The Cambodia Saga: A New Location

Rain, rain, go away... notice the moto leaving a wake as it travels down the road. — Rain, rain, go away… notice the moto leaving a wake as it travels down the road.

It was another stormy night, and it is now another stormy morning. This weather pattern is so persistent with it’s overcast sky, steady trickle of rain, and torrential outbursts every couple of hours – kind of like a spoiled, grumpy child. But the children do not complain or fuss. They are pretty happy, no matter what. Odd, huh?

Our morning message by “Daddy Mike” was a review of the whole retreat. He reminded them that being more than conqueror meant standing up to peer pressure, recognizing authority, choosing good friends and resisting worldliness. They went over their memorized verse in Khmer and in English again.

Romans 8:37-39 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God than is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

As they left the hotel a little later, those were the things we reminded them about along with our goodby hugs.

I have to say, the silence in the hotel after they left was deafening.

the lower entrance to Veranda gives just a hint of the beautiful stone and wood inside.

We packed up and climbed into tuk tuks for a short ride to our next stop, Veranda Natural Resort (www.veranda-resort.asia). It is on the side of a gentle, jungle covered mountain. The drive is steeply uphill and not paved so halfway there, our tuk tuk driver stopped and said no further. The mud and slipperiness made it impossible unless we got out and lightened the load. This might lead you to expect a less than wonderful experience ahead.

Exactly the opposite. This is the most awesome resort I have ever visited. If I could live here, I would.

And this is the open door to the room I would live in, really. Video tour, next post.

Describing this place deserves a whole post unto itself and it will come tomorrow with Tuesday Travel #8.

We had lunch and free time the rest of the day until it was time to have dinner. I was able to get online, review my pictures, stroll around the resort, take a dip in the pool and enjoy some time with Julie. Our team had dinner together and talked about our impressions of the trip and our plans for the future. The evening ended with a game of cards designed to make enemies of friends (kidding, it was fun).