More temples .... amidst the rural Cambodian countryside

Some of the carvings at Banteay Srei temple walls


Rice growing by the roadside .... I had never seen an actual rice grain "in the wild" so I had to take a picture!!! :)

















Rural home near Angkor
Thom

Loved my motor bike tuk tuk driver, Lok .... he was one of the happiest people I have ever met .... greeted me with a big grin his first day, and came by every day thereafter for my excursions to the temples and old quarter of Siem Reap ..... Here are various scenes from the rural roads going to Angkor Thom, Banteay Srei, Preah I Ko, Bayon,, and Prohm Temples

My time here in Cambodia was short and often overshadowed by the news of the bridge collapse in Phnom Penh
where over 400 people lost their lives, most of them young people, celebrating at the Water Festival and dragon boat races. It was all such innocent fun and sad to end in such tragedy .... basically human panic caused the problem ..... too many celebrating on the bridge ..... the cables gave away, and people panicked. When my guide Leda and driver Vanna picked me up at the airport, I sensed a great sadness in them ..... the dear couple had just heard of the tragedy and wanted to spare me the pain of hearing about it ..... they wanted me only to have a pleasant time in Siem Reap and hence, kept the news from me. They, like the Vietnamese, are so gentle and kind. Of course, they do not know my penchant for locating English translated newspapers every morning ..... I like to keep abreast of local news always ..... ever since Brian and I were stranded in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia almost forty years ago, on the day of a palace coup .... we had no idea what was going on, and had a hard time getting out of the country at the time, given the huge military presence everywhere and all foreigners and diplomats trying to leave at the same time .... yes, it is a good idea to know what is going on locally, wherever you are in the world!!

The Temples of Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Pictures are worth a thousand words ..... enough said!








The main temple of Angkor Wat

Lake Tonle Sap, Cambodia

Never thought I would be coming to Cambodia, but here I am!




Nothing quite prepared me for the river scene at Lake Tonle Sap .... it leads to the largest fresh water lake in South East Asia, varying in size greatly during the wet season and growing to 10,000 square km. ..... To get to the lake, we motor along a little floating village .... the poverty here is permeable .... fishing provides the main food source for the people of this little village on the water! The condition of the water is a tad shocking ..... garbage floats everywhere and the water is brown from refuse as much as from silt ..... I can only hope the people living here have the means to reach the large lake further upstream to fish, where the waters at least were blue and the lake is huge, but sadly, the garbage follows one everywhere! Education is needed in this regard it seems, as this is the situation unfortunately, in just about every country I find myself in ...

For the inhabitants living in this floating town .... their toilets are perched behind the houses, holes, basically that go right into the water! I saw children swimming very near the toilet of their home .... made me absolutely cringe .... the smells alone were beyond belief ..... I wanted the boat trip to end .... this reaction was unprecedented on this whole trip .... it was so gut wrenching, that I just wanted out, period!! ...... I cannot believe that anyone should have to live in these conditions in our world today!!! .... I thought the sea gypsies of Thailand live a sad existence ... it is nothing compared to the conditions of the people of Tonle Sap. I am appalled that the government of Cambodia is doing nothing to help this village. My guide Leda and driver Vanna assured me that there is a review of their situation currently underway. Please please let me believe that, and hope that perhaps an arm of the charitable organization that Gates and Buffet have formed will have this little village in Cambodia on their radar! I will keep abreast via email of the situation. Most children hop on little boats, hoping to attract the attention of tourists cruising through ...... with snakes wrapped around their necks, of course they catch our attention ...... their only English consists of "Miss, dollah for picture" .... the little girl I photographed is only two years old; she was very tiny! These dollars we give them, help to purchase fresh produce from town. I saw many people in the floating village with all manner of skin diseases, eye infections .... little wonder given the conditions, that the life expectancy in this village is very low ....

Yes, I have arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia, home to Angkor, the ancient capital of the Khmer Empire. Angkor Wat is beyond a doubt, one of the most magnificent wonders of the world and an amazing archaeological site. It is located in the hot and humid dense jungle in Western Cambodia, bordering, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The carvings on most of the temples are mix of Hindu gods and Buddhist art, although the primary religion now is Buddhism.

The people are a curious mix, in my mind at least, of Thai and East Indian .... they too are a gentle and kind people, very open and welcoming. There is a lingering certain sadness in the air, however .... given the brutal history of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot's murder of over two million of his own people! It is a country struggling to develop some form of economic growth and tourism is a main source of income .... yearly, millions come to visit what is known as the single largest religious monument in the world ..... the literal translation of Angkor Wat is "The City which is a Temple" ..... the temple tops resemble lotus buds .... it takes hours and hours ..... days, really to explore all the varied temples and I will make my attempt this week!

Bac Ha, Trung Do Village and Tay villagers

Scene at Trung Do Village

Back in Sapa later that day ... main street!

View at lake in Sapa .... I have seen these swan boats in every lake in Vietnam!! Quyen said they are for honeymooners :)

Walking through Tay villages, which are usually set up at a foot of a mountain, or along a stream ... hence, the villages are generally named after a mountain, a field or river :)

Stopped to take a boat ride on the Chay River

Street scene in Trung Do village ... we walked past this lady with her water buffalo

Corn drying in front of a home in Trung Do

Fields we walked along

More scenes on streets of Trung do

Lady in village doing her laundry :)

Someone across from her shampooing his hair .... a mid day bath in the heat :) He smiled as I walked by.

Serene scenes in the field

Our path back to find our driver Nam to take us back to Sapa .... a peaceful country road, where we ran into the two ladies in front of us .... they were coming back from a wedding, a two hour walk away ..... these are usually morning affairs and very casual .... they had wedding clothing in bags they carried. Nice to have Quyen around to always translate these little tidbits for me :)

Road we drove on to get to Can Cau market early that morning :) Kind of rivals the flooded, muddied roads I was on outside of Dalat with the Australians!!

Aahhh, just a wonderful finish to my time in Vietnam ..... Sapa and the villages of the minorities!
Vietnam ...... I will miss your beautiful and ancient pagodas, your serene yet rugged mountains, lush, fertile green valleys, rivers teeming with fish, terraced rice fields, the long languid beaches of Danang, the mountain retreat of Dalat, historical cities like Hanoi, Hoi An, Hue, Saigon, your many many World Unesco heritage sights, and yes, even the crazy motor bike scenes and traffic congestion in Hanoi and Saigon, my lovely students at NBK School and the wonderful teachers I will always call my friends, the beautiful children at Nha Trang Orphanage who captured my heart as surely as anyone has, aaahh, the tasty pho, slurped and devoured with gusto at sidewalk stool cafes, hotels, restaurants, in fact wherever I found pho and being the national dish, it is available everywhere!!! and oh yes, Cha ca la vong!! .... and trekking in the the ethnic minority back country of Sapa area, the lovely lovely Black Hmong, Tay and Red Dao people I met along the way ...... Oh Vietnam, a country said to be obscured in the mists of time and legend ........ survivor of many foreign invasions and civil wars, but stands today, tall, proud, intact and strong despite so much devastation through the ages .... Yes, a people strong and proud, but oh, so gentle, kind, giving, caring! It is the people of the country who I fold to my heart and take with me as my most beloved souvenir. So hard to say goodbye to a country that touched and opened my heart ...... Troi oi, but you are a beautiful in every way!! Tam Biet my lovely Vietnam .....