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.