Ancient Kingdoms -- Cambodia

This is a continuation of Ann’s description of her “Ancient Kingdoms” trip to SE Asia.  For the first entry covering Thailand, click here, and for the second entry covering Laos, click here

Feb. 7th to Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The next day we were on a one hour flight to Phnom Penh, the largest city as well as the political, economic, and cultural center of Cambodia. The kingdom is a constitutional monarchy but now under a sort of democracy but according to our extremely forthright new guide, Leng, elections are rigged so that the ruling power still retain corrupt people from the original Khmer Rouge, which Leng referred to as the period of the Cambodian Holocaust.  It was in Phnom Penh where almost every single person, a teacher or a tailor, were rounded up and marched to the countryside, and there they were worked or starved to death.  The city's small class of skilled or educated professionals was systematically murdered by Pol Pot's henchmen, or fled into exile. All money, homes, and possessions were confiscated and often burned and family members dispersed. Even our guide, who was 4 at the time, said his father left the house & never returned. 

Despite being liberated from the homicidal Khmer Rouge by the Vietnamese back in 1979, Phnom Penh hasn’t fully recovered. However, things are slowly improving, although roads remain shabby, traffic appeared chaotic and poverty was very evident many places we went. It appears that this institutionalized government corruption has put wealth into the hands of a new rich class who can afford the upscale restaurants and fancy hotels and naturally the increasing numbers of tourists are helping to improve the infrastructure as well as the developing economy.  And it certainly seemed as if the young men and women were grabbing life in bucketfuls to live as fast and furiously as they could.

After checking into our hotel, we enjoyed a visit to the Champey Academy of Arts, a sort of makeshift school where children ages 5 and up can attend classes in music, dance and painting for free.  The school was established to reintroduce Cambodian’s songs and movement and instruments to the next generation since all of this was totally destroyed under Pol Pot. We were treated to a dance demonstration by a group of adorable youngsters and even participated in one of their dances.

Today, February 8th, we entered into a very dark period seeing for ourselves the results of a madman let loose. It was 40 years ago that the dictator Pol Pot murdered his own countrymen in Cambodia, killing all the doctors, teachers, Buddhist monks, nuns, engineers and anyone with a degree or wealth.  His idea was to create a revolution to turn Cambodia into an agrarian style socialistic society.  He literally forced these men, women and children to relocate to the countryside to work in collective farms and forced labor projects. The combined effects of executions, forced labor, malnutrition, and poor medical care caused the deaths of approximately 25 percent of the Cambodian population. In all, an estimated 1.7 to 3 million people, of approximately a population of 7 million, died due to the policies of his three-year premiership. In 1979, after the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, Pol Pot fled to the jungles of southwest Cambodia, and the Khmer Rouge government collapsed. From 1979 to 1997, he and a remnant of the old Khmer Rouge operated near the border of Cambodia and Thailand, where they clung to power, with nominal United Nations recognition as the rightful government of Cambodia.

We were told that the war nickname “Pol Pot” was chosen from the following two words: Politique Potentielle or political potential!  The man was a pathological egomaniac, xenophobic, and determined to show up the other communist countries by his single minded goal of a pure communism on the fastest track ever achieved!  To do this, his power had to be absolute & all means justified the ends.  He slaughtered in the cruelest imaginable way to achieve his goal!  Hard to believe such a despot existed and in our recent lifetime.  If you wore eyeglasses you were jailed & killed.  He was determined to eliminate anyone he suspected of having an education!! Neighbors were tortured to expose neighbors, mostly with fabrications and lies.  Women and children ended up in one of the hundreds of killing fields.  To achieve his goal of a utopian farm nation, all private property was confiscated; there were no books, money, prayers or music and definitely no expression of love or sex which was strictly forbidden.  His was a paranoid drive to rid the country in the service of his anti intellectual policies so that he would have only an uneducated rural peasantry left to be indoctrinated with his "ideal" ideology.

There is so much more, but it is impossible to relate it all.  We met this morning with one of the last two survivors of the Tuol Sleng Prison where only seven people of the 16,000 imprisoned there came out alive after being repeatedly tortured, starved and shackled in their cells. Mr. Chum Mey, a man 85 years old who lived through the Khmer Rouge, the darkest time in his country was blindfolded, his hands tied behind his back and accused of being a CIA operative, a lie told by a neighbor.  He spent only four months in prison cell #22 but during that time suffered a broken finger from attempting to defend himself during beatings.  He had his toenails pulled out and was tortured with electric shocks placed in his ears.  His wife & two children were murdered, but because he was a farmer and mechanic who could repair tractors and sewing machines, he proved useful in being able to fix typewriters in the prison where coerced confessions were recorded.  He lost six of his siblings, only his youngest brother survives. In 1979 he remarried and had six more children and now has four grandchildren.  He retired in 1993 and has written a book about his experiences called simply, Survivor.

 

I have a photo of the jail cell he was locked in for four months, shackled to the floor, before this prison was liberated by the Vietnamese.

