour ride back to phenom Penh.

We love the adventure of a new town, but we really are looking forward to seeing the kids that we've come to know in the orphanages.

All for now, I'll check back later.