Friday 16th November 2007
Blah, blah, blog…
It is hard work keeping this blog thing up. It takes much more energy than I had first thought.
The last few weeks have been pretty full. I have been trying to see things and get things done before I return. At work I have been a little frustrated trying to organise training for staff. I keep having to change times because there is something else on and I am worried I might run out of time.
A couple of weeks ago I hired a car took my counterpart, Nary, her daughters and another friend from work, Arun on a weekend visit to Kratie. We went primarily so I could visit a friend of mine and to see the fresh water dolphins that live in the Mekong river near Kratie. Don’t worry I didn’t try to eat them. They are funny little creatures – they have a fat round head and they slip up through the brown muddy waters of the river. According to Khmer folklore a snake ate a princess and they combined to become a dolphin. Still it doesn’t explain how there came to be more than one. Did the snake/princess mate with herself? Another snake? Another Princess? I was feeling a bit hairy after having had quite a few drinks the night before with my friend Larissa, so it was struggle to really enjoy the boat ride out to see the dolphins. But it was still good.
We also went to visit ‘the pagoda of one hundred poles’ which is, well, a pagoda with one hundred poles in and around it. There is another Princess buried at the pagoda. But this one was eaten by a crocodile. I tell you – it just ain’t safe being a princess in Cambodia – everything trying to eat you. But, unlike the folk lore this princess actually was eaten by a crocodile – she was bathing one day and it snapped her up. The Kings guards chased it across three provinces and caught it near Kratie where they cut it open and retrieved the princess. Too late though, she was well dead and I doubt that she looked quite as beautiful as she did in the pictures when she came out of the croc.
On the way back to town from the pagoda we went to visit a pagoda on top of a hill. The landscape around Kratie is very different to that around Kampong Thom. Where Kampong Thom is really flat, around Kratie it is quite hilly. It kind of sits at the start of the mountain range that spread up through eastern Cambodia and into Vietnam. So the view from the top of the mountain was quite beautiful.
On the way back from Kratie we visit a number of other places to break up the journey, including a temple in Kampong Cham and a dam in Kampong Thmor.
Oh, and last weekend I went to see a couple of other temple. I think they are pretty well known
– they are called Angkor Watt or something. Actually Angkor Watt is only one temple, there are heaps of other sets of temples around it. Anyhow, it was a (another) long weekend last weekend, so I decided to pull my finger out and go up the road to see Angkor. I got up really early to see the sun rise and in vain hope of avoiding the crowds.
When I got to Angkor there were hundred of people just quietly standing about, facing the temple, watching for the sun rise. It was quite a surreal experience. As I cut through the crowd, in the early dawn light, heading into the temple I had the sense of leaving humanity. Because everyone was outside watching the sun rise, the temple itself was almost empty which was even spookier. At one point I found myself in a dark chamber and turned to see a huge figure in the doorway – it was a statue, but it was enough to send a shiver up my spine. It is amazing that the temples are so well preserved and you can walk all over them still. After Angkor I headed out to have breakfast and watch the sun come up of the Bayon Temple. Bayon was spires with four faces looking in each direction. I watched the shadows grow shorter across the faces as the sun went up. I spent the seven hours roaming about all the temples, and still did not see them all. It is huge, leafy and peaceful (away from the crowds). My favourite temple was Preah Kahn. It is pretty badly ruined in parts, with ancient trees growing up through the brick work (the temple with the tree growing out of it, from the movie ‘Tomb Raider’ is another temple and while more spectacular, it wasn’t my favourite), but the etchings are really well preserved.
After roaming around Angkor I met up with Lainie. We had planned do some other things around Siem Reap, but I got really sick and had to spend most of the weekend in the bathroom expelling fluids violently from every orifice in my body. Truly disgusting. Oh well, if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger. It better.
And so the seasons change and so does the landscape. The rice fields are turning yellow as the rice matures for harvest. Much of the ground water has turned stagnant and is blanketed with algae. The dust from the road clouds the air as motos and cars rush by. Mangoes have started to appear in the tree branches and the climate is cool. The other day I thought it was quite cold on my way to work. When I got to the office I found that it was 28. Clearly, I am getting use to the heat.
Over the month of November people make donations to the monks and pagodas. There are lots of small festivals. I have been invited by my boss to go out to Sandan for the weekend to participate in a festival out there. I am lead to believe there will be partying and dancing. No doubt there will be loud speakers and bad music too. Sandan is pretty much the middle of no where – there is no electricity or running water and I am going to have to sleep under the stars in a hammock. Should be fun.