As you can imagine, walking through Choeung Ek, one of the many killing fields used to exterminate men, women and children was extremely painful.  The murders took place in the dead of night, people having been bused to the site, digging their own graves and then being bludgeoned to death. To cover up the screams loud speakers were strategically placed in tree tops blasting music so any neighbors were unsuspecting of the crimes being committed. After walking through both the prison and killing fields, everyone had very heavy hearts, but eventually even the Cambodians are looking toward a brighter future.  This city now has a vibrant urgency to make up for the horrors & nightmare of the past. They recently built a huge casino and  are driving nice cars or riding on their motorbikes, eating out & apparently enjoying themselves.  Life is returning to Phnom Penh because it is a city of young people who have only read about or heard from their families what happened in their country but are personally untouched by it.  It is only their parents and especially their elderly relatives whose memories are still strong.  I personally will never forget seeing bones and bits of cloth rising up from the sandy floor of the killing fields and especially the killing tree, so called because that is where children were bashed to death.  The inhumanity that can exist in this world with a Hitler or a Pol Pot must never be forgotten.

Of course it was a very sad and somber group who left behind these horrific images to continue touring that day and attempt to enjoy our typical Cambodian lunch.  Afterwards we drove by air conditioned bus to the King's Palace, a very large compound which was exquisitely kept & beautifully landscaped.  The Cambodian King, King Norodom Sihamoni is a figure head only, with no power at all, a man who was a dancer & dance teacher in France, he is 62 years of age and unmarried, but currently residing in the residential portion of the Palace grounds. Here we also marveled at the extravagant Silver Pagoda, a structure with a floor which is covered with five tons of gleaming silver!  All of this manicured beauty helped lighten a most sobering day.

Now back in the hotel, I'm enjoying my cool room and trying to rest and regroup a little before joining everyone on our rooftop bar for a drink before dinner.  Several of us are having a little tourist tummy, I’ve heard the words Pepto Bismol mentioned more than once today. The temperature was over 90 degrees too, extremely hot & uncomfortable.  Not to mention such an overwhelmingly sad day, we are all feeling the effects of witnessing so much horror inflicted by one single madman.

We’re on our own for dinner again, but a group of us are crossing the street for a bite and surprisingly, it turned out that even Ole and Leng, our local guide, joined us as well and they were even more surprised when our entire group insisted on treating them to their dinners!  It was our trip leader Ole’s birthday yesterday, so we were happy to do it.  This little restaurant is run by a charitable group called Friends who take homeless boys & girls off the street & train them to be kitchen workers or waiters!  Their shirts say student or trainer on the back.  I had a grilled piece of Mekong fish with steamed white rice.  But first, fried tarantula was served as an appetizer!!  I have a great shot of it. Dinner turned out to be a really light and fun evening, but by 8:45, we were all ready to cross back over & head to our rooms or beds.  I still had to pack.

Feb. 9th, Siem Reap

We had an incredible flight, on time & smooth, landing just before lunch in Siem Reap where we will visit Angkor Wat tomorrow.  After lunch at a local Tropical restaurant, we spent over two hours in the impressive, archeological Angkor Wat Museum, which is dedicated to the collection, preservation and presentation of Angkorian artifacts. This very modern building, built just 8 years ago, houses many of the antiquities from that historic period.  Most beneficial was being able to walk around the large scale model of the Angkor temple area which provided a very useful reference prior to seeing the real thing the next day. Here we could easily observe the overwhelming size of this immense complex.  Plus, I had to admire the bountiful gift shop which was so filled with tempting items for purchase; I could have spent another two hours here just browsing and shopping!

Feb. 10th, Siem Reap

Over a million travelers visit Siem Reap every year to explore the Khmer heritage with the primary attraction being Angkor Wat and the Angkor Temple Region, which is the largest ancient religious site in the world.  Understandably, this holy city has turned into one of the world’s premier travel destinations.  The Angkor Temple Complex has been designated a UN Heritage Site and consists of hundreds of structures from the 9th to the 14th century that tell the story of the rise and fall of the Khmer empire. This vast collection of historical structures are decorated with intricately carved, priceless Khmer artwork that provides an archaeological and a pictorial history of an empire that ruled much of southeast Asia for five centuries.  And it spreads over approximately 96 square miles! These structures consist of partially renovated temples, pagoda and imperial residences including recently discovered ruins which have been virtually untouched for the past 500 years.

Basically it is impossible to do justice to the Angkor complex in the short time OAT has allotted to us and no photo can do justice to the Khmer temples or carvings.  And in fact, it is all so sprawling and breathtaking in its size and scope that no attempt to capture it properly could ever be achieved by me, that I am sure.

