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Posts Tagged ‘Cambodia’

Emerging from a cocoon

Posted in Emerging from a cocoon, tagged , on December 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Laos has been totally refreshing this past week. I spent three days visiting the temples surrounding Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and it is a truly magical place. But I also spent a lot of time hiding in my hotel room, watching endless movies on HBO/Cinemax. Generally, I am pretty fearless, but I was feeling afraid of the world and just wanted to hunker down in the safety of my air conditioned room. There are so many street vendors everywhere – from tuk tuk drivers to children selling post cards and water. Tourists (myself included at times) adopt this stance while walking on the street of looking down, avoiding eye contact and scurrying by the somewhat aggressive vendors. My isolation in the hotel room was an extrapoliation of this avoidance. I didn’t want to be this way, but just found myself slipping into this space while in Cambodia.

The Southeast Asian Games (regional Olympics) were occurring in Vientiane, Laos, so I headed for the hills and spent two nights in Vang Vieng, Laos. As soon as the bus left the city, rounded the curve and I saw the mountains, I breathed a sigh of relief. I forget how much I need nature sometimes. Vang Vieng is a beautiful town, located on the river and nestled in the hills. Spent an absolutely lovely day kayaking and caving. We used a sea kayak, and passed rice paddie fields and water buffalos cooling off in the river. I knew my days of fear were over when I entered a pitch black cave with only me and the tour guide, and I was laughing at the absurdity of it all (this is fun?! people pay money to scramble around in the dark?) instead of being afraid of being alone with a stranger in a cave. There is another weird side of Vang Vieng that includes backpackers sitting in restaurants watching endless episodes of “Friends” – I don’t know why they all play the same TV show, or getting drunk on the river and inner tubing. I was ready to leave and finally get to Luang Prubang, Laos.

They say Luang Prubang is a tonic for the soul, and this is definitely true for me as well. The town is straddled by two rivers, and has low lying buildings and just has a very relaxing vibe. I’m staying in a sweet guest house that fosters a communal sense so all the travelers spend their days together. I have emerged from my coccoon and ready to suck the marrow from life once again! This morning, we walked along the dark streets at 5:30 am to witness and participate in the daily alms for the monks. Hundreds of monks (most of them novice teenage boys) pass along the street collecting rice, bananas and other offerings from both locals and tourists. There are also local children that dot the streets kneeling with cardboard boxes. On occasion, the monks take food they have been given and provide it to the street children. It is an interesting circle of life, generosity and poverty.

My plans are evolving, but I will likely spend the next few days in the north at a small rural village on a homestay with a local family. They don’t have electricity or plumbing, and I want to get a sense of how most Laotians live outside the cities. This feels like the perfect way to spend Christmas, and I continue to be so thankful for my life, this experience, my family and friends. Thank you to all of you for being in my life!

Attached are photos of me at Angkor Wat, Cambodia; view from my bungalow in Vang Vieng, Laos; me providing morning alms to monk in Luang Prubang, Laos.

Angkor Wat in Siem Riep, Cambodia.
Bumpy bike ride outside Pnomh Penh, Cambodia.
Morning alms in Luang Prubang, Laos.

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The other side of Southeast Asia

Posted in The other side of Southeast Asia, tagged , on December 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The transition from Bali has been pretty rough. I arrived in Bangkok after 10pm, and got a bit lost before finding the guesthouse the guide book described as charming. Traveller hint, charming is code word for decrepit! Shared bathroom, the floor was wet from the shower (no separate tub, the shower is like an RV and gets everything wet), and no toilet paper. The 8 x 10 room was hot, dark, and there wasn’t even a top sheet! The next morning, I set off to find a new hotel and after going to 8 places that were full, I found a room with a private shower but it wasn’t available until later that morning. So I took a ferry, then the skytrain to a posh mall and watched a movie (New Moon, I needed something familiar). Hours later, I returned to the new hotel to check in and they told me it wouldn’t be ready for two more hours. They let me lie down on the couch because I was so exhausted and I turned my head and cried. What was I doing at this $10 night hotel and did the next six weeks include other horrid experiences like this (sorry, the question marks and punctuation are challenging to make work on a Khmer keyboard). Homesickness was hitting me hard!

The next day, I arrived in Pnomh Penh, Cambodia and decided not to be cheap and went to a hotel that was $27. When they showed me the room, I think I cried a little, but this time with happiness from a flat screen TV and separate shower. I was disturbed when I read the rules posted inside the room, since the first one was no sex with children allowed in rooms. At night, I coud see evidence of the sex industry on the streets. The next day, I went on a 25 kilometer bike tour that was billed as easy. Yes, it was flat the whole way, but very little paved roads so quite a bumpy experience! We took a ferry, and then cycled past Muslim slums. And then passed the Vietnamese shantytown with the streets lined with small homes along the river on stilts with corrugated tin roofs. We went to the zoo that had fallen into disrepair and they only have one lonely snake. As we walked along, the tour guide pointed out the palm trees, and then proceeded to tell me the Khmer Rouge used the jagged edges of the fronds to kill people during the war. There is so much sadness, poverty and despair in Southeast Asia. My heart breaks a little bit every day. But then there is also so much hope for the future. The tour guide told me his younger sister is the first person in his family to graduate from University, and he hopes to attend next year as well.

Yesterday, I arrived in Siem Riep, home of Angkor Wat and the renown temples. It is a lovely city, and feels quite safe and comfortable. I went to Angkor Wat last night during sunset, and it just takes your breath away. In a few days, I fly to Vientiene, Laos. Decided to splurge and spend the money since it’s a 30 hour bus ride from Siem Riep.

I know this isn’t the usual upbeat e-mail full of wonder and awe, but it is the real other side of life in this part of the globe. And it motivates me to want to continue to change the world. Attached are a few photos from paintings on the wall and ceiling in a temple in Pnomh Penh; and the South Gate to Angkor Wat.

Glorious painted ceiling and walls in a Buddhist Temple outside Pnomh Penh, Cambodia.
South gate entrance to Angkor Wat in Siem Riep, Cambodia.

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