One yearly activity for each Maryknoll Lay Missioners region (country) is to have a retreat together. This year the Cambodia MKLM group is taking advantage of a three-day(!) holiday for the king’s birthday to take a retreat in Kampot Province on the southern coast of the kingdom.
We took a van for the 150 km trip south to Kampot Province. Here we are at the office of the van company, waiting for our 1:00 PM departure.
James Havey and Russ Brine at one of the rest stops on the trip down.
When we reached Kampot almost four hours later, we switched from the van to a tuk-tuk to go the final three or four kilometers to the Meraki Resort.
For this last part of the trip, there wasn’t much of a road. We were in two tuk-tuks because we were six people with luggage for a four-day trip.
We had to register when we arrived at Meraki. Here Beth, a Buddhist nun who was going to work with us for a better understanding of Buddhism, signs in.
The Meraki “resort” is a somewhat rustic compound on a river that forms an estuary for the Gulf of Thailand. It’s a beautiful location.
This is our group at supper at Meraki. (L to R:) Russ Brine, Beth, Kylene Fremling, James Havey, Charlie Dittmeier, and Hang Tran. Supper took a long time to prepare and was our last official act of the day.
