Note: I confess, I started this blog last year while in Siem Reap and never published it then. Since I just passed through Siem Reap again, I thought I wouldn't be cheating too much if I published it now. The temples in the area are still astounding. I could visit many times without tiring of these places Each of the massive buildings in the Angkor Wat complex has a different feel, each projects a message. The hours invested in raising them is astonishing. How many workers toiled under threat, under force, and how many toiled to gain merit, or as honored artisans, proudly creating an edifice that would boast wealth and grandeur for centuries to come? After touring many, I tired of taking photos, and just wanted to stroll and feel these places. I longed for ... read more

In the dark I bicycle to the village, several miles from Chi Phat, past houses and cows and dogs lurking on the sides of the road. I see my friend Pon on the way, and sit for a tea before I move on. I hear music, and motos, smell grilled meat, and I know I've arrived. This is the village that is celebrating the rice harvest festival. A temporary shelter of shredded plastic is the focal point for gathering, singing, and praying. A small Buddha statue is perched on a platform. People sit with feet carefully folded back to the side on the mats below. Older men are at one end, and they tend to baskets of fruit, flowers, and other offerings. I hear a man's voice over a loudspeaker, chanting, then talking. He's there in ... read more

A day in Chi Phat village--I want to say "typical" day--but nothing is ever typical. It usually starts with a bicycle ride, but then anything can happen... At 6 am I'm out on my bicycle for a morning ride. I pass Veasna, a former cycling guide and tell him to join me. He says no, he just finished jogging (I doubt that) and besides, he doesn't want to wear out the chain on his bicycle. I head down the road. Dogs everywhere, sitting on the dirt road, sitting in the ashes of fires, sitting on each other, sitting on house steps, assessing the activities around them. Chickens always waiting until the last moment to dash out in front of me. Crowing roosters, bloated water buffaloes chewing grass. Cows clanging their bells as they plod to the ... read more

I'm enjoying a morning bicycle ride through Chi Phat and nearby villages, when off to the side I notice a great commotion in the fronds of a palm tree. A couple people are looking up, so something is happening. A monkey, it's got to be a monkey, raiding the tree for coconuts! Then a big coconut flies through the air and thuds heavily as it bounces on the ground. That's no monkey. That's a man. I see his toes way up there, prying more coconuts from their attachments, and then more coconut bombs fly. Better stay clear, I think, but this is worthy of closer observation. There's no ladder up the trunk, no ropes, no big poles. He climbed that tree, like a monkey. All I can see clearly are his toes now, and flashes of ... read more

I've been to many markets around the world, so I think I've seen about everything. But the p'saa tmai, or the central market, in Phnom Penh is different. The market is housed in one of the coolest looking buildings around. Some say it resembles a Babylonian ziggurat, because the central building is a huge dome. Decorative cutouts in the walls promote ventilation which makes it quite comfortable year round for the shopping experience. I was overwhelmed by the spacious feel, the soft golden light inside, and the dazzling displays of reflective jewelry and stones and knickknacks beckoning to pack rats from around the world. I bought nothing shiny. I intended to buy a pair of elephant pants, the loose pajama-like printed pants from Thailand that usually feature elephants tromping on them. I walked out with a ... read more