Cows Have the Right of Way

We haven't been in a car for about a month at this point so it was a bit of an odd feeling when we hopped into the late 80s model Camry with our driver to head to the Kbal Chhay waterfalls located about 30 minutes outside of Sihanoukville. Our driver brought his daughter with him which was appropriate since it was Father's Day back home in Canada. The falls are a very popular spot with the locals to have a weekend picnic and this day was no exception. There were families everywhere enjoying the wonderful weather and cooling off in the water.

Two boys that were hanging out in one of the tiers of the falls almost got more than they bargained for and were in a tough spot when we saw them. They had been swimming and clamouring around when the smaller boy slipped and ended up in a precarious position. The older boy tried to save him but you could tell they both needed some help. They were in very real danger of being swept over the last tier of the falls and down a long drop. Luckily there was a well placed rock that they were able to grab hold of.

At this point there was a crowd on both sides of the waterfall watching the drama unfold. The boys looked like they wanted to try to get back to shore by themselves but everyone was motioning for them to stay where they were. One wrong move by them and they would go over. People started searching for something they could reach the boys with and eventually a man came down with a long stick and another found a harness. The rescuers slowly made their way out while trying not to slip themselves. Once they got close enough they formed a human chain and grabbed the boys, first the younger one and then the older boy. Both boys made it back to shore much to the growing crowd's relief. It was a very dramatic way to start our trip to the waterfall.

We decided to check out the other side of the falls and headed over to the narrow rickety bridge that went over one of the streams feeding the falls. On the other side were Cambodia style picnic areas and vendors selling drinks and snacks. A little ways past some of the picnic spots was a smaller stream with many levels of smooth rock and tiny rapids. There were lots of Khmer people hanging out in the water, splashing each other and just having a good time. Ryan and I both waded into the water and wandered around a bit enjoying the coolness. The rocks underneath were very slippery and unfortunatly I was not careful enough and fell on my butt. I scrapped up my hand a little but it was nothing serious. My pride was injured more than anything else.

On our way to go back over the bridge Ryan peered into the trees and saw the biggest spider we have ever seen. This spider had a leg span as wide as my face. Once we had gotten over the shock of that we started to go over the bridge. It was at that point that I noticed that a cow had decided to cross the bridge coming right at us. We both figured that the cow had the right of way there and backed off to let him pass.

We got back into the car where our driver and his daughter were waiting to take us back into Sihanoukville. He decided to make a little tour out of it on the way back and took us up to the top of Sihanoukville mountain which was really more like a big hill. On the top was an amazing temple and an excellent view of the city spread out in front of us. There was a sense of peace on the top of that mountain and we strolled around the temple grounds enjoying the silence.