Made me think beautifully written and so fine-tuned..."our souls are refined and sanded and perfected over and over until, like the individual layers of a shell pressed down on one another, we become whole again" - just love it!
Sadly I did not have a moment like that when visiting Angkor which I really had counted on but had experienced it before while looking at Taj Mahal...there is some energy in certain places we visit and sometimes we feel it more than ever!!!
Beata
ankor wat Hey Beata, thanks so much for your lovely message, you are right some places really do have an energy about them. I'm glad you experienced that at the Taj Mahal - that's on my list for the next travel plan ;)
Millions of stories reflected in the lake Angkor Wat was part of the ancient spiritual pilgrimage from India ending at Borobudur in Java. When you are at Angkor Wat it is hard not to feel awe at its immensity...its magesty...its spiritual allure. You had that experience...like millions of others...reflected in the lake. Thanks for sharing your's.
What a lovely blog. Priceless, "an attitude of complete, narcisstic egomanical selfishness to do what he's done and he really couldn't care less." Always amazed that some think they are more important than others. Love your views and observations on racism. Thank you for sharing and happy travels.
Doesn't look like you need my advice as to what to see or do... you found one of the two best celebrations in Chiang Mai...the other being Loy Krathong in November...you can ask locals what that's like. I do recommend that you go to the top of Doi Inthanon, however.
the intimate sorrow which we could never delete to do whatever you thought or imagine is just rightç cause we have one life as we are at the moment. we probably live somehow, as something in somewhere, not as what we are as now though...a sufi says "what do you have that you can tell its belong to me? Only your heart and your time."
thank you for your words from some past and some far...I believe in ghosts...
If I was meeting up with my daughter somewhere in the world... I would have booked a suite so that we could all be together. I'm sorry to hear about your not so good relationship with you dad. I'm currently traveling around the world with my son, and he is straining our relationship...so I guess many families are dysfunctional in a way.
Enjoy living in Chiang Mai We lived there from Feb 1974 to July 1975 while I constructed the road and radar station on Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. This was our favorite home...no place we have lived in the subsequent years even compares. I took my kids there in 2007 so that they could see some of our past life. They also loved it.
enjoy living in chiang mai thank you! and for taking the time to read my blogs :) if you have any tips for living here or what to see i'd love to hear them. Enjoy your own travels d
Enjoy living in Chiang Mai We lived there from Feb 1974 to July 1975 while I constructed the road and radar station on Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. This was our favorite home...no place we have lived in the subsequent years even compares. I took my kids there in 2007 so that they could see some of our past life. They also loved it.
alone and spiritual moment i would want to be alone, just considering how many people been and what a concentrated belief place that is. This is the first blog, where i actually read some spiritual experience. i wish it would be more of such for everybody :)
alone at angkor wat hi, thank you for your comment, yes I feel lucky to have both as i was able to watch the sunrise with the crowds but find a space to myself within the grounds where i could reflect :)
Love that you mentioned the morning melee! - As with their photos, most people attempt to edit that part of the Angkor Wat experience out of their blogs. The construction of place. True, the ritual has changed quite markedly over the years. I was there a few weeks back as people pushed and shoved and grumbled about one-anothers presence ruining the experience. In reality, if anything, it was peoples anymosity towards one-another (themselves) which tranished their own experience. I gave an impromptu 5am sermon about embracing the crowds, aka that contaminating \'other,\' the dreaded \"tourist\"... Who\'d want to be all alone in Times Square on New Years Eve, anyway?
Lone ranger Hello, Yes you are so right, who wants to have these experiences all alone, there should be a joy in sharing something that magical - we are social animals at our heart right? Its not the event itself but how we respond to it that counts as all the books i read keep telling me! :)
So beautifully written and photographed. I felt your frustration when that arrogant traveller decided to wade into the lake (I\'m surprised he wasn\'t confronted upon leaving). But more importantly, I felt the poignancy when you reflected on the passing of your cousin. Those moments of revelation are rare, very rare, and such peak experiences (to cite Abraham Maslow) can allow one to progress further on the journey to self-actualisation. Hold onto the memory of that moment for as long as you can, it is one of your greatest possessions. I had a similar experience in India back in 2006 and recalling that moment still evokes a revelational shiver along my spine.
Lone ranger Thank you travel camel :) It was a really extraordinary moment. I knew seeing Angkor Wat would be special but i never expected to have a moment like that. I'm glad trying to find the words to describe and share it in the blog will help me hold the memory close.
Re: the Lone ranger - I expect i was just very British and rolled my eyes a bit and tutted loudly! but i think that kind of passivity was probably better than the stone throwing. As a species we still need to practise better assertive communication i think! hahaha.
Hi
I´m 37 and have lived in London most of my life. I studied English at University and was an actress for a few years before moving into marketing - most recently working for Arsenal Football Club.
But...life is too short to be little...and that's why I´ve just given up my job to go travelling for a year :)
If you are looking for an incisive and insightful travel blog that imparts all sorts of great information, hot tips and delicious details on lesser known places to visit in the world, weeeeell....i'll try but I need to level with you now and say I seem to have spent most of my... full info
Beata and Tomek
us At Home Abroad
Made me think
beautifully written and so fine-tuned..."our souls are refined and sanded and perfected over and over until, like the individual layers of a shell pressed down on one another, we become whole again" - just love it! Sadly I did not have a moment like that when visiting Angkor which I really had counted on but had experienced it before while looking at Taj Mahal...there is some energy in certain places we visit and sometimes we feel it more than ever!!! Beata