But here is where OAT shines and our Leader, Ole, really knows his business!  We were up again at 5:45 and had a 7:15 departure from the hotel.  Believe me when I say this wasn’t a vacation.  We needed to stop at a checkpoint, be photographed and carry a personal Angkor Pass entrance card made to be prominently worn for any inspector to see. Then we drove on to the East Gate of Angkor Wat and began our exploration there walking toward the West Gate for our departure a couple of hours later.  The best part is that we arrived there so extremely early, not only beating the hordes of people who began arriving by the droves as we were leaving, but there was still a bit of the cooling morning breeze before the heat became oppressive and nearly impossible to bear. From there, we passed through the South gate of Angkor Thom, the capital city of Khmer rulers and saw the Bayon Temple.  But don’t worry; we were still far from finished with temples that day.

Before we could barely catch our breath, we were dropped off in a nearby village, Srah Srong , very poor, but boasting a few homes recently constructed and in fairly good shape for this was where we were having our home-hosted lunch.  Many of us brought little gifts to present to our hostess who was to prepare our meal.  Here we were divided into three small groups and I ended up with Margaret, Dr. Frank, Ed, a gentlemen from VA and the artist, Hiroko.  We later found out that all three meals were identical but I believe in my heart that ours was the best!

We were lucky to have the daughter of the house assist us in communicating with her mother.  Her English was very good and so all of us were able to enjoy a lively conversation.  Prior to eating, I helped her mother prepare our dessert, Plai Ai, very traditional and sweet.  I began by placing a tiny lump of palm sugar into a small patty of glutinous rice flour and rolling it into balls for boiling in a pot of water.  They are ready when the balls float to the surface.  We began with a shredded chicken soup, followed by three stir fried dishes, a vegetable dish, a fried fish & lastly, a stir fried beef, tender & delicious. This was followed by the sweet rice balls.  We could not stop complimenting both of these very gracious women on their delicious lunch.

So now a brief return to our Angkor Paradise Hotel for a quick rest which should go without saying was sorely needed by one and all. I could hardly believe that we were shortly boarding our bus and about to see yet, another temple.  This time it was a most unusual one and although I was happy to wander through this archeological treasure, we walked and walked around and around until I thought I would fall down.  This was Ta Prohm or the Jungle Temple, so named because the ruins are buried in a dense jungle of trees and roots, discovered by the French in the 1800s, and today almost exactly as it was first unearthed.   Afterwards we found an embankment to sit on just opposite Angkor Wat to watch the sun set around it, although that evening was very overcast.  Ole and our Cambodian guide brought all of us some local snacks to enjoy (like snake and frog legs) and local wine to share in a toast.

On the long bus ride back to the hotel, a few of us decided we would attempt to go to dinner if we could still stand.  One of the choices was the Raffles Hotel, a taxi ride away or the Foreign Correspondents Club which sounded so exotic.  However, an hour later, when we were meeting downstairs for a drink, we all looked at one another and threw our hands in the air in surrender! After getting up at the crack of dawn, walking around three ancient temples in the broiling heat, miles and miles of walking, climbing and straddling over treacherous rocks and boulders, root strewn paths, up and down uneven steps every five feet, it was a miracle that no one fell down and broke their head or twisted an ankle or slipped on the rocks.  I especially felt very lucky to have escaped that day uninjured.  But we were all so beat that six of us ended up crowding around a table for four and ordering dinner in the hotel and shortly after, totally collapsing.

 

Feb. 11, Siem Reap

Still reeling from our prior exhausting day, we nevertheless were awakened at 6:30 as we were about to embark on a cruise on the Tonle Sap Lake, roughly translating to “Great Fresh Water Lake”.  This took us on a part of the Lake that eventually empties into the Mekong.  Here we went past a floating village, the inhabitants so terribly poor, (approximately 80,000 people live on the water permanently, spread over 170 floating villages) with many hundreds of families in this village, living in shack-like structures bobbing on the water, eking out a subsistence living solely by fishing.  These floating huts have no doors, no electricity, and no plumbing, only rudimentary apparatus for cooking their family meals.

Although this is the largest freshwater lake in SE Asia, it creates severe hardship for families to live in one place all year round.  The water levels drastically change in size all through the year, in the rainy season between June and October; the lake is massive, flooded with water from the Mekong River. In the dry season, from November to May, the lake shrinks to such a degree that its flow reverses to deposit water back into the Mekong.  So the poor villagers we saw actually have to move their floating “homes” four times a year, they hitch their flimsy makeshift shacks to their small fishing boats & tow their houses away so they won’t be swamped by flooding waters.  They are used to their hard lives as this is a multi generational way of life going back hundreds of years.  The little children go by boat every morning to school but only through elementary.  After that, they have to travel much farther for more schooling depending on the ambition of the child & parents, but mostly if the parents can afford it.

Unlike much of the Cambodian job opportunities, the income is also reliable, but life on the water is difficult.  Among these families, there is a high infant mortality rate and many children are orphaned or malnourished from lack of fresh fruit and vegetables. Fishermen sometimes travel two days to reach the middle of the lake and spend up to a week at a time out fishing.  Large waves, limited food and dangerous conditions take their toll. The life expectancy of a fisherman is 54 years. Still it is one of the world’s biggest inland fisheries, producing over 400,000 tons of fish and feeding over 3 million people!

 

Of course we couldn’t miss one more temple, this one still beautifully preserved and very ancient, called Banteay Srei, or Citadel of Women.  It was build in AD 967.  The temple's modern name, citadel of beauty—is probably related to the intricacy of the bas relief carvings found on the walls and the tiny dimensions of the buildings themselves.

Later, I sat in an original handmade oxcart (with totally no suspension, believe me) driven by two snorting harnessed oxen for about a fifteen minute ride on a bumpy cart path abutting a narrow canal.  At first I thought I can't do that, and as I was the last still on the bus Ole yelled over to me, "come on Ann you'll have your own wagon!"

Today, those of us who didn’t already own pants with an “elephant” design on them hurried to catch up as we all decided tonight was the night we would wear them to dinner.  And indeed that is exactly what we did, as you can see from the photo and a shot of all the women, minus one.

So tomorrow we are leaving Cambodia behind after many days of intense experiences.  It appears to me as if, as I mentioned earlier, the people are running to catch up with the pleasures denied their parents and grandparents, they are rushing as fast as their motorbikes and cars will take them, setting up roadside picnics where food is prepared all along huge stretches of highway with carpets strewn about replacing tablecloths, eating out and celebrating a renewal of life.  Although still a horribly poor country, with a life expectancy of 65, you can see construction going on all over the city and countryside with the wealth still concentrated in the hands of a very few.

Well I’m almost packed once again for our last flight tomorrow to Ho Chi Minh City, no need to put suitcases into the hall at break of dawn, and blessedly for the first time there is no need to set my clock.  We are not leaving the hotel for the airport until 11:30!  Looking forward to the last leg of the trip, Vietnam.

Ancient Kingdoms -- Laos

This is a continuation of Ann’s description of her “Ancient Kingdoms” trip to SE Asia.  For the first entry covering Thailand, click here

We flew to Luang Prabang, capital of Laos, located on a peninsula between the Mekong and Khan rivers.  This is another UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for more than 30 active temples and hundreds of architectural treasures.  On the plane, I sat next to a fascinating woman. She is American born, but currently a French citizen on her way to the hills of Laos to work at an Elephant Hospital treating sick animals.  Although she has never worked with elephants before, she is excited to be volunteering her time and Veterinarian skills for the next year or two.  I was extremely impressed by her story; temporarily leaving behind her male partner with whom she has lived for the past 15 years.

 

This is a quaint town, with many 19th century French Colonial villas as well as the more traditional Lao homes. Our Hotel, the Ang Thong, which reflects the charm of the French Colonial style, is to be our home for the next three nights. We barely have time to check in and unpack when we are off, yet again, to visit another temple (it is jokingly said that OAT means Oh no Another Temple).  This one is the Royal Temple Wat Xieng Thong.  Our mode of transportation here, rather than the ubiquitous air conditioned bus, is the Tuk Tuk.  Not easy to get into and just as hard to get out of, this is the conveyance that is allowed in Luang Prabang and we shortly all learned how to negotiate these transports without conking ourselves unconscious by slamming our heads into the steel crossbar at the top!  Then once aboard, we maneuvered our behinds across the hard seat to give room for the next passenger on these bumpy rides.  These were really meant to accommodate 6 to 8 passengers, four on either side facing one another, knees knocking into each other. Only intrepid Dr. Frank and our lovely Japanese artist, Hiroko, were in good enough shape to walk all the way into town, the rest of us definitely having to rely on the only mode of transportation left to us.  After our Temple Visit, we head to Phousi Hill which is in the center of the old town and where all the action takes place, including a night market that draws out hundreds of tourists in the evening to look over every imaginable souvenir or gift you could ever want to buy.  Here, those who wished to climbed the 328 steps to the top of this Hill for a view of Luang Prabang and the River way off in the distance did so while the rest of us were left to find a cozy sidewalk table and drink that delicious icy beer we all had grown so fond of.

The next day, Feb. 3rd, we took our Tuk Tuk to Sang Khong Village and boarded a boat for our first cruise along the amazing Mekong River past idyllic scenes of rural riverside life which took us to the Pak Ou Cave or Buddha Cave which sits among the limestone cliffs where the Mekong and Nam Ou rivers meet.  Here we climbed up rather steep steps to marvel at the more than 3,000 Buddha sculptures, some inlaid with semiprecious stones, large and small made out of every imaginable material.  Many of these Buddha images and statues have been deposited here over centuries and left undisturbed despite repeated visitors.

Once back on our ancient boat, we were served a homemade luncheon prepared by a single woman in her makeshift “kitchen” in the stern where she had the most primitive cooking apparatus. However, it was absolutely delicious, everyone marveling at the variety and taste.  On the way back to our hotel, I mentioned to Ole that I would love to have a massage and asked if he knew of a place he could recommend.  Before I knew it, a few others thought that sounded like a great idea and suddenly we had an enthusiastic group eager to join me.  We all piled into another Tuk Tuk and off we went into town where we entered a very welcoming massage parlor.  Even Ole stayed for a treatment!  We were told to remove our shoes and then each one of us had a young women bathe and dry our feet and were given lockers for our clothes and cotton robes to wear.  I went upstairs, into a very small room next to Dr. Frank, and had the most invigorating and excellent hour-long massage.  My masseuse, who actually sat on my back for part of my treatment and naturally didn’t speak a word of English, was very experienced and I left there feeling like a million bucks! That was exactly what we all needed before we met for dinner shortly afterwards.

Feb. 4 - A Day in the Life beginning with Alms Giving - Luang Prabang

We had a 5:15 wake up call for our Alms Giving day in Luang Prabang  where we hurriedly dressed  without eating breakfast and departed our hotel a half hour later.   In the dark, we were deposited in a street where child-sized chairs were lined up single file on one side of the road.  Beside each chair, we were given a small round shaped basket containing freshly cooked sticky rice as well as shown how to drape ourselves with a woven scarf over one shoulder and also removed our shoes to show respect.  We had already been carefully instructed how to view this ceremony which is part of the cultural heritage of the local Monks, where no woman may touch them and where we must maintain respectful silence during their procession.  Before they arrived and still just before the first light of dawn, we were told to hold our rice baskets near our foreheads and silently ask the Monks to pray for us when they return to the temple, to grant our own special prayers for good health and a happy and long life for our loved ones.  Then we heard several soft gongs off in the distance which signaled the beginning of their march.  As they walked past us, single file on their route through the town, we scooped out handfuls of rice with our own bare hands and placed them in as many of the Monk’s baskets as we could. There was no acknowledgement from them as they typically kept their heads and eyes looking off in the distance in almost a trance-like state.

The Monks themselves, as many as 400 living in all the many small Buddhist temples and monasteries around town, young and old, arise at 5 to chant and meditate and then participate in this ancient tradition of tak bat where originally the pious villagers primarily rose early to offer their cooked rice to the local Monks to Gain Merit and Improve their Karma.  Today, this simple and beautiful ceremony where the Monks, dressed in their saffron robes and barefoot, heads shaven, walk for miles every single morning of the year accepting handfuls of rice in large baskets hung over their shoulders to feed themselves and give leftovers to the poor, have become a big tourist attraction in recent years - for better or worse.  In our case, everyone in my group treated this touching ceremony with the solemnity it deserved, although towards the end of the procession it was sad to see a few other tourists jockeying for position to take the best camera shot possible.  I have even read where this ceremony was almost discontinued because of the discourtesy shown by ignorant tourists, behaving boorishly.

When they return to their temple, they will offer their prayers to us in return for feeding them and pray to answer our own silent requests.  Their last meal was at noon on the prior day.  They only have two meals a day, breakfast & then the noon meal.  Other food is donated to the Temples on a daily basis, so rice is not the only item for them to eat. It is often difficult for the very young ones, novices, to fast all afternoon and evening until the morning meal, so it is not unknown that a banana, crackers or a chocolate might be secreted away in their bunks to tide them over.  Once several large groups walked past us and now fully in light of day, we were able to leave our seats & baskets & continue taking photos of the next wave.

The novices who wear yellow sashes tied over their saffron robes are often as young as 8 years of age and as old as 20.  Young men will often serve as novices for as little as 3 months up to 12 years, thus gaining merit for themselves and their families, leaving the crushing poverty of their homes.  Their other chores, besides receiving Alms every day, and of course praying and meditating, are to keep the temple grounds clean and to go to school.  Here is the major advantage: the chance for a young Laotian man to obtain an education as well as living in a larger city with exposure to the outside world.  Here he will be given lessons in English, Japanese and Chinese and offered the chance to choose a major subject to study if he stays on in the temple. This is often a priceless compensation for many years of personal sacrifice.  They have not been chosen for their piety or integrity. Their common bond is one of poverty. They are freeing their family of the burden of a mouth to feed, and hoping to get an education that would otherwise be denied to them as so many come from remote villages without a school altogether. Since every single Lao boy is expected to become a novice for at least three months, many of them are just doing time, and will leave the temple as soon as they are old enough to get a job. Very few of them make it through to full Monkhood, and even most monks leave the temple eventually to follow a life and career outside of the temple. One we spoke to, in fact, was taking college courses to become a Travel Guide, a career that can be very lucrative with tourism in his country growing by leaps and bounds!

Before returning to our hotel & a belated breakfast, our Lao trip leader, known simply as "Cheers", gave each of us a slip of paper with three lines on it, all written in Lao, a Lao greeting for hello, a mystery vegetable, and Lao thank you and enough local currency (the Lao kip) to buy what was on our paper. Then he wanted us - on our own - to walk into a very crowded early morning market & negotiate our way through to buy our item by asking vendors along the way.  After several attempts at questioning various sellers, I was finally directed to a woman who knew exactly what I needed.  Two onions!  I paid her and thanked her in Lao and passed my vegetable on to Cheers who was gathering all of our ingredients for lunch later that day!

