nature rules

ta prohm

Angkor Wat

more from Angkor Wat

angkor wat album

Sunrise

The sunrise at Angkor Wat is famous, the crowds head for it, you have to have the desire to wake up 3.30am to actually catch it in its entirety....and its all worth it. I would do it again, everytime I went.

the clicking competition

more of the Clicking mania at Bakheng

Phnom Bakheng

They say Phnom Bakheng is a circus. There aren’t any animals or magicians, but there’s still a crowd. The performance we have all come to see is by that old trickster, the sun. Here he sets on one side of the hill, as you stand atop it in the middle of a temple that goes entirely unnoticed. On the east side of the hill is the other act, the biggest draw of them all in this country. If you peer across the people and the considerable distance hard enough, you can make out Angkor Wat. The sun, admittedly, was quite gorgeous, but people-watching made for much better tourism here- not in the least because there were so many of them.

Next: pics of the photo-rush at Bakheng.

Siem Reap in numbers

days/nights in Siem Reap : 5
times awake before sunrise : 2
sunsets seen : 3
hours in/around Angkor : 13+12+14=39
shortest day (hours) : 15
longest day (hours) : 21
hottest during stay : 38 C
days it rained : 1 (when we were asleep)
types of transport : 1

temples seen : 13
bas-reliefs, carvings : countless
giant faces in stone : don’t know
awe-inspiring trees seen : countless

baguettes eaten : 16
pizzas eaten : 6
amok eaten : 1
khmer curries/soups/dishes : 9
instances breathless with chilly : 0
kinds of fruit consumed : 4
beers consumed-small/large : 9/7
brands of beer : 4
sugarcane juice : 5

no. of phone calls made : 0
no. of times net accessed : 0
minutes spent watching tv : 1 (violence at Roma v ManU match on big screen at a bar)
interesting people met : 6
photos taken : 1534 !
videos shot : 4

all USD
room rate : $15
cheapest food item : $0.25 (1000r)
most expensive food item : $6
cheapest beer (can) : $0.75
most expensive beer (can) : $1.5
cheapest thing bought : $0.5
most expensive thing bought : $7

the rest of Day 1

by D
It takes absolutely ages to get out of the airport. But that doesn’t change our mood. Coz yay – we’re traveling!

The tuk tuk sent by our guest house (free of charge) is waiting for us outside. The driver introduces himself. His name is Map. That’s right – Map. In retrospect, the tuk tuk was a great way to travel through Siem Reap. Maybe not too ideal in the rainy season. But perfect otherwise. It is far cheaper than a car and you have the wind in your face all the time. You can look all around you and everyone gets a good window seat! The ride to the guesthouse took us through dusty, dry land… but the breeze was cool so we couldn’t complain. Our eyes squinting in the sun were taking it all in. A lot of it reminded me of India. Mainly the dust!

We get to guest house. Say hello to Michael Gutmeyer (the manager). Unpack our luggage. (will tell you some other time how manic I am about unpacking – even if it is for a couple of hours at a place!!!!) and then we decide to catch a snooze before heading out. The snooze is about two hours long and we wake up just before noon! All woozy and hungry we decide to head out immediately for something interesting to eat.

Which is what we did. Eat something interesting I mean. I will leave it at that. This is too public a forum to discuss details.

The sun was bright and happy and shiny by then and it was way too hot for us to do anything so so walked back to the guesthouse. Which by the way , was just 5 minutes away from “bar street” the place to eat, drink and hang out…

We woke up a bit more refreshed and left at 4.30 to buy our 3 day pass for Angkor and also catch a bonus sunset, as our 3 days were going to start only the next day but we could be allowed in to the complex to see the temples if we wanted.

Our pass was bought and a temple was chosen for the sunset. The trek up was long and tiring. I think the sun set was pretty. Pics say the rest.

The sun set and we trekked back down with the rest of the crowd. Got back to the guesthouse (I seem to be saying that a lot don’t I?) got cleaned up and then we were out for dinner. The plan was to wake up really early the next day so we weren’t too keen to stay up too late. So we crashed and put two alarms in two separate devices to make sure we wake up on time. At 3.30am. And leave on time. At 4.30am. We do wake up on time. In fact, we are so enthusiastic (read “insane”) that we wake up 3 / 4 times through the night to look at the time. In fact I remember A shaking me rather hard at one point and mumbling “wake up D. wake up. You get ready first.” I stumble out of bed and realize its 12 &%*$ing 30.

Oh well. That was day 1.

the bug has bitten

by D
I love traveling with A. Possibly more than I love watching movies with him. But, maybe not more than eating with him. Siem Reap was meant to be a short break. A break from working hard and our everyday existence. And that’s what it was - a short break. Let me rephrase that – it was wayyyyyyy too short. We were back before we knew it… and now we are writing about it.