Take care
Erin
Blah, blah, blog…
It is hard work keeping this blog thing up. It takes much more energy than I had first thought.
The last few weeks have been pretty full. I have been trying to see things and get things done before I return. At work I have been a little frustrated trying to organise training for staff. I keep having to change times because there is something else on and I am worried I might run out of time.
A couple of weeks ago I hired a car took my counterpart, Nary, her daughters and another friend from work, Arun on a weekend visit to Kratie. We went primarily so I could visit a friend of mine and to see the fresh water dolphins that live in the Mekong river near Kratie. Don’t worry I didn’t try to eat them. They are funny little creatures – they have a fat round head and they slip up through the brown muddy waters of the river. According to Khmer folklore a snake ate a princess and they combined to become a dolphin. Still it doesn’t explain how there came to be more than one. Did the snake/princess mate with herself? Another snake? Another Princess? I was feeling a bit hairy after having had quite a few drinks the night before with my friend Larissa, so it was struggle to really enjoy the boat ride out to see the dolphins. But it was still good.
We also went to visit ‘the pagoda of one hundred poles’ which is, well, a pagoda with one hundred poles in and around it. There is another Princess buried at the pagoda. But this one was eaten by a crocodile. I tell you – it just ain’t safe being a princess in Cambodia – everything trying to eat you. But, unlike the folk lore this princess actually was eaten by a crocodile – she was bathing one day and it snapped her up. The Kings guards chased it across three provinces and caught it near Kratie where they cut it open and retrieved the princess. Too late though, she was well dead and I doubt that she looked quite as beautiful as she did in the pictures when she came out of the croc.
On the way back to town from the pagoda we went to visit a pagoda on top of a hill. The landscape around Kratie is very different to that around Kampong Thom. Where Kampong Thom is really flat, around Kratie it is quite hilly. It kind of sits at the start of the mountain range that spread up through eastern Cambodia and into Vietnam. So the view from the top of the mountain was quite beautiful.
On the way back from Kratie we visit a number of other places to break up the journey, including a temple in Kampong Cham and a dam in Kampong Thmor.
Oh, and last weekend I went to see a couple of other temple. I think they are pretty well known
– they are called Angkor Watt or something. Actually Angkor Watt is only one temple, there are heaps of other sets of temples around it. Anyhow, it was a (another) long weekend last weekend, so I decided to pull my finger out and go up the road to see Angkor. I got up really early to see the sun rise and in vain hope of avoiding the crowds.When I got to Angkor there were hundred of people just quietly standing about, facing the temple, watching for the sun rise. It was quite a surreal experience. As I cut through the crowd, in the early dawn light, heading into the temple I had the sense of leaving humanity. Because everyone was outside watching the sun rise, the temple itself was almost empty which was even spookier. At one point I found myself in a dark chamber and turned to see a huge figure in the doorway – it was a statue, but it was enough to send a shiver up my spine. It is amazing that the temples are so well preserved and you can walk all over them still. After Angkor I headed out to have breakfast and watch the sun come up of the Bayon Temple. Bayon was spires with four faces looking in each direction. I watched the shadows grow shorter across the faces as the sun went up. I spent the seven hours roaming about all the temples, and still did not see them all. It is huge, leafy and peaceful (away from the crowds). My favourite temple was Preah Kahn. It is pretty badly ruined in parts, with ancient trees growing up through the brick work (the temple with the tree growing out of it, from the movie ‘Tomb Raider’ is another temple and while more spectacular, it wasn’t my favourite), but the etchings are really well preserved.
After roaming around Angkor I met up with Lainie. We had planned do some other things around Siem Reap, but I got really sick and had to spend most of the weekend in the bathroom expelling fluids violently from every orifice in my body. Truly disgusting. Oh well, if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger. It better.
And so the seasons change and so does the landscape. The rice fields are turning yellow as the rice matures for harvest. Much of the ground water has turned stagnant and is blanketed with algae. The dust from the road clouds the air as motos and cars rush by. Mangoes have started to appear in the tree branches and the climate is cool. The other day I thought it was quite cold on my way to work. When I got to the office I found that it was 28. Clearly, I am getting use to the heat.
Over the month of November people make donations to the monks and pagodas. There are lots of small festivals. I have been invited by my boss to go out to Sandan for the weekend to participate in a festival out there. I am lead to believe there will be partying and dancing. No doubt there will be loud speakers and bad music too. Sandan is pretty much the middle of no where – there is no electricity or running water and I am going to have to sleep under the stars in a hammock. Should be fun.
Take care
Erin