We returned to our hotel for breakfast & then off to continue what OAT calls “A Day in the Life" where we drove about 45 miles away to an extremely poor village that Grand Circle has adopted, Ban Tin Keo. There the Village elder greeted us & we strolled thru his village witnessing such sweet children's faces & warm hellos and the typical 'wai' greeting by putting palms together & fingers pointing toward the nose with a slight bow.  This was a terribly impoverished area of bamboo & thatch shacks with hard dirt floors where families of 7 and more & multi generations live, sleep & cook in one room.  Dogs sleep in the road, little children play in the dirt yards and everyone has a hardscrabble life eking out a living from the crops they grow or handicrafts they make.  On our walk through this village, we passed their only water pump that was paid for and installed by Grand Circle Foundation, the Parent Company for OAT.  We then visited a school with little children of varying ages, 5 to 8, where they study together in one classroom.

Each of us had a child who presented us with a marigold lei & then took our hand to escort us to their desk.  We sang songs & heard them recite & those of us who brought school supplies or books gave them to the teacher.  They were very dear but more than a little unwashed as were their clothes, this in extreme contrast to the very poor Indian children I met who were immaculate.  Such a contrast in standards of hygiene and both 3rd world countries!

From the school we walked, now in the blazing sun in contrast to the 55 degrees from the morning, over to a Hmong village nearby where we were invited into a one room home.  There, we had a most interesting discussion with the husband who explained his farming life now that they left the hills for their present home in this village.  This room contained a rudimentary kitchen area where food was prepared and a rear area for sleeping as well as a central area which held benches for their visitors.   Outside, we were treated to an older and very agile man playing a Hmong instrument and performing a dance as well as being offered instructions in hitting a target using a traditional Hmong cross bow, without taking off a finger in the process! Ole was very good at this and I must say all who tried it did extremely well. 

From there, we had a short walk back to the Village elders home where all of us gathered together to have a small drink of homemade whiskey (I had a sip – it was like firewater or moonshine) and enjoyed the dubious pleasure of trying a bite of fried rat.  Yes, you read that correctly, fried rat, which many said was very tasty, like chicken.  I took a pass.  Finally we saw that all of our vegetables & other ingredients we had purchased earlier at the market that morning had been washed, peeled, diced or cut up for cooking in a huge wok over an open wood fire.  Cheers called us to toss in our item, first the finely minced garlic, noodles, scallions, cilantro, my onion, and so on, 10 or 12 items, and each of us had a turn stirring everything together.  This delicious vegetable noodle dish became part of a memorable luncheon along with the ubiquitous white rice and a watercress soup along with pork steamed in a bamboo leaf and clear cellophane noodles!  Everyone raved about the feast we enjoyed in a humble man's home.

And as if we hadn’t packed enough in this day already, we walked over to a Woman's Weaving Cooperative that OAT supported.  They had brought in experienced weavers to teach the local woman how to operate the looms so they could earn money from their handicrafts.  I even sat & did a bit at the loom myself & then naturally I had to purchase one of her hand loomed items.  The charge was five dollars for a hand woven scarf. This represented 2-3 days work.

 

Now back in my room, collapsing but having a cup of hot tea & working up the courage to begin the packing process all over again as we have a short flight to the capital of Laos, Vientiane, tomorrow.  Ole is escorting a group of us at 6:00 this evening back into town to have a look at the night market & have dinner on our own.  If I didn't think I'd be hungry later (impossible to imagine after the lunch we had), I'd stay in the hotel tonight.  But no restaurant here, only breakfast!  And how could I possibly miss a meal, I ask you?   So that concludes “A Day in the Life” and one very eventful day in mine!

Feb. 5th began with a short flight to Vientiane, the Capital of Laos in the afternoon and an orientation walk to the fountain square and the Mekong River.  How about a beer and appetizer before dinner?  Fine with all of us, but who knew it was going to be Grasshopper, deep fried with Kaffir Lime Leaves?  This was greatly enjoyed by those adventurous enough to try it. 

The following day, Feb. 6th, we visited Haw Phra Keo, where the Emerald Buddha was once on display, and Wat Sisaket, the only temple which survived the Siamese War.  Here we drove past the beautiful Victory Gate, stopping for a very typical Lao lunch beginning with a soup that was out of this world.  I could have made it my main meal, containing tofu, vegetables like cabbage & celery and seaweed & mushrooms in a clear based broth.  Everyone raved about it. After lunch & of course a very large Beerlao shared as always with Margaret, we drove to the COPE Center (COPE stands for Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise). Founded in 1997, it was established for education & fundraising to help find & destroy all the thousands upon thousands of bombs the US dropped over 1/3 of the countryside in Laos which were never detonated & still main & kill hundreds every year, mostly farmers innocently tending their lands. These were bombs dropped indiscriminately along the borders with Vietnam to simply get rid of the payload as trying to return to base with heavy armaments aboard was very dangerous! 

