For these two weeks of winter break, we have V.I.P. guests who have met us in no other place than Cambodia. The first week we spent in Siem Reap and had a lot of fun, and we are in Koh Rong enjoying a tropical beach vacation. And now there is nothing that can stop us from having the time of our lives.
Or so we thought. We knew that we were taking risks by coming here — for there is two mosquito carrying diseases, malaria, and dengue fever. But then there were other kinds of risks we didn’t expect. The rooms: there were cracks in the floor, and a half inch tall one separating the bedroom and the bathroom. The stains on the sheets and pillows are unmissable. They creeped me out a little bit, but what made my mom mad was the shower situation. By now I have figured out that the whole hotel shares the same water source, so the quality of your shower depends on if anyone else is taking one at that same time. If everyone in the hotel is taking a shower with hot water, then chances are, no hot water with come out for you. It is extremely hard to wash your hair because only a trickle comes out. And if you want something close to normal spray, then your shower will be freezing cold. The best way to wash your hair is to use the outdoor public showers. They are also freezing though, so you can not have a good situation, whichever way you go.
The restaurant is the only source of food that is safe for us to get to and eat for at least a mile. So when the manager wants your Mom to stop blabbering, he lets you dine freely for one night at their restaurant. My mom has complained less since we got that experience. Now, Matilda, my 10-year-old VIP guest has been taking every opportunity she gets to say, let’s tell the manager about this twerk and get free dinner again!
If there is one lesson I have learned from this experience it is that if you want something bad, you have to fight for it. Speak up! Shout it out for the world (or just the manager) to hear, and maybe, just maybe, you will land yourself a free dinner, and you can say, I earned it!
A lesson very well learned. I agree 100%. Thank you Anika for reminding us
I’d like to defend myself here. 🙂 We arrived on a nearly desolate island at 5pm on Christmas day to discover that the “resort” restaurant is the only viable choice for food on the island and there were no tables available that night. Gina, the VIP mom guest, and I did, in fact, advocate for our families as no Christmas dinner was not an acceptable option. We convinced the manager to allow us to set up a table in the bar which we decorated with quickly crafted Christmas decorations and white elephant gift (Anika’s idea) which we had all brought. I was nearly in tears by the sorry state of our room and dismal food situation so Hayes paid the bartender to play Christmas music for the evening. In the end, it was a very fabulous Christmas, and indeed speaking up for myself ultimately resulted in deluxe suites for both families and a celebratory meal at no additional fee.
I TOTALLY AGREE!!!!!!!!! that was a great story, I can’t wait to hear your experiences on your trip, have fun and make sure to tell me everything when you get back. -Matilda
In support of Rachel, and Annika, despite all we had a FABULOUS Christmas. For me, it kicked off with the rockin’ Christmas Eve karaoke tuk tuk ride through Siem Reap orchestrated by Hayes. These two days are treasured memories for our families.
Gina