The day before a trip is always frantic. And the Saturday before our early morn (6am) Sunday flight was just that. Frantic and chaotic. There was general cleaning up of the house to be done (A’s mum was coming to stay with us 2 days after we were going to be back from Cambodia), couple of hours at the office to rush through, drinks to be had with a dear friend (in town just for a few days) and of course packing. And may I just add that the previous night had been way too long for me (and A – separately though!) and my head and body were trying to recover from all that through the day.

Ok this is getting really boring. Fast forward to the night. We did whatever we had to do and finally managed to get into bed at 1.30 am. Only to wake up at 3.30. We got to the airport on time and checked in and walked around like zombies. But super excited zombies. We were off traveling! Yay!

The flight was drowsy and uneventful. We got to Siem Reap Airport at about 8ish. And A took some pictures… something that he did a lot of over the next couple of days…

(to be contd...)

we're back

...from a fulfilling, different, very hot and really memorable trip.

Freedom

The numerous streets and lanes in old Chiang Mai. None of them seem particularly crowded. It isn’t really high season, and the feel is a little mellow. We cruise through them all on our bike (scooter), with no particular place to go, waiting for something to catch our fancy.

We stop at it the second time we pass it. The first time we noticed how bright and colourful it was, and how empty. In fact, totally empty. Now we stop anyway (or because of that?), and step into a bar that’s about the size of our living room.

His hair falls untidily till his shoulders. He shuffles his scraggy self across to us with a beaming smile, nodding his welcome. We have the solitary beer that we said we would. We chat with Selly, as music from the 70s plays. I ask what else he has to listen to, and he tells me to take my pick. That would be a DVD on Woodstock.



Selly says “Freedom” very often; only sometimes because he is referring to his bar, which is called the Freedom Bar. Subdued lighting complements its bright colours, which- almost needless to say- are red, yellow and green. There are Bob Marley images everywhere, and it almost seems natural that the owner looks a bit like the icon. When we leave, he gives us Freedom Bar stickers. I can’t get over how much he keeps grinning, and its not the foolish, insincere kind.

Two nights later its our last night in Chiang Mai. After bar hopping by the river, we’re back in the old city, cruising, looking for somewhere to have our last few beers. We see the Freedom Bar from afar, we notice that it is buzzing with people, and we’re glad about that- we’re not really thinking of stopping. But as we approach the bar, Selly stumbles out the door. His grin is exactly where we had left it the other day, his arms outstretched, wildly gesturing for us to stop. I brake, and stop almost at his feet. He greets us like long lost friends, and before we know it we are inside Freedom Bar.

The rest of the night is spent with Selly and a few of his pals. There’s Anna the pretty Scottish-Thai girl, Joe(?) the madly friendly Muslim guy who sells jewellery, even in India; there’s Meow (yes, like the cats), who works double jobs and has taken an off night from waitressing; Anna’s silent and almost surly boyfriend who bartends most of the night. There’s the tall, silent, odd friend who arrives from Pai (after Selly disappears for half an hour to pick him up). Its more like being at a party than a bar- we even help around with a couple of orders from customers!



Selly‘s had a few beers as well. His English isn’t the best, so his jaunty “Freedom!” sometimes serves as a “hello”, or a “cheers”, even a “can I bum a cigarette?”. It also serves as “bye”, when we’re leaving at about 4am. By then we have been handed a couple of Freedom Bar lanyards (for a tiny setup he sure has his merchandising organised!), emails IDs, and the name of a bar in Ko Phangan- that’s where we are headed- at which we can meet Meow’s boyfriend…of sorts.
But that is another story.

thailand in numbers-2

meals in Thailand : 29
salads consumed : 6
instances breathless with chilly : 10, at the very least
kinds of fruit consumed : 2
bugs eaten : 2
sticky rice eaten : 1
beers consumed : 53 +/-
thai whisky consumed : 600ml

frightful flights

A funny, if hope-it-never-happens sort of piece.

...ireland

When I was young, I started- courtesy my brother- listening to The Chieftains. Mostly this lovely album that I have not tired of to this day, nor do I ever expect to. Recently, I found myself with a couple of albums of The Dubliners . They found their way onto my ipod.

More often that not, when I listen to them, I can't help but notice I am being moved or affected in some way or the other. To fall back on an unlikely cliche, it seems like they are... well, calling out to me. My desire to go to Ireland has increased many fold in recent months, in no small measure thanks to their quirky songs. Its almost like I expect to land in Dublin one day and be greeted by jolly, funny or melancholic music played by a folk band amidst red cheeked men and women and pints of beer. I know that is being cliched and silly, which is why I almost expect it.

As if to remind me of my myopic thoughts, I saw today an episode of Lonely Planet Six Degrees, set in Dublin. It stated at the outset its attempt would be to discover the 'new Dublin', transformed, as it has apparently been, in the last decade or so. What followed was fascinating at many levels, including one thread on the uprising of 1916 and how it was a seminal time in Irish history.
What it did not have- not one, fleeting minute of- was Irish folk music.

Oh, well. I suppose I must discover it for myself.

Siam Snapshot- deadly street tom yam

Siam Snapshot- leaf& flame

Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai