Ever since the river in our backyard flooded, the image of sexy monks coming to an aid in their undies has been baked into my retinas. And let me tell you straight away, it is orange all the way!
While I have seen tons of people in their undies, I can’t seem to unburn the mental image of that particular day. But enough about their orange boxers because that’s not what makes these monks so unique and special.
What makes them so special is their unconditional love for all living things, as is their kindness and helpfulness, even though we are not Buddhists!
They actually came house to house on a DIY bamboo raft to check if everybody was alright and if we didn’t need any help.
Being in a foreign country and learning the language is one thing, but being caught up in a (small) disaster for 3 days with not one English speaking soul around you is something entirely different.
Luckily, Khmer or Cambodian people, especially the monks and our neighbors, are among the most friendly, kind and helpful souls I have ever met. Our basic Khmer speaking skills and sign language go a long way. I couldn’t thank them more for helping us, and our geese, through the Kampot flood last year!
Making the best out of every situation
Khmers are masters in making the best out of every situation. They actually managed to turn the whole thing into something rather pleasant and fun. If this had happened in Belgium, my home country, it would be tears and frustration all around.
Here it was an entirely different story. Slightly worried at the beginning, but still smiling faces all around us.
After a quick check that everybody was still there and ok, streets turned into huge swimming pools. We all had some fun playing in the water, saving the chickens out of the trees, scavenging for random washed up things, and playing volleyball.
It is definitely something I will never forget.
When the river floods - 3 surreal days of our life
Imagine a morning you wake up and look through the window…. Yes, you heard the storm during the night and noticed that it is still pouring down. So you kinda expect some huge puddles in the garden.
And that’s exactly what I saw a year ago when I woke up at 6:30 am…. big puddles from the raging tropical storm.
As I made my way through the house and walked onto the back porch 
Holy shit snacks (to say it in Pams words - Archer).... That’s not puddles; that’s the river coming!
In less than an hour, the water went up from just entering the garden to over one meter (or 3.3 foot). Because the water came up that fast, our geese were trapped on one side of the yard and were forced to spend their afternoon on a pile of rocks on the other side of the street. Later on, we had to catch them with the help of our neighbors and keep them on the porch with the stranded chickens from next door.
After a while, the porch flooded too, and we had to move them to the only bathroom/toilet in the house… and believe me, you don't wanna go into the bathroom to do your business if there are 3 angry geese in there. I tried.....
At the end, the water went up to 1.8 meters (6 foot). Luckily our house is built a little bit higher up and the water just stopped about an inch away from entering the house.
As you can see, the neighbors and monks are the ones you can rely on when things go horribly wrong. During the three days of the flood, the people from the neighborhood came around on their boats to see if we needed food or any other help. They evacuated the people who couldn't stay in their houses and helped the people who were in need.
State officials made their act-de-presence with bags of rice after all the water was gone and everybody was ok.
They came in a caravan of big fancy cars, dropped a few bags of rice. Filmed a few seconds of their good deed for national tv and then drove off again.
BIG Take-Away of The Day: You Can Always Rely On Monks and Neighbors When Things Go Wrong!!!
Thanks for reading. Until next time.