Sand and Stinky fruits

Location: Sihanoukville and Kampot, Cambodia
Date: March 30, 2010



I decided to check out Cambodia's coastline after my busy days in the city. the coast is beautiful, and even the remote islands hold surprises, like giant goats coming up and head butting you as you are catching some sun....

Seriously, this guy was HUGE!

Fishing.

I relish the moments when I get to relax, but I find that after a few hours, I am ready to get going. I left the beach and heading to the small town of Kampot, a less touristy area, where you can go into the countryside and visit the peppermills and see what rural Cambodian life is life.

Cambodian gas station: notice the reused Pepsi bottles!!! One liter will get a moto-tuk-tuk about 2 or 3 days use of gas.

Hammocking around at the peppermills.

Some new friends: Maggie and Coen (Holland) and Roberto (Spain). We did a trek in the Bokor National Forest with a group (note my high fashion!!!!). After hiking up 1000m we jumped into the back of a pick up truck and they took us up to a deserted casino/hotel complex that was thriving in the 1920s until it was completely destroyed by the Khmer Rouge regime. On the way up, we saw lots of illegal logging, which actually made our truck get stuck for over an hour as it hauled trees away from the road.

Front of the deserted casino, encased in fog.

Below are the cliffs that you can see from the top floor of the casion. I love the way the cliffs meet the fog- if you walk to the edge and look below, it just drops down. Apparently, it was a popular place for suicides- not sure if it had anything to do with gambling in the casino or not.

Watching the sunset over the Bokor National Forest.

Durian...have you ever heard of it? Many on the food network? Well, the fruit STINKS. I mean, it really smells, sort of like rotting socks. You can smell it as you drive along, getting whiffs from time to time. Well, I decided it was a must to try the fruit, since it has such hype. After our hike, we happened upon a late night fruit stand, which held about 5 new fruits I had never seen...they prepared a little bowl for us, and we got to sample durian and many other tropical fruits. Durian is the spiky one on top of the case to the left. The consistency, as my roommates know (this is the fruit I made you try in June!!!), is like that of raw chicken...It is creamy and soft, and slippery to the touch. It does not look like something that is good to eat. We had attempted to try it once in Seattle, but the fruit had been frozen and thus lost much of its taste, so this was my chance, to try fresh durian...

Verdict: DELICIOUS!!! True, the creamy, funny texture is a little much to take and it does have a bit of an old cheese taste, but I think that just adds to its charm. See the durian above, inside the spiky shell? I highly recommend it if you get the chance :)

Pajamas

Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Date: March 30, 2010

As I passed the Royal Palace on my way to a little cafe I know has Wifi, I see a tiny boy edging out into traffic crying as hard as possible. There is a tuk-tuk driver leaning back in his carriage, smoking a cigarette, not seeming to care. One more crawl and this little boy is history. As a tourist, it's hard to understand my place in this scenario. As a human, it's easy- basic instincts come into play. I scoop the little guy up- he is wearing pajamas that must be his only pair of clothes, and he is crying so hard he can barely catch his breath. He isn't old enough to walk, but apparently, his parents think he is old enough to be left alone on the street corner. About 3 feet behind me is his home, "that is where he sleeps," the tuk-tuk driver tells me... I speak to him for a few minutes and ask if this is normal- if the mom always just leaves the little guy, and he doesn't seem to know, but he points across the street, indicating the mom is somewhere over there. He eventually stops crying as I hold him, but I just don't know what to do. I've seen it all before, but this time I needed to stop and at least attempt to do something. The truth of it is that despite whatever action I take, it will happen again, and probably over and over, and one day he may even crawl into the road and get hit, but I had to pick him up today. After a while of rocking him, I put him down on his "bed" and went into a store to buy some ice cream in hopes that it would help. When I returned, a woman was holding him, and I asked if she was the mom and handed over the ice cream. She took it and didn't answer me, not understanding what I said, and I walked away. And that was it. I'm in the cafe now, and as I leave, I could walk by him again, crying on the street, but I think this time I'll be a tourist, and walk the other way, hoping that is still somewhat safe in the arms of his mother.

I know that to some degree, you need to become numb when you see these sort of things, but everytime I see it, my heart breaks a little more. Poor little guy.

Angkor Wat

Location: Siem Reap and Phnom Penn, Cambodia
Date: March 2o something, 2010

Sus-Die!

