Mugged

March 7, 2009

Today I was mugged.

I'm in Sihanoukville, a Cambodian beach town on the Gulf of Thailand. It's beautiful here. I've spent the past several days here relaxing on a big, white, empty beach, lolling on a sun chair sipping banana shakes. After a week of heavy sightseeing at Angkor Wat and in the busy capital city, Phenom Penh, this place has just been serenity.

This afternoon I was walking back along the main road in town having dropped off a bicycle I rented for a few days. I've had several people warn me about taking care to watch my bags because young men on motorbikes have been known to ride up next to unsuspecting tourists and just tear or cut the bags off people and drive away into the night. While bike riding yesterday with a South African girl I met on the bus from Phenom Pehn, I noticed she was getting hassled by two young men on a motorbike. I passed along the warning and the two of us stopped pedaling and took a detour to avoid the boys who were driving suspiciously slowly around us. We lost them without incident. I felt like a savvy traveler, looking out for my fellows on the road.

Well today walking along this busy street, watching the clouds turn a deep blue as the sun set, I was just thinking about how much I love Cambodia, how it has been one of my favorite stops, and how the people have all been so kind.

To steal a phrase from Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood (a great beach read, btw), just as these pretty pink and blue thoughts were floating about my head, I felt a tug at the back of my shirt. Before I realized what was going on, a young thug riding on the back of his buddy's motorcycle ripped my small money bag right off my body. It happened in a split second. I had no time to react.

I feel really stupid having received all these warnings and even spreading the news to others. I'm angry too, though not as much as I would have expected. I only lost cash, and I think just $30 at that. For having been on the road for more than 200 days, I feel lucky that an incident like this hasn't happened sooner.

When I was in college in Montreal, I was robbed multiple times. Car stolen, bike stolen, bag of shoes stolen from the back of a van during a move. My boyfriend at the time also had his car broken into twice in the four years he visited me. So I'm no stranger to this shitty, sinking, humanity-hating feeling you get when you've just been ripped off.

But I still love Cambodia. I love the people and am fascinated by the history and the culture. Oh, and the food is to die for. If any of you reading this happen upon a Khmer restaurant, order the Fish Amok. It's divine.

I feel like traveling has made me a more accepting person. This is not the worst thing in the world. I'll get over it. By the time I got back to my hostel not 15 minutes after the incident, I felt OK about it. One cigarette and a stiff vodka pineapple helped. I accepted what happened and shrugged it away.

Still, thank god I didn't have my camera on me.