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Published: February 26th 2007
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Bangkok - Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace
Spent a little time in Bangkok with Paula on my way through to Siem Reap. Who would imagine that such a short trip in Southeast Asia could affect a person so profoundly. I took a few days off last week to make a visit to Cambodia. My sister inspired me to travel to Cambodia after her own visit here that, in her words, broke her down piece by piece, only to lift her right back up and beyond. Now that I've been there, I understand just a little better of what she meant. My three days in Siem Reap were nothing short of amazing. A true awakening of every human sense.
La vue
As always, I'm including pictures from my trip. Not all, because there are three hundred of them, but some of my favourites are here. The thing with the sights of Cambodia though, is that some of the ones that stick most vividly in my mind are the ones that either happened too quickly or I felt were inappropriate for a snapshot. Les suivants sont les vues qui restent les plus vives dans ma memoire:
* Angkor Wat at sunset... The enormity of it and the glow of beauty all around this, the grandest religious building in the world.
* Tuktuks
and motos everywhere!
* The kids around the temples... I was surrounded by about seven little children trying to sell me various Angkor souvenirs as my tuktuk pulled up to Angkor Wat the first day. Overwhelming.
* The old, broken, decaying, thousand year old stone structures.
* Peaceful rice fields of bright green, accompanied by striking blue sky above.
* Kids in uniforms in the less touristy, country villages playing in the small dirt schoolyard.
* Markets full of people sitting on the ground at the side of the road with their merchandise laid out on blankets in front of them.
* The looks of desperation on the tuktuk drivers' faces as they ask for a 'good price'.
* Dirty faces, dirty clothes, and decaying teeth.
* Landmine victims with missing limbs sitting at the side of the walking paths around the Angkor temples, playing music on flutes and drums to raise money for their cause.
* Enormous trees growing over rocks, and roots snaking their way over any and every obstruction in their path.
L'ouie
The sounds you hear throughout a day in Siem Reap, at Angkor, or along the Tonle Sap are all part of the
bigger picture of Cambodia. Quelques-uns sont:
* A variety of accents and languages, including the native language of Khmer, and the foreign languages of French, English, Japanese, and so many others.
* Old motors and horns on motos, tuktuks, and cars honking to pass and speeding on by.
* A Khmer speaking, local English teacher trying to say the word 'opthamologist' as I sat down to teach him the pronunciations of a few new words from his text book.
* Fireworks each night celebrating the Chinese New Year.
* The voices of young children and peddlers on the streets calling out, "Hello lady!", "Don't forget me", "You buy.", "Undallah.", "Cold drink!".
Le toucher
Touch is sometimes the last of the senses we would think to describe to others when telling about our travels. As I learned along my way, touch is quite simply the best sense we can really depend on in some cases. Parmi les situations qui ont eleve mon sens du toucher:
* The tight grip on the dusty, jagged, steep stairs of Angkor Wat as I did my best to fight my fear of heights on my way up and then back down
the structure.
* Sweat pouring down my face at all times and clothes soaked in sweat by midday.
* The Angkor dust covering my body and caked onto my feet at the end of each day.
* The bumping and jostling of my body during a tuktuk or moto ride.
* Feeling soft silk through the stages of its production process at a local silk farm.
* The hands of the little naked blind boy living with his family at the side of the Tonle Sap River as I tried to play Patty Cake with him, relying on the only game I could think of that didn't require sight or words.
L'odorat
They say that smell is the sense that is most closely related to memory. I don't know if I'll ever find quite this combination of smells and odours in many other places, but if so, they will surely bring back very vivid memories. Derriere le melange d'odeurs du Cambodge:
* Fish markets.
* Curry.
* Garbage on the streets and covering fields in the country.
* Black exhaust from old, beat-up vehicles.
* Sweat... Mine and others'.
* Sunscreen, insect repellent, more sunscreen.
Le gout
Every meal I had in Cambodia was excellent. Much of the Khmer cuisine is similar to that of neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam, but accented with local herbs, produce and fish. Les gouts qui sont demeures graves dans ma memoire:
* Amok... The most famous of Khmer dishes, amok has delicious blends of curry, fish, and local herbs, served in banana leaf.
* Gin and tonic... Maybe not specifically Cambodian, but on my first night, as I ate by myself at a local Siem Reap restaurant, my first time trying both amok and a gin and tonic was extremely good. Moreover, it reminded me of my sister, Dore, my Cambodian inspiration, and my brother, Levi, who loves his G&T and whose own attempt at solo Southeast Asian travel encouraged me to try it out for myself. (I miss you two so much.)
* Lemongrass... a common herb used in the area.
* Freshwater fish.
* Banana pancakes... Mmmmmm!
* Fruit shakes.
* Water, water, water.
L'emotion
My heart was both breaking and smiling, all at the same time. My mind was constantly filled with contradictions. Describing them is difficult, as one emotion seems to bring about
five new thoughts, and then another five emotions each. It's traveling, it's watching, it's learning, it's empathizing, it's discovering. Voici les sentiments et les questions qui ont tellement occupe mon esprit:
* Compassion and an attempt at understanding the poverty among the Cambodian people.
* Trying to recognize and differentiate between poverty and the culture of a Southeast Asian non-industrial society.
* Wanting to help the kids who asked for money to go to school, but knowing the unfortunate truth that most of the kids won't get there.
* Wondering what the best ways to help really are.
* Trying to understand that the family situation requires many kids to be peddling instead of in school.
* Feeling the sadness of knowing how small most contributions are in the grand scheme of things, but knowing that it's the right thing to do to help people in any way possible anyway.
* Enjoying the beauties of the Angkor temples, while fighting past crowds as we all trample over these amazing structures.
* Seeing the awful effects of landmines on soldiers and civilians, but feeling hope that Mr. Aki Ra and the people at his landmine museum are making a difference
in eliminating the dangers of landmines and helping victimes all over the country.
* Seeing the ground and water pollution with garbage lying everywhere, but being happy not to see or smell any monstrous, polluting factories.
* Learning about the devastating history of Cambodia, and seeing how happy and helpful the Khmer people are in the face of a new chance.
Les sens qui reveillent mes pensees, mon esprit. Mon coeur qui brise, mais qui sourit en meme temps.
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Rob Schimnosky
non-member comment
Cambodge
Hey, Been a while since I visited your blog . . . just got back from 6 days in Cambodge (3 in Phnom Penh, 3 in Siem Riep) . . . neat to see some of the same pictures/experiences that we had!