Sunday, March 29, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Random (but awesome) Street Performer
He had awful scars and cuts on his back, but God bless his determination.
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Yesterday we took a day trip to visit Chong Khneas and watch the sun set over the floating village.
Hailing a taxi.
The boat that took us to Battambang stopped to pick up and drop off many local passengers.
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Stilted houses on the way to Chong Khneas, the closest floating village outside of Siem Reap.
Life as a young 'un.
In the background you can see boat houses stranded on the shores of the drying Sangker river.
Me, Looking quite French. From Siem Reap to Battambang.
Finally leaving Siam Reap, I arrived in Battambang today after an amazing river boat journey through the Vietnamese style floating villages and riverside fishing villages that have been set up along the edges of Tonlé Sap Lake and the connecting Sangker river.
For most of the year the lake is fairly small, around one meter deep and with an area of 2,700 square km. During the monsoon season, however, the Tonlé Sap river which connects the lake with the Mekong river reverses its flow. Water is pushed up from the mighty Mekong into the lake, increasing its area to 16,000 square km and its depth to up to nine meters, flooding nearby fields and forests (taken from Wikipedia).
As a result, the Vietnamese and Cham communities that call this area home, live, work, pray, play, and go to school in incredible stilted and floating structures. Here are some photos.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Ta Phrom
Ta Phrom (meaning Ancestor Brahma, one of the many temples in the region) is slowly being dismantled by massive strangler figs and silk-cotton trees that have overgrown the temple grounds, tearing down walls, collapsing ceilings, and creating an awesome scene.
The Mighty Angkor Empire
Several of the temples have massive and extensive reliefs depicting battles and ceremonies.
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The wall carvings of the Angkor temples is absolutely incredible.. and endless. Almost every inch of every wall of every temple is ornately covered with designs such as these.
The road less traveled.
Down a path into the woods, there is temple by the river. In the shadows, there is a soul, born from the soul of land itself.
So I said hello.
Please sir, you buy one, ok?
One of the most pressing aspects of the Kingdom of Cambodia are the beggars and the children who skip school to sell things to tourists, either for their family, or to afford classes at English schools. Many are of the opinion that regular school - especially studying Khmer (Cambodian language) - is far less important than learning English and getting their action in the tourist industry. There are signs asking you not to buy things from kids.. but it's a rough challenge to face.
.A Time to Reflect.
Intro..
Today the Germans and I parted ways: Andi is off to Ko Samui; Enz is off on his long (and expensive) trek back to Chengdu; and I am aloof in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
It has been an interesting month and a half since the four of us left Chengdu. From illegal bullfights to elephant rides through Angkor Wat, from churning white-water rapid rides to overnight drug smuggling bus runs through the precipitous mountains along the Mekong, and (recently) from drift diving tropical waters off undeveloped tropical islands to Long Island ice teas, I continue to chase the dream... and flee the ever encroaching sense of jadedness.
Backpacking and world-travel being as accessible as it is today, Alex Garland's The Beach is truly becoming the reality of the rest of South East Asia (S.E.A.): the "adventure" that we wannabe authentics crave is becoming more elusive, the whole damn mess of it is becoming pretty damn crowded, locals are getting rich off our fat nonchalant indulgences, and the whole thing feels like a big summer camp.
So the pressure is on; risk life and limb to live, try endlessly to top the most beautiful thing you've ever seen, see a relic and a world wonder before they put up the guard rails, before they label "scenic spots" and charge you to take a piss, and most importantly, arrive before the Chinese tour groups descend like Polaroid-ready locusts.
Laos was my first introduction to S.E.A., and it really did put some sour spit in my mouth - as the new saying goes. With the frustration of no longer being able talk to the locals in their native tongue as I could in China, the annoyance of negotiating for everything from lodgings to tuk-tuk fares being exacerbated by the fact that the prices in Laos are actually 3x what The Book (as I've begun referring to the Lonely Planet series as ) tells you to expect, and the fact that the journey from Luang Nam Tha to Vientiene (North to South) is now very much a massive tourist cattle route with less Laotians than white folks and a general Laotian sentiment that clearly acknowledges this, the idyllic countrysides and smile-inducing motorbike rides had a hard time competing for the top seats of my lasting impressions. But then, the road less traveled was given a miss because of time constraints.
My fault? I blame Germany.
(Haha, Enz, Andi - we are bros for life. I'm just f*cking with you. Onelove.)
No more negativity. Let's continue.
Highlights from Laos..
Vang Vieng
The one positive side to the massive boom in the Laos tourist industry is tubing in Vang Vieng.
Simply stated it's the world's largest play ground for 20-somethings.
