Gazing West: April 2012

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Cambodia: Pictures!

General Cambodia Album

Temple Time

Cambodian Pajama Fashion

Cambodian Metal Work

Khmernglish

Cambodia: A Love (or Lack Thereof) Story

Inquiring minds want to know...what lies ahead for James and I? It's likely quite clear by now... James either wasn't interested in beginning a relationship at all, or he wasn't interested in beginning one with me. We talked a couple of times about what was going on between us. I had trouble knowing if he even liked me or not, let alone if he had any interest in me as a potential partner.

He said he liked me, thought I was great/amazing, etc. but just "wasn't into public displays of affection." Mind you, I wasn't looking to make out in public - I'm not into that either. I would have liked to make out more in private though. And in public, I'd like my someone to reach for my hand, to take my picture without me looking when it was a good or cute one, to put an arm around me, to look me in the eye and say, "Happy Birthday Baby", to prefer my company over a Facebook group on the iPhone, to tell me I look pretty, to rub my shoulders, and have me know - for sure - that I'm liked, loved, wanted, needed, and cared for. I deserve that, all of that, and more.

Now I'm not saying I was hoping James was the one. I was just hoping for a good time together and if more developed between us, fabulous. In the end, much fun was had, and I did fall in love......with Cambodia :-)

Floating Village & Saying Goodbye

After visiting the overgrown temple, Beng Mealea, we decided to continue on for the afternoon to visit a fishing village, then a floating village. It was extra time in the heat and extra money, but I'm so glad we went to see a bit of life outside the cities.

The heat and humidity is stifling, and it seemed everywhere people were working through it. We seemed to be welcomed as most smiled at us. I got more opportunities to bond with folks as they pointed at my leg, and I simply said: "Moto". "Ahhhhhh" was always the response.


Putting poisonous fish on sticks: all-day-long-every-day.		We practiced her smile first.

I took a few pictures with the kids, and always showed them the screen for endless giggling.

Lakehouse!

Authentic Vietnamese Coffee, delivered.

We made our way to a boat, and started down the river toward the floating village - a community of mostly Vietnamese who simply live on the lake. Presumably they came during the war and never went back. The government just overlooks it. I can't imagine what day-to-day life would be like out there. Sheesh, with the heat and the murky water, I don't know how they stand it.

As always, people are very enterprising and industrious. We saw a boat delivering groceries, and another, a mobile coffee shop of sorts. She paddled over and served up several *delicious* iced Vietnamese coffees. We tried not to fuss over where the ice came from, and just enjoyed our sweet condensed milk and coffee goodness.

After a very long day of touring, James and I headed back for the evening. In the morning we'd be boarding a bus to Phnom Penh and our last night together.

Back in the big city, we checked in to a lovely hotel as a special treat. We took care of some essentials....hair cut on the side of the street for James, mani/pedis for us both, and some last minute shopping. I was definitely starting to get mopey. I wasn't ready to leave! Thought it felt like I'd been there for a while already, it also seemed like I was just settling in.

We had a pleasant dinner and made a quick stop at the famed bar, "Heart of Darkness". Sadly, there was no salaciousness to report.

The morning brought a sweetness from James I had been looking for all along. But alas, it was time to say goodbye.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

On Ruins and History

Looking up at the main temple.

I cannot claim to be a Ruins fanatic; I’ve only run around Tikal in Guatemala and Tulum near Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. I am glad that I have some perspective, however, as to what other cultures were up to around the time that Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples were being built. I did a quick Wikipedia search. Tikal was coming up between the 2^nd and 9^th centuries, and Tulum sometime in the 12^th century. Across the ocean, Khmer Architecture was being erected also in the 12^th century in the greater Angkor Wat area. Where it seems scale was mostly the goal in Central America, a combination of scale and ornate detail seems to be the standard in SE Asia.

Look at how 3D it is!

First, the sheer size of the COMPLEX is mind boggling. For Angkor Wat alone (not counting surrounding complexes and structures), the outer wall is 1024 x 802 meters. That's roughly 3072 x 2406 ft.! The levels within the walls are terraced, and the central temple rises 65 meters above the ground (195 ft.). They say the stones for the complex came from some 30 km away. That's a lot of stone carrying. Each stone has holes in it so people could put presumably bamboo poles through it to be carried. Then you start looking closer and you see all the detail that is seemingly every flat surface. Everywhere is painstakingly chiseled with deep and ornate designs, often telling stories about life then, or legends, or honoring Buddha. I couldn't help but think about the people making everything. Imagine, you're **soo** close to finishing one little bit, and oh shit, you just accidentally knocked Buddha's hand off or something, so you have to start again. AHH!! When there wasn't the deep carvings, there would be these long panels of polished and chiseled stone telling of some epic battle. It's all just unfathomable. AND, this is only ONE temple complex. Angkor Wat kind of gets all the glory.....the picturesque sunrise/sunset, ease of access being basically in Siem Reap city, etc. There are loads of these temples all over the place. One of the most interesting bits of information, I thought, was that the temples went back and forth between being Buddhist and Hindu, based on whoever was in charge at that time. I had to laugh....thinking of the Hindi people coming along saying, "Heeyyy, wow, look at this temple....looks great! Let's move in!" rather than being fussy about having their own. Hell, that's what I woulda done.

There were tons of these crazy long hallways.

Probably my favorite temple was the Bayon temple - the one with all the faces. Roughly 216 if you're countin.

But to get your Indiana Jones on, you have to visit Beng Mealea - a temple 77k from Siem Reap. It is overgrown with jungle and toppled over in places as it was used as stronghold in a war (Vietnam?) If you're daring you can hop around the boulders and amuse the Japanese tourists who are taking your picture. :-)

Our guide was great - telling us all about the history of the structures, the stories depicted on the walls, pointing out good photo ops, and being ever concerned with my wounded leg.

My disgust with the human race was hard to ignore, though, as most of the statues we saw were either headless, or fakes in an attempt to dissuade people from taking the heads. One was removed even a week before, as our guide had seen it the last time he was there! "Is there not security at night?" I asked. "Oh yes, there is security. But it was probably one of them." Bleh. Other damage was inflicted by the good ole U S of A during the Vietnam war, as we littered Cambodia with bombs from the sky. Why? Why? Why????