Oh What a Wonderful World...

This is the first time I am writing a blog from Cambodia this time around and my motivation for writing is nothing less but morbid and disappointing. 

The beautiful island of Koh Rong has become a place that I have called home for two and a half months now. People who live there have become my family. The peaceful community on the island doesn't really come across too many huge events and things happen very slowly there. The major gossip tends to be about drunken husbands being rowdy in the village or someone sleeping with someone else that we know. That used to be the extent of worry on our minds when it came to things happening on the island.

I've never felt safer anywhere else ive lived. The island was my playground and I was just a kid exploring it on my days off. Last adventure that I had was hiking through the jungle to Long Beach in the afternoon and then camping in the sand dunes where I made a tent out of bamboo, rope and trash (unfortunately lots of it) that I found on the beach. It was a wonderful adventure even though my self-made tent started leaking when heavy rain came and I had to move to a dry place.I was jogging down the beach in the rain in the middle of the night, back to the bungallows that 

were at the beginning of the beach.

I eventually found shelter and the next day returned with a couple new bruises and scratches ,but with a mind that was fully refreshed and a body that felt stronger than ever and very capable.

In the past I've been faced with situations which were scary and completely unnecessary. However I cannot image what I would do or what would be going through my mind 

if someone was trying to take my life.

It's a ridiculous thought to think about, but unfortunately the world that we live in makes us actually have to think about things like that.

The small and tightly knit community of Koh Rong made a chilling discovery on the evening of September 29th. A 55 year old woman from America who was staying next door to where I work, went out into the jungle to go trekking, just like many of us do and no one had seen her for five days. It seems that she didn't inform anyone about going there and the owners grew concerned when they realized they haven't seen their guest for five days. When they broke into the missing woman's room, they found all of her possessions including a passport. Her identity was kept private for ethical reasons. A search party was formed on the morning of September 30th. All day while the search was happening, gossip was flying around everywhere because everyone wanted to know what really happened. Finally, in the afternoon, her dead body was found naked in the jungle on the path that lead to Long Beach. The news were shocking and so surreal. Luckily I was finishing my shift at the bar and decided to take an impromptu trip to mainland and spend some time away from the island. The boat ride away from the island was strange and for the first time I wasn't full of love and happiness towards the island. I don't like the feeling....

This horrible event reminds me of how fragile we are and that no matter what path we chose for ourselves, at any time, someone else can decide to take it away from us. It's not fair but I guess that's the kind of world we live in. Where our actions continue to become more limited because of twisted people who live out their sick fantasies. 

I'm feeling disappointed, disgusted and a bit confused. But most of all I am sad. I am extremely sad because no place is safe from the wrath of humans. We shouldn't be afraid of nature. Nature will take its course whereas people will continue to inflict pain on each other and destroy all the humanity that is left, little by little. 

I apologize for the morbid outlook I have adopted at the moment but i have lost a little bit of faith in my fellow people and it will take a while to get used to the idea of the new "image" of Koh Rong.

What will happen next? Are we safe there? How do we move on from this? I realize that the world is plagued with wars, murders, religious attacks and so on but when places like Koh Rong, that were lucky to escape the poison of a "civilized life" still become tainted,
then what hope is there for the rest of world?