The transition from Thailand to Cambodia in theory, is an easy one. Yet, the touting and scamming you meet when you try to cross the border can be painfully frustrating...after fighting with an agency to get a fair price on our visas, we walked across the border. Yet, the fun was only beginning to start. Getting from the border town of Poipet to Siem Reap was terrible because of all of the scams they put you through. Though I've now hit the 6 month mark, I still get completely frazzled and irritated with the scams- "no lady, no bus..." me: "but we paid for it already, all the way to Siem Reap, so give us a paper ticket." agent: "no no no, i have to deal with this first. no bus better taxi." me: " no, we're taking the bus. get us a ticket or i'll call the cops." agent: "fine, call the cops!" I walked towards the mini mart to carry out my threat and 3 minutes later I had a paper ticket....yet those who are new to traveling get caught up in these schemes and end up paying a lot of money to get to town, though they've already paid. On the way to Siem Reap, the driver stopped for lunch and everyone on the bus wanted to continue on instead of eat, so after the driver was finished eating he got back on the bus where we were waiting, and in the humid 100 degree weather, told us the air con didn't work (which of course it did...I think he was just frustrated because he didn't get a commission from the restaurant since we didn't eat ). It was an interesting sociological study- a one way battle- the driver fighting us for some reason and was being so passive aggressive during the entire 4 hour ride. Funny, but it's definitely the place that has scammed the hardest, and it can be so irritating that you just want to lock yourself in your hotel room to escape it all...

Alas, I made it to the beautiful Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat, a temple complex built for the king during the 12th century. You can hire a tuk tuk for the day (a motorcycle attached to a little carriage) and tour the temples that way. Our lovely driver picked us up at 5:15am and we got to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat after drinking our coffee-in-a-bag!

Horse and sunrise in front of Angkor Wat and (below) the sun rising over

the most famous of the temples

More monkeys! Hanging in front of the temple

Though the day before was spent mostly in conflict with drivers and agencies, the day we explored Angkor Wat was a magical one! I got to meet so many lovely children who hang around at the temples with their parents, or selling postcards and bracelets. At first it can be difficult because it seems like it may only be an exchange of money, but then the conversation opens up and you get to start to understand the child behind the vendor. Some of my new friends are below.

Cambodian children have smiles and hearts of gold. Many of the children do not go to school and just sell things on the street to make profits for their families. However, there are starting to be more and more organizations that provide a stipend for the family if the child attends school daily, and sometimes the kids can go to school at the evening, so they can work during the day. This last little guy is named Ni, and I met him at the end of the day, and his dad let me play with him for awhile.

This temple is called Bayon, and it was my favorite. It had carvings of Shiva everywhere, and great big heads carved into the stone that would peer out at you.

Look carefully to find the hidden faces!

This temple, Ta Prohm, was overtaken by the jungle after it was built. The structure is incredible, with the trees just growing out of the roof and the sides. It was beautiful.

More faces that lined the bridge crossing.

Hanging on to Ta Prohm.

Another group of girls we met in front of the temples. They were adorable and we were able to break through the "buy this lady" barrier and ended up spending some lovely time together.

At the end of the long day visiting temples, our amazing driver took us out for watermelon! In all of my experiences traveling, I had never met a driver like him. We had agreed on a price the day before, but he ended up driving us much longer than we had thought, and then he took us and cut up an entire watermelon for us as a gift, and never even brought up the price (though he had gone over and above). Unfortunately, I find these kinds of interactions involving money occur very rarely, and the conversation revolves around money at points when a price is unknown, but our experience with Nim was such a special one- if you go to Cambodia, you need to meet Nim!

Anyone for deep fried tarantulas?

After Siem Reap, we took the bus to Phnom Penn, where Marisa departed. I had a few days in the city to explore, and I decided to go to an animal sanctuary that cared for animals that have been rescued from poachers.

My guides, Lucky and Andy (English-version names). Lucky (on the left) gave me a two hour tour around the reserve, telling me all about the animals and protecting me from the monkeys that grab...

Malaysian sun bear

The next day in Phnom Penh I spent learning a bit more about Cambodia's history. In 1975, Pol Pot became leader of the Khmer Rouge party, and over the next 4 years, he systematically killed about 2 million people, which was about 1/5 of the Cambodian population. The group he led was communist in nature, and all educated people were captured, put into work camps or torture camps, and brutally murdered. In Phnom Penh is the Tuol Seng Museum, or S-21, which was a high school that was converted into a holding place/torture camp for nearly 30,000 (20,000 of which were children who were murdered quickly) people. I went to go visit this school, and it was such a strange juxtaposition to see a place where I am so comfortable with a history that is so terrible.

The place of mass extermination in Phnom Penh, aka "The Killing Fields" are outside of the city, and I went to go see them. Basically, there are just gigantic holes in the ground which served as mass graves, where men, women and children were taken and told to kneel down, and then killed. 49 of the 125 mass graves have been left untouched, and you can see some remains still there. At this time, much of the land has been covered by overgrowth of plant life, so it is hard to imagine how horrible it must have been 30 years ago, though there are many skulls on display of some of the victims.

