Guest9999 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 01, 2021 12:19 pmOn a flight down from Ratanakiri, maybe January '96, I chatted with an older American who had a river otter on the floor of the plane aisle in one of those tribal woven basket backpacks all the women up there wore to the Banlung market. He said he was Father ...(I forget)some religious leader who was running an orphanage in Sihanoukville. He had one of the old 1/3 broken art deco villas, huge chunk of land, on the beach road, on Ochiteal, maybe about 100m past where Hun Sen built his villa, maybe in front of Tea Banh's. He said he had a lot of other animals there too.
A few months later I walked along the beach and found his place (LOTS of sand flies at sunset and really barren, as all the French UNTAC planted Sal trees were only waist high and no one much used any of the beach past the new Crystal Hotel. Serendipity was a closed military area, and the nearest guesthouse to it was more brothel than hotel.) He wasn't there, just a gaggle of effeminate young Khmer men and boys. They said Father had left the country, but would be back in a month. They said they had extra rooms and asked if I was staying. However, I saw no captive wild animals, not even the otter, so it seemed wise to decline the offer. Lovely to see all the happy lads, and know that they had probably converted, and now their souls would not burn for eternity in damnation. I guess Cambodia was lucky to have Americans like him drawn to it's charms. Ya think?
Grear story. A bit before my time, but part of me yearns for those early days.
I recall the American in Mondulkiri with the anxious pet monkey that got confiscated after a share taxi ride to PP.
And the British bar owner who had a Croc and some big snakes in siem reap. His boa constrictor got hold of him one evening and no one was around. Luckily a mate turned up to prize him out of the coils.
I also walked past a bucket of baby crocs for sale, each no bigger than a jingjock, on a siem reap side street. I was tempted.
Recently we had a wild cat in our office, and although no bigger than a domestic cat, the thing was vicious. Let wild animals be wild, I say.