Each of us felt devastated after watching a twenty minute documentary showing what actually happened to a Lao farmer simply lighting a fire to cook a meal for his family when suddenly the heat detonated a long hidden bomb into a fiery explosion.  He was blinded & so seriously burned over the rest of his body that he is no longer able to work to support his wife & children.  He and his wife describe what kind of life they are left with since he can’t see to even properly care for their two babies. Tragically it is the poor & guiltless Lao farmer who has been the unlucky recipient of our war efforts in Vietnam!  I asked Ole how the Lao can stand to see so many US citizens touring around their impoverished country & not feel hatred toward us.  He said simply, they are Buddhists.  And they know it was aggression from our government and not us.  What an ironic distinction.

Later that evening, a small group of us were invited to Kevin & Anne's room for a glass of wine.  They had chilled some & want to share it before we fly out to Phnom Penh in the morning. Dinner is on our own tonight, but a group of us are going to try a French Restaurant in the bustling square about a ten minute walk from the hotel.  As it turned out, twelve of the group all converged at once and sitting down to a long table, we ordered Pizza!

So off to pack again!!   We have an 8:00 wake up, luggage out at 9:00; on the bus at 9:30.  I never saw such a punctual group of people in my life.  We are now leaving Laos in the morning and flying to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia for another dose of painful reality smacking us all in the head.

Ancient Kingdoms -- Thailand

As I mentioned in an earlier entry, my wife, Ann, left on a long-ago planned three week tour with Overseas Adventure Travel to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam in late January, where – except for the hotels they stayed in – they sort of roughed it, on the go all the time, five short flights, and a tight schedule.  OAT does it right, putting together small groups for these trips and involving them with local people, their families, schools, in addition to seeing the sights. 

She wrote some very descriptive emails to me each night, which we've both edited for posting here. This is the first part, covering her adventures in Thailand.  Over time I will have three additional entries.  Unfortunately her camera was ruined so she had to use her iPhone and as she began to run out of space she emailed the photos to herself.  Because of Internet constraints and the poor quality of some pictures, I've worked with them in Photoshop and hopefully have brought out the best of what she took.

After my unforgettable adventure in India a few years ago, I thought I might be ready for another exotic trip to a part of the world I had never visited, S.E. Asia!  Although years before Bob and I had spent almost a week in Singapore and I had traveled into China, first with a friend and a couple of years later, alone, I was curious to explore four new countries this time, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and finally Vietnam with a group of like-minded travelers.

The travel company called OAT, for Overseas Adventure Travel, had served me well in India and so I booked their 19 day fully escorted trip they called, “Ancient Kingdoms”, taking advantage of their “no single supplement” policy since Bob was not joining me.  I would be meeting the 13 other Americans who would be my travel companions once I arrived in Bangkok.

Our first morning, we all gathered for a 9:00 AM meeting where I met Ole, our Thai Trip Leader who would coordinate every step of the way, and the rest of our group, several from California, six from the Washington/ Virginia area (who all knew one another), two from Ohio and two from RI.  And then there was the lone Floridian, me.  Many turned out to have been all over the world, some retirees from important careers, two Doctors, an Artist, others with a strong yearning to explore new places like myself, but all came to be comfortable fellow travelers, prompt and flexible, curious and intelligent.  As I was soon to learn, we formed into a cohesive group fairly quickly, teasing and laughing and enjoying one another's company.  Although there were 6 of us singletons, we mixed and mingled easily, making the entire experience a pleasure for all.

As soon as our orientation briefing was over, we all piled into the first of many air conditioned buses waiting outside our Hotel to take us to the Royal Grand Palace and Temple of The Emerald Buddha, to see the most sacred Buddha image in Thailand. Wat Phra Kaew is regarded as the most revered Buddhist temple (Wat is Thai for temple) in the entire country.  In fact, the temple does not house monks but rather serves today as the personal chapel for the Royal Family. It was oppressively hot and humid and along with the literal throngs of people – local and foreign - at the Royal Palace, we all slowly shuffled along in the heat, jockeying to take photos.

 

I was expecting to see an impressive Emerald Buddha but have to confess that I had no idea he would be so small and sit so high up on a dazzlingly bejeweled pedestal so far away that craning my neck for a good look was almost impossible.  Of course we were not allowed to take any photos, but in truth there are various suggestions that the statue, about 30 inches tall, is not Emerald at all but rather made of jasper or even jadeite.  The reality is that the Emerald Buddha has never been tested and thus its exact composition is as great a mystery as its origin. This statue, however, is so honored that the King of Thailand, himself, changes the Buddha’s garments with three sets of gold clothing for the three seasons, summer, rain and cool weather.

An hour later, everyone was soaking wet.  I had a paper fan and a very thin cool cotton top on plus a cooling towel around my neck, but it was still a harsh experience and when you factor in major jet lag (we were 12 hours ahead of the East Coast time and had lost an entire day crossing the International Dateline) with almost everyone in my group (except me, coming in by myself at 7:00 AM the prior morning) having arrived in Bangkok around midnight the night before, you can imagine how we were all beginning to wilt!  But the mere mention of driving off for an air conditioned lunch break put everyone back in a jolly mood.

