Running in Kampot

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOTE: This blog is dedicated to the people of Boston who have suffered terribly by the bombings at the Boston Marathon. In the running community we have an expression – “we are all Kenyans”. This is to support those great Kenyan runners who must persevere through very difficult conditions to become the best in the world. Today it can be said that “we are all Bostonians”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello Runners – welcome to running in Kampot. As can be seen in our first blog post, we have the beautiful Elephant Mountains outside of our back door, where the Bokor National Park is located. Check out these sites to see some of the amazing beauty (http://phnombokor.com/ and http://www.bokor-mountain-cambodia.com/). I have seen many of these sites including a time that three other adventurers and I rode bikes up the mountain to almost the top peak (38 miles total, 3400 ft ascent). According to my Cyclemeter iphone app, we hit speeds nearly 50 mph going downhill which is a bit hard to believe. But this blog is about running…

Bokor Mountain provides a great running destination from the SKMH. It is a little more than 2 kilometers to the base and the road up the mountain may be in the best condition of any in Southern Cambodia. My standard run is about 8 km (~5 mi) which includes about a 1.5 km run uphill before I turn around to run down the mountain. I sometimes pair this run with one to the Gulf of Thailand up a dirt road which is also about 2 km from the hospital. The biggest problem with that path is the many dog “packs” barking and following me from the houses close to the road (there is no animal control in Cambodia). I carry a bamboo pole to keep any too aggressive dogs at bay, but I don’t want to deal with a dog bite and possible rabies shots. So far so good…

So here is the entrance to the hospital looking back at it from the main road outside:

Check out this beautiful sunrise looking east from a small jetty going out into the gulf. There are small fishing boats in the distance and the mountains furthest away are probably near or in Vietnam.

Here is a view back to Bokor and the hospital. Notice the very red dirt, the soil here reminds me of Georgia back in the US.

Here are the best looking shins in Cambodia! This is me on the jetty with my bamboo pole. I practice some martial arts arnis and staff moves when I run. It also strikes fear in the hearts of the pooches.

Here is the entrance to Bokor National Park. The blue sign in the distance is the checkpoint for cars and the elaborate gate to the left is just below.

The Khmere writing on the gate simply tells you that this is the entrance to a clothing factory (or so I'm told). There is a large factory on that property and the owner has erected many elaborate structures in the style of very formal Khmere architecture.

The statue below is the Hindu god Vishnu that you see exiting the park just behind the welcome sign. He is (according to ReligionFacts) "All-Pervading," is the protector of the world and the restorer of moral order (dharma). He is peaceful, merciful, and compassionate. To Vaisnavites, Vishnu is the Supreme Lord. He has been modified to carry construction tools instead of the regular conch, discus, club, and lotus. Cambodia is about 90% Buddhist so you may wonder why Vishnu is here. My best understanding is that Buddha (the sage) is the 9th avatar of Vishnu, so there is a strong relationship between the two religions. Cambodia has historically been strongly influenced by India at least since about the 7th century. The major temples like Angkor Wat are actually Hindu temples.

You can also see a small shrine for burning incense at his feet.

Here is one of the km markers that I use to judge distance. This is near the gate pictured above and marks the first kilometer heading into Bokor. We call these the "tombstone markers".

Here, just behind the fence gate is one of the little dogs that liked to come out and bark at me. However, I haven't had a problem with any of them on the Bokor part of the run for some time. I think that I now smell more like a Khmere (food maybe?) which might seem normal to the dogs. Its either that or they fear my bamboo staff of destruction!!!

Near my normal turnaround point on the mountain is this sign. It means "Do Not Litter" :^)

Check this view about 2 km up the mountain. This is looking southwest towards Thailand.

Here is a shot a little further up the mountain when I did a late afternoon run. Here I'm looking northwest as the sun sets over one of the peaks in the park. The sunsets here are just incredible with more colors than I have ever seen anywhere else.

That is it for now. To all my running friends: keep up the joy of running and remember to check your shoes for scorpions before you go out... Peace.

We Are Back!

Hello Friends!

We had to suddenly return to the US after getting word of the unexpected death of Tod's mom on March 7. Our focus was on this difficult tragedy so we did not update the blog. We have settled back into our life in Kampot and now feel its time to resume our posts. We have recently spent time in Preah Sihanouk "Ream" National Park which will provide some beautiful pictures. We also will be posting the second part of our trip to Seam Reap. Right now is also the tail end of the Khmer New Year (Soo-a s'day ch'num t'may!)

The hospital also opened for inpatient and emergency services for 24h/7 operations. It has been a challenge in some ways, but the hospital is saving lives in even more ways, especially those of the children that come in.

And to our family and friends that helped us through the difficult loss of Tod's mom - thank you and God bless you for being there.

Turning the page...