1. River
2. Tubes
3. Many, many bars along the river
4. Very high, fairly dangerous swings, trapeze, slides, and zip lines.
5. "Happy Shakes"
6. Lack of rules
7. Lack of clothes
8. Very loud music
9. Good weather
10. Gorgeous surroundings
Picture MTV's Spring Break without MTV screwing everything up. It was a lot of fun, and a good surprise considering I was expecting something more along the lines of 50-or-so wankers floating down the river drinking beers in inner tubes and instead found a raging party with hundreds of people and someone successfully pulling off a one handed trapeze back flip while putting on a bowler hat 40 feet in the air.
Continuing: aside from the still fairly untouched and very beautiful countryside of Laos, I think that's about as much time as I'm going to waste writing about it.
Cambodga, Cambodia, and Kampuchea..
is awesome.
Although walking across the Cambodian-Laos border in the heat of mid-day was somewhere between epic and crappy, as soon as we drove into Phnom Penh, I fell in love. After Laos, it was refreshing to be in a real city with real people that didn't give a fuck about you because they actually had their own interesting and absorbing lives, lives that revolved around something something less plastic and more passionate than the needs of tourists. Though still a tourist, I was able to get lost in the crowd once again. (An aside: I'm sure the Laotians are great people, I just didn't really meet any real ones - my fault entirely. I must commend them, they are milking the tourist boom expertly: they know what it is, how to exploit us, and how to herd us while, at least it seemed to me, keeping their private lives private and their culture distinct.)
Cambodia is much more like China than Laos - in the good ways. It's grungy, but epically historic, torn apart and struggling to be reborn after the decimation wrought by the Khmer Rouge - and without the identity crisis that China is undergoing. Everyone hated Pol Pot, and everyone knows that the government is in no way the servant of the people but sadly the leading cause of its drudgingly slow rise from the deepest trenches of abject development. Phnom Penh is exciting and beautiful, the coast is lusciously tropical, and the Angkor temples are one of the wonders of the world. Pretty good show.
Yesterday (the pictures are coming, but they are all crap because there wasn't enough light and I pushed it too far trying to take shots with such a slow shutter speed)we went to see the Angkor temples. Ha, how were they? Fairly large, classifiably ruined, and mostly undergoing renovation efforts. Meh, should you see them? Yes. Am I still tired of temples after my month traveling across China almost two years ago? YES!
But it's all good, it's all gravy, it's all Long Island Ice Teas as far as I'm concerned - I made it. I stood on the sand, looking out to open water. I made it, to the waves and the water and the sun, to the sand between my toes and the breeze on my tanning skin. I made it to hammocks and coconuts. I made it to reefs and paradise. After almost two years. Mother Ocean, mother sea. Gorgeous tropical waters and grilled fish. Sunrise kisses, and sunset silences. Stars in the sky and in the inky black bioluminescent nighttime waters. Perfect. God, I missed it.
And that is where I'll leave you.
Potential plans for the near future include: Traveling along the coast from Sihanouk Ville, Cambodia to Ko Samui, Thailand. Bangkok to Philippines. Hong Kong, Macao. Maybe a motorbike trip back to China through Viet Nam. Diving. And some Long Island ice teas.
Ya'll heard? Represented.
Strong Island.
One Love.
Peace.
Monday, March 9, 2009
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In these two photographs, you can clearly make out the massive skull fractures that probably caused the demise of these Khmer Rouge victims.
Phnom Penh's Killing Fields
A truly somber day. After hearing a bit about the Khmer Rouge and the devastating genocide that wiped out something like a third of Cambodia's entire population, I went to visit one of the many, many killing field sites. This photo, and the one that follows, was taken in the gorgeously constructed stupa that stands in the middle of the infamous ground, filled tier after tier with unnamed skeletons as a reminder and a remembrance.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
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Jo giving the wink, fighting back the tears, and trying to smile - all while looking beautiful and giving back to the community at the same time.
Bonding Moment.
This is a photo from the day I went with some friends to the Phnom Penh LIGHTHOUSE orphanage. To my surprise, it seems that not only does the orphanage receive several visitors daily, but there is actually something called "Orphanage Tourism" causing some people to be concerned that tourists are extending their "safari" type travels in developing countries to see, photograph, and play with "cute" and "disadvantaged" children.
Personally, aside from getting some pretty good shots (::blush::), I had a really lovely day with all of the kids. I was blown away by their English speaking skills, and was even put to shame as I heard them practice their French and Japanese as well. I'm not sure that this new form of tourism is really something worth concern; it brings in cash, allows the children to meet and converse with people from around the world, and helps orphans, which normally have a pretty hard time of things, to have their issues be kept somewhat in the forefront of social concern.
And plus, who else would Stacey be able to get to let her twist their hair like that?
Sunset No. N
Coming back to Sihanouk Ville from Koh Rong Samloem, Cambodia after a two day diving trip.
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