Our first meal together was a delicious lunch at the scenic Mango Tree Restaurant alongside the Chao Phraya River.  This set the tone for the majority of our meals to come, which I must admit were mostly outstanding and featured picturesque settings and good fresh local food.  (Just the day before, I dined alone in the Hotel Restaurant and enjoyed the most incredible Tom Yom Goong or soup which is a “spicy hot” concoction with shrimp, mushrooms, peppers and cilantro which nearly blew the top of my head off followed by a Shrimp Pad Tai that held the prize for the best Pad Tai I had ever eaten!) For our lunch that first day, I had a wide flat fried noodle dish with soy sauce called Pad Si-Ew with tender chicken & a delicious fresh salad.  Yummy.

That night, we all enjoyed a Welcome Dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya River where we were served another beautifully presented dinner with tasty dishes.  Now we were beginning to get to know one another and even remember each other’s names!  It helped that everyone was very friendly and looking forward to our travel adventures together!  Our laid back Leader, Ole, was showing off his delightful sense of humor and we were all starting to relax.

The next day, we had our first really long bus ride to the ancient city of Ayutthaya, a UNESCO World Heritage site that was home to 33 kings from many different dynasties.  Here we visited Wat Yai Chai Mongkol which is flanked by a row of Buddha statues, all draped in their saffron robes.  The original stones were first laid in 1357, yet still functions as a meditation site to this day.  More walking in the oppressive heat, all of us soaking through our clothes, on to explore the ruins at Wat Phra Sri Sanphet, another temple complex.  At this point, we were all looking forward to stopping for a cool lunch break which did not disappoint.  We enjoyed another tasty Thai meal which began with a delicious soup in addition to many varied dishes, served family style.

After lunch we hopped aboard a motorized long-tail boat with a bit of cooling breezes which took us to a small village where we walked to a Muslim mosque and met the Imam's representative, Mr. Mart, for an enlightening discussion & tour of the temple.  95% of Thailand is Buddhist, but Muslims coexist peacefully.  Finally on the bus again for a restful one hour air conditioned ride back to our Hotel, The At Ease Salandaeng. Back in our rooms, with time for a quick shower, we then  met for dinner at Le Siam restaurant. Here we were served the most imaginative looking dishes, such an astounding variety and all tasted as good as they looked.  Margaret, (who came with very old friends from the Virginia contingent), and I soon bonded over beer!  At every opportunity, she and I shared a bottle of the local beer, huge ice cold bottles that neither of us could possibly drink by ourselves, but a treat to split and cheap as dirt.  Every time we ordered one, it cost us each a whopping buck.  In Bangkok, the beer was Singha, Beerlao in Laos and in Cambodia, Angkor beer.  All absolutely delicious (a drink that went surprisingly well with the spicy Asian food) and turned me temporarily from a Scotch drinker into a beer convert.

Another early morning wake up, this time at 5:45, departing our hotel at 7:15 for a long bus ride to meet our sampan paddle boat.  Finally we arrived at the Damnoen Saduak floating market, open from 8 AM to 11 AM, which was jam-packed with other vessels & hordes of people!  A chaotic ballet of dodging boats of all descriptions filled with thousands of tourists taking photos in addition to farmers with piles of food, fruit and vegetables locally grown loaded in their boats for sale.  Here anything your heart could desire can be purchased, all from your boat or walking through the crowded stalls.  Afterwards, we took a short bus ride to see how coconut sap is made into sugar & then a long-tail boat ride into a mangrove forest.  We had a bountiful local luncheon on the water with a refreshing breeze & very, very good food.  And let us not forget that icy cold beer!

Finally we endured a long bus ride back to our hotel with dinner on our own.  This was the first night we didn’t have an organized meal that Ole had prearranged and so I went back to my room to collapse and thought, good - finally some time to myself to relax and pack and have a quiet evening!  And just as I was thinking, who needed to ever eat again after that filling lunch we just had, the phone rang and my beer partner, Margaret, was inviting me to join her and two others for dinner across the street at a French Restaurant which Ole said was very good. So what else could I say but “yes, I’ll be down in five minutes!”  Ole was right; the food was absolutely fabulous, although my Scotch serving was so miniscule and outrageously expensive, that I forswore ordering it again for the rest of the trip. Stick to beer I said to myself and so I did!

Once back in the hotel, the job of organizing and packing everything that had been strewn everywhere for the four nights at The At Ease became a herculean task and I promised myself to not totally ever "unpack" all my things again.  That was a good lesson to learn and one I took to heart throughout the rest of the trip.  Anne and Kevin I later learned Never Unpack, a cardinal rule they follow that makes very good sense!

So now we were getting up even earlier the next morning and leaving the hotel at 7:00 AM for the first of five flights we were to take over the course of the next 15 days, this one to Luang Prabang, the ancient royal capital of Laos, continued here.