I had read "First They Killed My Father," which was written by a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime, and it is a good book to read to get some basic background. Much of Cambodia's history is sad- in addition to the Khmer Rouge terrors, many places in Cambodia are still infested with mines from the Vietnam War, and there are many beggars around who are missing limbs because of recent explosions. It boggles my mind how these mines still exist- why can't we get in there and dismantle them? There are thousands of people who are injured by them every year- why can't we do something?

After the depressing time spent in the killing fields, I decided to do a little research on Cambodia's progress by visiting a classroom in Phnom Penh. Many of the students were orphans and their education was supported by an NGO in Japan, so the kids had books and pencils and were able to learn a bit of English. I spoke with Vanny, the school's program manager, who told me that they understand that the kids don't have access to books at home, so they do a lot of repetition in the classroom, which I thought was great, though it would be great if they could get a native English speaker there full time to help out.

Have a week more in Cambodia, so trying to get some chill time at the beach...unfortunately, the cries of "Manicure, pedicure, massage, lady???" drown out much of the peace I am trying to summon, but I'll manage. All the best from the far East :)

Happy Birthday Brittny and Matty!

Fish Massage?

Location: Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand
Date: March 13, 2010

Sabadee-Ka!

Transitioning from India to Bangkok was one of the easiest yet, but it was so strange. I expected Bangkok to be a huge booming city, full of flashing neon lights and streets jammed with cars. What I found upon arrival was a chilled out city, with cars following the traffic directions (for the most part) and kind, respectful street vendors that didn't try to argue when you wouldn't buy something. I'm not sure if this perception was a factor of comparing Bangkok to Delhi, or if the city was quieter because of the protests, but it was a very peaceful and gentle transition that I was really grateful for.

But goodness, it's HOT here.

Strollling along the streets of Bangkok, I saw some quirky signs...
When I asked this fellow if I could have a fish massage, he took one look at my feet and said, "No, no no! They eat you!" which meant that I had too many open bites on my feet that the fish would attack...maybe I can go after my feet have healed.

This is one park in Bangkok, where there are nightly aerobics. I tried to join, but they move so quickly that it is nearly impossible to pick up. What a great idea though- a free aerobics work out in the cool evening where you can meet with friends and move your body! I hope to start one in Seattle upon my return...

Around Bangkok and throughout Chiang Mai, which is an overnight bus ride north of Bangkok, are hundreds of temples, or wats, and they are laden with smiling Buddhas and happy little creatures.

In Bangkok, I met the lovely Marisa, who I got to spend a glorious week traveling with. We decided to leave Bangkok, and head north to Chiang Mai, which is a take-off point for trekking in the mountains. We joined a group of 7 people for an overnight trip to sleep with a hill tribe.

First stop was a beautiful orchid farm, filled with colorful flowers- beautiful! Next, we headed to a snake farm where the performers put on a great show that involved jumping into a pool with a live python which wrapped itself around the man while he was in the pool. Pretty rad.

After the snake show was the really low point of our journey. We went to go visit the "Long Neck Tribe Village," which ending up being a depressing experience. We had thought we would get to see the village in action, with the women working and the men in the fields, but what happened was that we walked into a perfectly manicured landscape which had rows and rows of shops that catered only to tourists. This wasn't a village at all, but a few women who had the coils over their necks, and just sat all day looking sad, waiting for tourists to buy something. We were the only people there, and it felt like being in a zoo. It was so sad and we left immediately, not sure what the best way to help the tribe would be.

After that stop, we headed into the jungle for 3 hours of uphill, palm tree trekking. It was just lovely and so good to be outside in the hot wilderness. This time we actually hiked up to a hill tribe, where no cars could go.

The village was nestled among the palm trees, and we greeted the villagers who did not speak Thai or English.

Our guide led us to our mosquito net home, and we settled in. Miracle of miracles, ladies wearing beautiful sarees came in and the guide told us that they were here to give massages if any one wanted one. Since I had never gotten a massage before, I jumped at the chance, and for the next 30 minutes, I was in heaven- under a mosquito net buried in the hills of northern Thailand, being massaged by two women...it was great!

The next day, our guide Mr.C, led us down to waterfalls. Every so often he would disappear and we would wonder where he went, and then we would hear his laugh and he would appear behind a tree or a plant...a mysterious little fellow but we loved it. Here I am with my pal Marisa, and Mr.C.

Our group

After waterfall swimming we took elephant rides. We were enamoured with these large creatures and spent hours coddling them. Unfortunately, after our ride, we found out that someone had robbed Marisa while we were out on the excursion.

Skinny neck :)

Skin cross-section

Love it!

hehehe

trunk.

I think their trunks get really heavy,

since they seem to stop and need to rest them from time to time.

These two lovely women were just squatting in the village and smoking...something.

until next time...