time flies so fast...

today i traveled to koh kong.

it was amazing how I felt along the way – diverting from road 4 going inside the province of koh kong. things were different. the road was well paved – for the past three months – but what struck me was the completed four bridges.

i was sent into reminiscing four years back when I started working here. how I actually saw the progress of the slow paced road construction and the discouragingly slow rise of the posts and eventually the bridges of the four rivers.

as I was traversing each bridge, I would be thrown into remembering, how we would wait for the ferry boat to come pick us up from the other side of the river which sometimes would take an hour to cross the five minute river wide.

sent me remembering that at one o’clock early morning I was still on the road – treading through mud while the cars were being pushed or if we were lucky – towed by a heavy construction equipment. As I was treading through the muddy road – I wondered how the other members of the team were doing at this hour – snuggled in the warmth of their beds? There was one thing that impressed me though in one of those times that I was in the middle of nowhere with company that I don’t know personally, car stranded, stuck in the mud, right in the middle of the mountainous area. The admi/finance officer of the project – monitored the progress of my journey until I reached my destination in the warm safe comfort of my house in koh kong. Thank you for giving me such a wonderful memory of that not so wonderful experience.

it would be during these times – not to mention – the stressful nature of the job which was kinda expected and forecasted – that it would give me second thoughts on how I would last the remaining years of the project life.

i am so filled with this weird feeling as I crossed each of the four bridges for the first time. I was also traversing a historical event of the province as these bridges finally connected the national highway from the capital city (and internationally from thailand). lives will be changed forever.

it brought me to wonder – what happens now to shops that flourished in each river landing. i know, they have this resilience that could propel them into relocating their businesses. I have been friends with some of them. there was one shop at the third river crossing that would always offer me a chair or fruits or a meal whenever we would be waiting for the ferry to come. at eight in the evening (as much as it is against office policy – it just couldn’t be avoided being caught in the sundown while we traverse the approx. 200 kms mountainous terrain with four river crossings – too little a time for too much to do – squeezing time as much as could humanly be possible – to be able to attend meetings for resolutions of ‘bush fires’ that never seem to cease happening.

tomorrow (may 14) – the bridges and the 145 km. road will be officially open for use by the public - the ceremony will be graced by no other than the highest political official of the land. Preparations were set – ambulances placed in four strategic locations of the road.

the completion of the bridges holds a brighter future for the province.

this will propel the province into being a more dynamic province, more than it is now. More so being a border province, treks to Thailand will be done through this road network, commercial activities will definitely flourish.

time flies – it was four years ago when the road was pockmarked much more like moon craters and the rolling in of vehicle into a crudely assembled wood boards that functions as a ferry boat.

it's not going to be a sight that is to be expected whenever i would think of traveling to koh kong.

postscript: about the photos:

the first photo was taken at the first river crossing named sre ambel. this is the ferry boat that plies the five minute river crossing. it is made of wood boards bonded together with who-knows-what but it does float. it is always packed with 6-7 cars and with people squeezed in between. this has been the ferry that i would ride for more than three years. in that time period - there had been two accidents wtih cars loaded with people plunging into the river - mainly caused by the car driver's miscalculation. in their hurry to get off the ferrboat would accidentally shift the transmission in reverse rather than on forward gear and in the ensuing panic would step on the accelerator rather than the brake pedal. lives were lost. the set-up would have one boat on each side of the river - of the same make - and the timing is uncanny - loading all the cars at almost the same time, these boats would start turning towards the other side of the river and passing each other in the middle. there is so much traffic in this first river that sometimes the queue would be 15 cars deep. the fare for each car is 10,000 riels or 100 baht (2.5 USD) including passengers of the car but they would double the charge if it is past seven at night when there are few cars. not bad when one is in a hurry to finish the remaining 135 kms through mountainous terrain at night time. the fare is the same all throughout the four river crossings: sre ambel, andeung teuk, trapeang roung and tatai.

the second photo is that of a smaller ferry - mainly for motorbikes - never rode on this ferryboat - it looks really flimsy - two small boats put together and wooden boards placed on top - pretty much the same design as the bigger ferryboats. the fare is 5,000 riels (1.25 USD) for each motorcycle including passengers regardless of how many (usually two or three and sometimes four people). this photo was taken in the same river crossing.

the third photo was taken at the third river crossing - trapeang roung - it is always in this river crossing that i would be caught at dusk in as much as from one river to another would take an hour at least of driving - the road condition at that time was at its worst - as described in one of my entries. leaving the jumping off point right after lunch gives us at least a minimum of four hours' drive before touchdown at our destination. this is always the river crossing that i like the photos that i took in as much as there is interplay of lights at this time of the day. the ebbing sun showering the vista with red orangey hue, a good photo opportunity, always brings out a good back draft of the local scenery. i was on a ferry boat when i took this photo. always good to have the camera at the waist (canon ixus 40 - point and shoot). always set on manual, it maximized all light available (all in the ableness of the camera's technology).