I Should Have Bought A Boat

Instead of our new Camry, I should have bought a boat since Siem Reap has experienced its worst flooding in the six years a I have lived here. We took the car to Phnom Penh to the Toyota dealer this past Monday. We had it completely checked, changed the fluids and got all new tires and a clean bill of health. We left Phnom Penh at 5pm on Tuesday afternoon to drive back to Siem Reap. It started raining somewhere along the way and for almost all of the trip we had rain that was very, very heavy at times and a lot of wind. I wanted to get back home so I did not really care and I was driving so I felt safe enough. It is about a five hour drive and about half way through there was almost no other traffic on the roads which was great for us though sometimes we could go no more than 25 miles an hour. We actually made good time and got back to Siem Reap just after 10pm. Right after we arrived back at the bar and hotel, the rain just unleashed itself. And it rained, and rained and rained. I drove the car home along the river and it was a bit nerve racking as the road was becoming flooded. Just a week before the water along the river came close to the crest but did not really come over.

The next day I went out by motorbike and found the river had completely overflowed all the way from near the Old Market area and down towards the way to the Tonle Sap lake. I was surprised that the main streets of Siem Reap were not flooded as they had been in years past. I guess the drainage work they did actually worked. But, the rain did not stop on Wednesday, it just kept coming. By this time I had already realized it was the remnants of Typhoon Ketsana that had already struck the Phillipines and Vietnam. So, I drove back from Phnom Penh in a typhoon? It seems that way.

On Wednesday night when I left work around 9pm the area around the Old Market was OK. Thursday morning my house staff came back with the motorbike and it was flooded out again, like the day before from driving through water that was too high. So, I drove the car to work. What a mistake! I could not go from my house along the river so had to go the long way around out by the airport. The airport road was flooded and then I arrived in town to find that all of the streets were now flooded including the Old Market area, Bar street etc. I was shocked since it was not that way the night before and thought the worst was over. Have a look at the pictures below and you can see what I mean. Thankfully, our small street is slightly higher than the main roads and it only came near the top of the curb. It would have taken a lot more rain for it to have come into our street. What a mess though! Today is Friday and the sun is out so our fingers are crossed that the water will begin to recede. It had not affected our guests in that they were still able to go to Angkor Wat and enjoy the sites with very few tourists. So, wish us luck that the flooding recedes before the next storm comes.